When Yash Chopra Convinced Sridevi To Wear White Sarees In Chandni: 'She Told Me It Was Dull But...'

In 1989, Yash Chopra’s film Chandni became a blockbuster hit with its engaging storyline. The film received widespread acclaim for the outstanding performances by Rishi Kapoor, Sridevi, and Vinod Khanna. The movie, interestingly, proved to be a turning point in Yash Chopra’s career. Through that movie, Sridevi had brought a revolution in the fashion industry with her all-white and chiffon saree looks. But not many are aware that Sridevi hesitated carrying white costumes.

In one of the segments of the Netflix documentary ‘The Romantics’, against Sridevi’s reservation behind wearing white, Yash Chopra made it clear that he wanted that look on her. The old Interview footage captured Yash Chopra sharing, “I wanted to dress her (Sridevi) most simply. Chandni should be pure innocence.” His wife Pamela Chopra quips, “Yash was always known as a person who dressed his actresses beautifully. He had visualised Chandni in a completely white wardrobe.”

He went on to add, “Sridevi walked up to me and said, ‘Yash ji, why this all white? This is so dull.’ I 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’s films earned him immense fame, especially after the success of Silsila. But, here came a phase when his consecutive films turned out to be a box-office failure. Chandni emerged as a movie that helped him to manifest his strong presence among talented filmmakers. By the late 80s, the celebrated Bollywood producer-director Yash Chopra faced a downward career trajectory. The situation became so dire that he contemplated selling his studio and working on a short film with T-Series. Speculations of his production house, Yash Raj Films, shutting down also surfaced. During this period, several of his big-budget films like Waqt, Mashaal, Silsila, Faasle, and Vijay had failed at the box office. However, the release of Chandni in 1989 brought about a dramatic turnaround in Yash Chopra’s career as a producer-director, and Rishi Kapoor also reaped significant benefits from the film’s immense success.

Touted to be a romantic drama, Chandni garnered immense traction among the audience. Yash Chopra, Rishi Kapoor, Sridevi, and Vinod Khanna awestruck the audience with their remarkable performance. Bankrolled by Yash Chopra, the film also stars Sushma Seth, Renu Arya, Beena Banerjee, Waheeda Rehman, and Anant Mahadevan, among others in pivotal roles. With music composed by Hariprasad Chaurasia and Shiv Kumar Sharma, the cinematography of the film is handled by Manmohan Singh.

The Rishi Kapoor and Sridevi starrer Chandni made a tremendous impact at the box office, shattering all records with its phenomenal success. During its release, the film amassed a remarkable box office collection of Rs 27 crore, equivalent to over Rs 250 crore rupees in today’s value.