Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1989


Chandni (film)

Buy Chandni (film) now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'Chandni' is a 1989 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film directed and co-produced by Yash Chopra from a story written by Kamna Chandra with a screenplay by Umesh Kalbagh, Arun Kaul, and Sagar Sarhadi. The film stars Sridevi in the titular role of Chandni Mathur, a young effervescent woman torn between two suitors. Rishi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Waheeda Rehman Anupam Kher, Sushma Seth, Mita Vashisht, and Manohar Singh are featured in supporting roles.

The eighties marked a professional setback in Chopra's career, After a series of failed action movies, Chopra decided to return to his roots and make a romantic musical, a film with all the hallmarks of what has come to be known as the "Yash Chopra style" heroine-oriented, romantic, emotional, depicting the lifestyle of the super-elite, with melodic music used in songs picturized in foreign locations. The film marked the first collaboration between Chopra and Sridevi.Sridevi would do one last film with Yash Chopra Lamhe.

'Chandni' was theatrically released on 14 September 1989 by Yash Raj Films. The film was a widespread success and became one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 1989, whereas its soundtrack became the best selling album of the year as well as the decade with more than 10 million copies sold. The huge success of the film and its soundtrack were instrumental in ending the era of violent action films in Indian Cinema and rejuvenating the romantic musical genre. The success of film further reinforced Sridevi's position as the top female star of the era. Over the years, 'Chandni' is hailed as one of Chopra's finest movies. At the 37th National Film Awards, it won Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, while at the 35th Filmfare Awards, the film received 10 nominations, including for the Best Film, Best Director (for Chopra), and Best Actress (for Sridevi), and won Best Cinematography.

Plot



Chandni Mathur, a middle class nave girl travels to Delhi with her parents to attend wedding of her cousin. There she meets Rohit Gupta, friend of his cousin. Rohit instantly falls in love at first sight with a beautiful Chandni and starts a courtship. After his continuous attempts, Chandi accepts him and they eventually get engaged, though the Guptas dislike Chandni due to difference in their social status. One day Rohit calls Chandi and asks her to come on the roof of her home where he is waiting for her in a helicopter to shower rose petals on her. While doing that he meets and accident and gets paralyzed on right leg. The Guptas blame Chandni for the mishap and mistreat her. Thinking he cannot be a good husband, Rohit lets Chandni go. Heartbroken, she leaves Delhi and travels to Mumbai and finds work at a travel agency in Bombay. Lalit Khanna, its handsome and charming head, falls for and asks Chandni to marry him. She is hesitant.

2 years later



Chandni now agrees to marry Lalit and meets his mom Lata, who is also glad with her. In Switzerland, Lalit meets Rohit who is still receiving treatment from professional therapists and physicians.

Recovered, he befriends Lalit and they share their love-stories, unaware they both love Chandni. Back to India, he visits Lalit's house to meet him. Chandni opens the door; she and Rohit are surprised to see each other. Rohit reveals he isn't now in wheelchair. They get keyed up with tears; he seizes this chance to propose to her.

However, Chandni tells Rohit that she is engaged to Lalit. She also reminds him what Guptas did to her. He leaves regretfully. Lalit invites Rohit to his wedding as they became friends. Rohit and Chandni pretend as strangers. On the wedding day he mumbles and stumbles down a flight of stairs due to excessive drinking. Chandni cannot stop any longer, hugs him and starts crying. Lalit realizes Rohit loves Chandni. In hospital, Rohit regains his health. Chandni marries him, as Lalit sacrifices his love and has a brief sad moment, as Rohit and Chandni marry and live happily ever after.

Cast



* Vinod Khanna as Lalit Khanna

* Rishi Kapoor as Rohit Gupta

* Sridevi as Chandni Gupta (ne Mathur)

* Waheeda Rehman as Lata Khanna

* Sushma Seth as Armani Gupta

* Mita Vasisht as Kiran Chawla

* Anant Mahadevan as Brijbhan Chawla

* Achala Sachdev

* Beena Banerjee

* Manohar Singh as Nihaal Gupta

* Ram Gopal Bajaj as Shiv Prasad Mathur

* Lalit Tiwari

* Suhas Joshi

* Renu Arya

* Bharat Bhushan Bhalla as Dr. Aryamaan Das

* Anupam Kher as Ramesh Mehra

* Juhi Chawla as Devika Shastri

Production



Speaking about the movie with Karan Johar, Yash Chopra recalled when he was making Vijay, an action film, he did not feel like he was supposed to make movies like this. Later he met with Kamna Chandra, who was coming hot after working Raj Kapoor on Classic Prem Rog. She presented the story of a social romantic movie to Yash Chopra who liked it and started casting the stars. However, at the launch party, Yash Chopra had change of heart and he decided to change the second half in which Chandni marries with Lalit and has a son.

With casting of Vinod Khanna, distributors started demanding action sequence in the movie to which Chopra refused. Even after the movie was complete he called Sridevi and Vinod Khanna back for one day's shoot to reshoot their first meeting. Originally there was a fire incident in which Khanna saves Sridevi. But upon watching the move Chopra said it did not feel like part of the movie so I called the actors back for one days work.

Music



The music of 'Chandni' was composed by Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia, known together as Shiv-Hari. The lyrics were provided by Anand Bakshi. In addition to the songs listed below, there was a recurring instrumental love melody, not part of a full song. That melody was further developed into the song "Kabhi Main Kahoon" for Chopra's next film 'Lamhe' (1991), also scored by Shiv-Hari.

The film's soundtrack was a major success in India and sold more than 10 million copies, becoming the best selling soundtrack album of the year as well as the decade. It is believed that the soundtrack helped bring back the romantic musical genre, with its songs and lyrics all being critically acclaimed, along with 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' (1988) and 'Maine Pyar Kiya' (1989). According to Yash Raj Films, the soundtrack went 4 Platinum by the day of the premiere. By the 25th week, it went 25 Platinum, a new standard in the music industry.

Reception & Legacy



'Chandni' received highly positive reviews upon its release with critics highlighting the film's impact in being instrumental in bringing an end to an era of violent action movies in Indian cinema and rejuvenating the romantic musical genre. According to 'iDiva', 'Chandni' was "more an event and less a movie. Even as its shooting rolled on the sets, the film was a constant subject of discussion in the press." 'Chandni' emerged as one of the biggest blockbusters of 1989, with 'The Hindu' stating that "the film opened to full houses and distributors had to drastically increase the number of theatres."' It was cited by 'Times of India' as "one of the most-watched films of Indian Cinema." 'Hindustan Times' featured the movie in its list of 'Yash Chopra's Greatest Hits' saying "it was instrumental in ending the era of violence in Bollywood and bringing back the romance into Hindi films."

The film consolidated Sridevi's position as the top female star of the era. Describing Sridevi's performance in 'Chandni', 'Indiatimes' wrote "True to her screen-name, she was an epitome of radiance, warmth and vivacity. She effortlessly introduced us to the powerful streaks, her classic, angelic character was laden with." The scene where she confronts Rishi Kapoor was ranked by 'Rediff' as one of the "Ten Best Scenes from Yash Chopra Films." While Sridevi topped the 'Hindustan Times' list of Yash Chopra's "Top 5 Heroines", 'CNN-IBN' ranked her no. 1 on its list of 'Yash Chopra's 10 Most Sensuous Heroines', saying that "Yash Chopra immortalized Sridevi as the perfect 'Chandni'." The titular character became one of the most famous characters of Hindi cinema with 'India Today' including it in its list of 'Yash Chopra's Iconic Characters'. 'CNN-IBN' listed it among 'The Cult Characters Yash Chopra Created', while 'NDTV' featured it in its list of 'Yash Chopra's Greatest Creations' stating that the film established Sridevi "as the nation's sweetheart" and "reinforced her position as the reigning actress in Bollywood."

Costume design in the film was done by Bhanu Athaiya and Leena Daru. Sridevi's iconic ''Chandni' Look' revolutionized fashion in North India and became synonymous with the actress, with 'Rediff' stating "A luminous Sridevi slips into every possible design in white for a major chunk of the romance and no one complains." Speaking about the look, Yash Chopra told film critic Rajeev Masand "While making 'Chandni', I had a vision of who I wanted this girl to be. I told Sridevi that most of her costumes in the film would be in white." 'The Tribune' wrote "Leena Daru scored a winner again when she created the 'Chandni' Look' for Sridevi. Every street corner sold the salwar-kameez and dupatta that gave the heroine a refreshingly understated look, rarely seen on the Indian screen." while 'Mid-Day' reported "Leena Daru dressed Bollywood's beauties for several years. But it was her simple white churidar and kurta with the 'leheriya' dupatta for Sridevi in 'Chandni' that gave the Southern belle an angelic image and caused the Chandni Chowk stores to hit the jackpot with thousands of copies." 'BizAsia' described the effect of the look saying "Chopra never quite got over his Sridevi hangover and almost always chose to present his lead heroines in similar outfits (Juhi Chawla in 'Darr' (1993), Madhuri Dixit in 'Dil To Pagal Hai' (1997), Preity Zinta in 'Veer-Zaara' (2004)), but none of them became half as iconic as Sridevi did after 'Chandni'." The '''Chandni' Look' was also highlighted in the film's famous Tandav dance sequence by Sridevi, where 'Rediff' said "the actress transformed into a mythical goddess in a white number." Sridevi's chiffon sarees became equally popular with 'Indian Express' writing "This film made the chiffon sari a must-have in every Indian woman's wardrobe."

The music of 'Chandni' became a multi-platinum success with Sridevi's famous dance number "Mere Haathon Mein Nau Nau Choodiyan Hain" finding a place in 'Rediff''s chart of 'Bollywood's Top 25 Wedding Songs'. Sridevi also lent her voice to the film's popular title-track "Chandni O Meri Chandni" which featured among the 'Top 5 Songs' of Yash Chopra by 'Hindustan Times'. Talking about her role in 'Chandni', Sridevi said it was "a lively and vibrant girl in the first half (who) becomes quiet and goes into a shell in the second half. I loved that transformation and when you have a director like Yash Chopra at the helm, you can be sure that he will make the best out of everything."

Awards



;37th National Film Awards:

* Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment Yash Chopra & T. Subbarami Reddy[http://www.hindilyrics.net/awards/national-film-awards-1990.html National-film-awards-1990]

;35th Filmfare Awards:[http://filmfareawards.indiatimes.com/articleshow/articleshow/368588.cms Filmfareawards]

;'Wins'

* Best Cinematography Manmohan Singh

'Nominations'

* Best Film Yash Chopra & T. Subbarami Reddy

* Best Director Yash Chopra

* Best Actress Sridevi

* Best Actor Rishi Kapoor

* Best Supporting Actor Vinod Khanna

* Best Supporting Actress Waheeda Rehman

* Best Music Director Shiv-Hari

* Best Lyricist Anand Bakshi for "Lagi Aaj Sawan Ki"

* Best Male Playback Singer Suresh Wadkar for "Lagi Aaj Sawan Ki"

References




Buy Chandni (film) now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1989



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1109465794.