O Meri Chandni

A woman caught between 2 men, one passionate and proud, the other solitary and solemn.

It's a story about whether common sense will trump true love and, as it usually is, the answer is no. Chandni stars Sridevi, Rishi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Waheeda Rehman, Anupam Kher and Sushma Seth and it is the Yash Chopra movie that brought back the Yash Chopra formula after a decade of mindless action movies.

The movie is full of melodious songs and stunning cinematography. Sridevi performs one of her most iconic dance numbers, the catchy and unforgettable "Mere haathon mein"

If that song didn't define Sridevi's career as an actress and dancer, I don't know which one did (actually, it was probably this one).

Chandni (Sridevi, beautiful, charming and empathetic as ever) is a simple middle-class girl (read: she dances, sings, makes jokes) who is being courted by the rich Rohit (Kapoor). You know he's really in love with her because he snaps photos of her all the time and his walls are covered with them. In this country and century, Chandni would be calling the police (or at least Laura Mulvey) but this is Yash Chopra's Delhi in the 80s and so it is romantic. Maybe I just don't see Rishi Kapoor as a romantic hero. I wonder if I'd feel as weird if it were Anil Kapoor or Hrithik Roshan romancing Chandni.

Anyway, Chandni in turn falls in love with him and that's swell. Except Rohit's family (well, his parents and sister--Sushma Seth plays an earlier version of Lajjo from Kal Ho Naa Ho) despise Chandni's upbringing (she dances, sings and makes jokes) and decide she only loves Rohit for his money. (Naturally, Chandni doesn't even think of his money or if she does, she sees it as a happy bonus). Disaster strikes and Rohit falls from a helicopter when trying to shower Chandni with rose petals (???) and the family blames Chandni. Only Rohit's jijaji (Anupam Kher) sticks up for her. Chandni takes care of Rohit when he is wheelchair-bound but the family torments the poor girl until finally Rohit himself throws her out.

Chandni "shifts" to Bombay, looking to move on and start a new life. I was like rock on, Chandni. I mean who wants to marry a guy with an evil family? She starts working for Lalit (Vinod Khanna) at his travel agency. Lalit himself is a grieving man, looking to forget the past (his dead lover is played by Juhi Chawla in a cameo so his pain is easy to understand).

Lalit sees Chandni as a kindred spirit (little does he know how awesome Happy Chandni is!) and she too is somewhat charmed by his subdued demeanor. He sings beautifully sad songs in the rain. And his mom is played by Waheeda Rehman (whose beauty is as angelic as her character) so that's another point in Lalit's favor.

Eventually, Lalit proposes to Chandni and she sort of accepts. Rohit and Lalit meet in Switzerland (Lalit's there for business and Rohit found a doctor/wizard to fix his handicap) and become friends. Rohit comes back to Chandni and freaks out when he finds out she's engaged. I was sort of expecting Chandni to give a strong speech about having her own life and how he done her wrong. But her dialogues in this scene are minimal and not very strong.

So when it comes time for Chandni to choose between Lalit and Rohit? Well, the men sort of make that decision for her. I guess, sure, she never stopped loving Rohit but would any real person choose to marry into a family who doesn't enjoy comic dance numbers like this?

You can literally feel the flop sweat! Know your audience, Chandni, seriously. By the way, the pretty woman who starts the song is Kiren, Chandni's BFF. I love her because she always says what the audience is thinking. For example, we want Sridevi to dance and she gets her to!

The thing is, Rohit might be Chandni's love but his parents and sister are evil, he threw her out and didn't even apologize. Lalit has freaking Waheeda Rehman as his mother and will love her in a way Rohit is too childish to understand. I feel like Rohit sees Chandni as a possession; the title song is "Chandni, o meri Chandni..."

I wonder if Yash Chopra intended for us to root for Chandni and Rohit or if he intended to show that love is irrational and crazy. I guess in most cinematic love triangles love triumphs over common sense so I shouldn't be surprised.

But the last 15 minutes don't spoil the wonderful movie that precedes it. Chandni is a less than perfect movie with a terrific central performance, some everlasting songs and a beautiful look to it.

But that ending...