Chandni (Hindi: चांदनी, Translation: "Moonlight") is a 1989 Hindi film, starring Sridevi, Rishi Kapoor and Vinod Khanna. It was directed by Yash Chopra.
Chandni was a blockbuster in 1989 and is one of the most successful films of Indian cinema. The huge profits of this musical brought an end to Chopra's lean phase. The platinum success of its music was instrumental in bringing back music into Hindi films and ending an era of violence in Bollywood
productions.
For the cast, the film reaffirmed Sridevi's position as the top female star of the Eighties. It prolonged Rishi Kapoor's fading career and showed that he was still profitable as a leading hero. The film provided a boost for Vinod Khanna's career, and reunited Kapoor and Khanna, who last performed together in the popular film Amar Akbar Anthony (1977). Sridevi's white costumes became popular as the 'Chandni Look,' and the songs of the film are still a rage. Though this was not the first time Yash Chopra shot a film in Switzerland, the film's extensive scenes there made it a popular tourist destination for Indians.
The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film of that year.
Contents
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Music
4 Critical Reception
5 Awards
6 References
7 External links
Plot[edit]
Rohit meets Chandni at a wedding of his relative, and falls instantly in love with her. He pursues her relentlessly until she agrees to date him, and eventually they become engaged to be married. His family is very much against this because of the differences in their social status, but Rohit doesn't care. One day, Rohit calls Chandni and asks her to wait for him on the terrace of her house, which she does. As she's waiting, the afternoon's silence is broken by the roaring blades of a helicopter. Rohit appears and proceeds to shower Chandni in red rose petals from the copter. When he disappears, she is surrounded again by silence, but she has a feeling something has happened.
Seconds later, Chandni hears the phone ringing and runs to answer, knowing it is Rohit. She is told that he is in the hospital. His family at the hospital greet her with stony expressions and accuse her of being the cause for Rohit's falling from the helicopter. Learning that he is paralysed on his right side, his family continues to berate her. Rohit too berates her, which is too much. Intent on erasing every memory of Rohit, Chandnni decides to move to Mumbai.
There she starts working for a travel agency headed by Lalit, a handsome and charming man. He has his own heartache. He soon falls in love with Chandni and asks her to marry him. She finally says "yes" to his and his mother's delight. On a business trip in Switzerland, Lalit meets Rohit, who has traveled there for treatment for his paralysis and no longer needs a wheelchair. The men tell each other their stories and sing with joy of love, not knowing they are both singing about the same woman.
Back in India Rohit shows up one evening at Chandni's door. To her amazement, he stands up and does a little dance. They are keyed up with emotion and Rohit proposes to her. Chandni tells him she is committed to someone else.
When Rohit becomes angry, Chandni asks him what he would have done in her place. He regretfully leaves. As Rohit and Lalit had become good friends in Switzerland, Lalit invited him to his wedding. Lalit invites Chandni to meet this new friend.
Rohit and Chandni pretend to be strangers to spare Lalit. On the day of the wedding, Rohit has drunk too much and stumbles down a flight of stairs. When Chandni screams for him to be saved, Lalit realises she really belongs to Rohit and lets her go.
Cast[edit]
Sridevi as Chandni
Rishi Kapoor as Rohit Gupta
Vinod Khanna as Lalit Khanna
Waheeda Rehman as Mrs. Khanna (Lalit's mom)
Sushma Seth as Mrs. Gupta (Rohit's mom)
Anupam Kher as Ramesh (Cameo)
Juhi Chawla as Devika (Cameo)
Music[edit]
The music of Chandni was composed by Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia, known together as Shiv-Hari. The song 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 movie Lamhe, also scored by Shiv-Hari.
The film's soundtrack was a blockbuster hit in India.[citation needed] It is believed that the film's soundtrack brought back the musical genre, with its songs and lyrics all being critically acclaimed.[citation needed] According to Yash Raj Films, the soundtrack went 4x Platinum on the day of the premiere itself.[citation needed] By the 25th week, it went 25x Platinum, a new standard in the music industry.[citation needed]
No. Title Singer(s) Length
1. "Mere Haathon Mein" Lata Mangeshkar 05:34
2. "Mehbooba" Lata Mangeshkar, Vinod Rathod 04:53
3. "Main Sasural Nahi Jaaungi" Pamela Chopra 04:06
4. "Mitwa (Tere Mere Honton Pe)" Lata Mangeshkar, Babla Mehta 04:31
5. "Aa Meri Jaan" Lata Mangeshkar 04:21
6. "Dance Music" Instrumental 03:16
7. "Chandni O Meri Chandni" Sridevi, Jolly Mukherjee 04:32
8. "Lagi Aaj Sawan Ki" Suresh Wadkar,Anupama Deshpande 03:25
9. "Parbat Se Kaali" Asha Bhosle, Vinod Rathod 04:22
10. "Tu Mujhe Suna" Nitin Mukesh, Suresh Wadkar 04:30
11. "Mere Haathon Mein" Instrumental 05:47