Mumbai: Yash Chopra was awarded an honorary higher doctoral degree, a DLit, a Doctor of Letters honoris causa, for having made an outstanding contribution to cinema in his six decades of work in the industry, by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

The SOAS Director and Principal Professor Paul Webley and The President Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, welcomed the graduates and their guests while the public orator Professor Rachel Dwyer read a citation in tribute to Chopra. Kennedy QC presented the degree.

Chopra’s career and his work were compared with the greats of the Indian film industry. Professor Dwyer said that his films use a form to show emotions at their deepest and rawest and that the dialogues and the song lyrics of Chopra’s films are remembered and recited almost as mantras as they describe things using language, imagery and music in a perfect balance. She pointed out that Yash Chopra continues to innovate with every film and remains young at heart, always interested in how people think, feel and behave.

Chopra said, “I am humbled by this honor. My film making has always been from the heart and I would like to pass on this same message to students all over the world.”