Chandni

1989 186’ col Hindi d Yash Chopra pc Yash Raj Films st Kamna Chandra sc Unmesh Kalba, Arun Kashyap lyr Anand Bakshi c Manmohan Singh m Shiv-Hari lp Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Sridevi, Waheeda Rehman, Anupam Kher, Mita Vasisht

Yash Chopra returns to his familiar brand of romances (cf. Silsila, 1981) in exotic locations with this tale of Chandni (Sridevi). She is seen - and for a large part of the film, also imagined - only through the eyes of her lover Rohit (Kapoor), who decorates the walls of his room with the countless snapshots he takes of her. Later, while showering his beloved with flowers from a helicopter, he falls and is partially paralysed, prompting him to break off the relationship. However, his sexually charged fantasies of Chandni eventually rekindle his desire to live. After an expensive operation in a hospital abroad, he is cured and re-enters Chandni’s life just when she is about to marry her boss, Lalit (Khanna). The film and its marketing campaign revolve entirely around Sridevi, confirming her as India’s top female star. Arguably, the whole film can be seen as an extended advertisement promoting Sridevi as the Indian film consumers’ ideal fantasy of womanhood. including the popular song by Lata Mangeshkar, Mere haathon main nau nau churiyan.'

Film