The Romantics: Yash Chopra Reveals How Distributors Refused To Release Chandni, Called It A Flop

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FEBRUARY 15,2023

The 80s was the time when movies and cinema were revolutionized, thanks to Yash Chopra and his love for filmmaking. All of Yash Chopra's movies narrated a grandiose affair of action, drama, romance, and everything in between. One of his biggest hits Chandni changed the way we perceived romantic movies. Did you know, had Chandni not worked well, Yash Raj Films would've shut permanently? In the latest Netflix web series The Romantics, Yash Chopra opened up about the struggles he faced during the release of the Sridevi-Rishi Kapoor starrer.

Revealing some unknown and surprising facts about Yash Raj Films, Yash Chopra, and Aditya Chopra, The Romantics is a ary on the filmmaker's elaborate and exhaustive contribution to the Hindi film industry. The who's who of Bollywood came under one roof to narrate their share of experiences with Yash Ji.

In one such episode, the director was seen getting candid about the struggles he faced during the release of his blockbuster movie Chandni.

Yash Chopra's Journey In The '80s

Yash Ji saw constant failures in the '80s after his movies Silsila (1981) and Faasle (1985) underperformed. Thriving to give a hit, Yash Chopra made a multi-starer movie Vijay (1988), which also starred Anil Kapoor. In The Romantics, the actor can be seen giving his unapologetic opinions about the movie.

"It was like a rehash of all his old films. He (Yash Chopra) said 'Let me make a very hardcore commercial film, with song, dance, a little bit of sex thrown here and there, bikini shots and conflict scenes," said Anil Kapoor.

He further added, "During the making of the film, I could feel that he wasn't creatively enjoying the process. Even I didn't enjoy it. I think none of us were enjoying the process." At this point, an old interview of Yash Ji with Karan Johar is played and he opened up about why he chose to make Vijay.

"I made a very calculated commercial decision. I can't say this film was from my heart". He also said that when he was making Vijay, he asked himself, "What am I doing? Where has the softness inside me gone?" Yash ji elaborated. However, as luck would have it, Vijay was yet another box-office disaster, putting Yash Raj Films in major debt.

Yash Chopra's Struggles on Making Chandni

However, there was no time for grief. Chopra then said, "Our industry had reached a saturation point of violence. I said, 'Okay, I'll do the biggest gamble of my life. Whatever happens, I won't make a film with a formula. I'll make a film that touches my heart." And that's how Chandni was born.

Till this point, the filmmaker had not seen Sridevi's work. It was after Amitabh Bachchan showed him her Tamil movie that Yash Ji decided to cast her in the lead. With many ups and downs associated with this crucial project, a film critic even complained about Chandni not having any action sequences despite Vinod Khanna being in the lead.

To which, Yash Chopra replied, "If you think a fight is a highlight, I feel a song is a highlight. It's a bigger highlight because a song remains with you after you go out of the theatre."
However, the bigger challenge for YRF was it was bankrupt It had no money. To top that, the industry's reaction to the movie was "tepid and lukewarm" as revealed by Karan Johar in The Romantics. People called it "too long with too many songs." If this wasn't enough, the distributors refused to release Chandni after listening to this news.

"A lot of messages were passed that 'Another flop is coming. Don't give them theatres'," Yash Chopra revealed. However, to everyone's surprise, Chandni became a monstrous hit with the audience showering immense love on it. It brought back the era of classic romance in Bollywood. Smilingly, KJo quipped, "It had gone against what the entire trade had predicted."

You know what they say, no one can make romantic Bollywood movies the way Yash Chopra can. It is grand, magnificent, and majestic, and gives us a cinematic experience.