As the youngest among seven brothers and one sister, Vinod Chopra, known to his family as Vidhu, had everything a child could wish for. A home, an education and an affectionate family. Vinod enjoyed an especially close relationship with brother Vir and sister Shailaja. The three were almost inseparable.

The Sufi influence of Kashmir taught Vinod to trust, while the beauty of Kashmir offered enough opportunity for a flowering imagination. That's where the story began. Vinod's elder brother Ramanand Sagar was an eminent film-maker. He would travel down to Kashmir to shoot some of his films. Vinod was fascinated by Ramanand Sagar and by the films he made. An imaginative Vinod needed only a little exposure to start dreaming about making films, as all young minds tend to do. The difference lay in Vinod's persistence. Vinod kept the dream alive through his college days. Slowly the 'film-maker' in Vinod began to emerge and making films became the 'one-thought' that dominated his mind. His 'strong desire' later translated into 'that great determination' with which he fought his battles.

His magnum opus Mission Kashmir, starring Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt, is known for his serious and hard hitting films.