Everyone in the country fell in love with Sridevi when she made her film debut nearly 24 years ago in a white salwar-kameez and flashed her infectious giggles in Chandni. Apart from being one of Sridevi’s most famous performances, Chandni’s outfits have been known to be classy. But did you know that when the movie was made, Sridevi’s mother didn’t like clothes, especially white ones?
Pamela Chopra said in the newly released book The Romantics that Sridevi expressed reservations about white dresses when her mother did not agree. Sridevi was quoted by Pamela in the first episode as, “Yash ji, why all this whiteness? This is very annoying.” Yash said that he had wooed Sridevi in an earlier interview with Karan Johar saying, “I have faith in you as an actor, in your actions, if you have faith in me as a director, I like to show you how I want to.”
Then his mother came out. Pamela said, “And mom came.” ‘Yash Chopra ji, a saint in our society, is not celebrated at all.’ Yash then said, ‘Dekho Mummy ji, this is my vision.’ In a way he was able to satisfy him, but he was not completely satisfied.” The white dress is now one of the most recognizable in the film.
Anil Kapoor said in the same episode that Yash Chopra asked Boney Kapoor to approach Sridevi for Chandni because she was a “top star” at the time and he didn’t know how to approach her. “He asked my brother (Boney Kapoor) to talk to him. So my brother flew to Chennai to talk to his mother. It doesn’t matter to him who Yash Chopra is who has made successful films, it was only money,” he said.
