Chandni  (Moonlight) is a 1989 Hindi -language romantic musical film directed and co-produced by  Yash Chopra. The film stars Sridevi  in the titular role of Chandni Mathur, a young effervescent woman torn between two suitors. 

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.

Chandni Mathur, a middle class naïve 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, Chandni accepts him and they eventually get engaged, though the Guptas dislike Chandni due to difference in their social status. One day Rohit calls Chandni 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.

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.

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.

The film was a widespread success. 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 Director  (for Chopra).

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.”   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. 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.” 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.”   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.”

Photos courtesy Google. Excerpts taken from Google.