New Delhi: 'Chandni', directed by Yash Chopra and starring Sridevi, is one of his most successful movies to date. His first straight-up love drama, the movie is still regarded as one of the greats. However, the director was unsure of how to approach Sridevi for the lead part.
The late director goes into great detail about the 1989 movie in one of the episodes of Netflix's new documentary series 'The Romantics'.
The filmmaker explained the reason behind making the romantic film 'Chandni' and said, “Our industry had reached the saturation point of violence. So, I was like, I will do the biggest gamble of my life, whatever happens. I won’t make a film with a formula or calculation. I will make a film that will touch my heart. I started Chandni.”
Even though he had never worked with Sridevi, he admitted that he was impressed by the Tamil drama Moondram Pirai that Amitabh Bachchan had showed him. Sridevi was "the top star at that time," according to Anil Kapoor, and Chopra "didn't know how to approach her."
In order to convince Sridevi to star in the movie, he asked Boney Kapoor. Anil Kapoor revealed,“He asked my brother (Boney Kapoor) to speak to her. So my brother flew down to Chennai to talk to her mother. It didn’t matter to her who Yash Chopra is who has made such great films, it was just the money.”
The next issue was Sridevi's on-screen attire after she gave her approval to appear in the movie. She believed she looked dull in the all-white clothing that Yash Chopra intended to put her in.
The filmmaker said, “I wanted to dress her most simply, Chandni should be pure innocence.”
“Yash was always known as a person who dressed his actresses beautifully. He had visualised Chandni in a completely white wardrobe,” his wife Pamela Chopra added.
Yash Chopra explained to Karan Johar in an old interview how Sridevi came to him and asked,“Yash ji, why this all white? This is so dull.” He then told her, “I have faith in you as an actor, in your performance, if you have faith in me as a director, I like to present you as I want.”
Yash Chopra is the director and co-producer of the romantic musical movie Chandni. Sridevi plays Chandni Mathur, a young, lively woman divided between two suitors played by Rishi Kapoor and Vinod Khanna, in the movie. In supporting roles are Waheeda Rehman, Anupam Kher, Sushma Seth, Mita Vashisht, and Manohar Singh.