33 Years of CHANDNI
After Silsila (1981), Yash Chopra made three entirely different movies under his banner – Mashaal (1984), Faasle (1985) and Vijay (1988) and all three could not do well on the box office. Hence Yash Ji moved back to his forte, i.e., romance and within a year of the failure of Vijay, came back with a bang through Chandni.
Now in Silsila Rekha was Chandini, In Faasle Farha was Chandini, Earlier Rakhee was Chandini in Daag (1973) so the name was special to Yash Chopra and it was hence the title of his comeback film.
Chandni is the story of a jovial but down-to-earth girl who respects the elders and believes in Indian social and family values living in New Delhi.
Beautiful and bubbly Chandni ( Sridevi) meets Rohit ( Rishi Kapoor) in a marriage ceremony. Rohit falls for the charm of Chandni instantly and proposes for marriage. But the complications start due to the social differences of the two families, although the love story continues. Suddenly, Rohit suffers an accident falling from a helicopter while showering flowers on her and getting his right side paralyzed and resulting in the Wheel Chair , self sympathy and anguish
The narrative takes a different turn then, as Rohit analyzes his current condition and starts avoiding Chandni, considering himself handicapped and not fit for her anymore. Chandni moves to Mumbai and joins a travel agency headed by Lalit (Vinod Khanna), a widower. Lalit falls for Chandni and they get along well with each other. With time, Chandni becomes close to Lalit’s family and his mother ( Waheeda Rehman). But the narrative takes another turn and Lalit meets Rohit in Switzerland in a business trip, where Rohit is under treatment. They become friends, No wonder the Chandni smitten duo instantly take to each other in Swiss surroundings and bond over homesickness in Tu Mujhe Suna Main Tujhe Sunao Apni Prem Kahani and the narrative slowly moves into a love triangle till it reaches a happy ending culminating with the marriage of Rohit and Chandni.
Playing the title role is SriDevi who got to show her acting powers after Sadma ( In between the Jeetendra films from 1983 to 1987 portraying her as a glam quotient).
She is brilliant as Chandni as the role perfectly suits her personality and brings the best out of her. Rishi Kapoor and Vinod Khanna put up a mature performance and Waheeda Rehman is a delight to watch. The music of the film is classy, composed by Shiv-Hari. Lata Mangeshkar renders some beautiful songs in the movie, including the chart topper “Mere Hatoon Mein”.
Other songs include Mehbooba (Dilli Shaher), Title song' Chandni Tu Meri Chandni' (with Sridevi crooning), Mitwa and Aa Meri Jaan, Main Sasural Nahin Jaaungi and as Vinod Khanna grieves for his deceased girlfriend (Juhi Chawla in a short flashback) in Lagi Aaj Sawaan Ki whereas Rishi Kapoor yearns for Parbat Se Kaali Ghata.
The cinematography of Manmohon Singh is breathtaking and the scenery of the European countryside captured brilliantly.
Written by Kaamna Chandra.
Yash Chopra was always in love with “love”. He portrayed love on the silver screen with the imagination of the purest lover, including shades of different phases of love in life.
It was the first collaboration between Sridevi and Yash Chopra and turned out to be an all time blockbuster in Bollywood. The classical beauty of Sridevi was aesthetically captured by the director and mesmerized the audience. The story line is very appealing to the masses and the movie received the 37th National Film Award in India for best popular film and also 10 nominations in the 35th Filmfare Awards. The success of Chandni helped Sridevi to strengthen her position as the number one female star in Bollywood in the late 1980s – early 90s.
33 years have passed but Chandni retains its dazzle. This also made way for Lamhe.. the background theme of Chandni has developed into a beautiful song (Kabhi Main Kahoon) of Lamhe. But the thrill of discovering someone special or the joy of dancing in the rain, when witnessed through the eyes of Hindi cinema's most romantic filmmaker, transcends movies to magic.
No comments:
Post a Comment