Veteran Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra has been awarded honorary doctorate by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in Britain for his outstanding contribution to the field of cinema.

He was given Doctorate of Letters Friday at the college of the University of London, said a press statement.

“I am humbled by this honour and would like to thank SOAS for this recognition. My filmmaking has always been from the heart and I would like to pass on this same message to students all over the world,” Chopra said after receiving the honour.

The president of SOAS, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, presented the degree to 77-year-old Chopra, while professor Rachel Dwyer, the public orator, read the citation.

Dwyer said: “His films use a melodramatic form to show emotions at their deepest and rawest and the dialogues and the song lyrics of Yash Chopra’s films are remembered and recited almost as mantras as they describe things that are hard to say, using language, imagery and music in a perfect balance.”

She also pointed out that the filmmaker “continues to innovate with every film he makes and remains young at heart, always interested in how people think, feel and behave.”

Addressing the students, Dwyer said the graduates should be inspired by Chopra’s success, learn his dedication and his ways of rising above failure.

Chopra is known for making hits like “Daag”, “”Deewar”, “Trishul”, “Silsila”, “Chandni” and “Dil To Pagal Hai”

The filmmaker has earlier been conferred with an honorary doctorate by the Leeds Metropolitan University, Britain in 2007, apart from doctorates by the Panjab University, Chandigarh in 2008 and the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar in 2004 in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema.