Damini

This article is about the film. For the Delhi gang rape victim, nicknamed "Damini" by the media, see2012 Delhi gang rape.

Damini
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rajkumar Santoshi
Written by	Rajkumar Santoshi Sutanu Gupta (Story)
Produced by	Aly Morani Karim Morani Bunty Soorma
Starring	Rishi Kapoor Meenakshi Sheshadri Sunny Deol Amrish Puri Aamir Khan Tinu Anand
Cinematography	Ishwar R. Bidri
Edited by	V. N. Mayekar
Music by	Nadeem-Shravan Sameer(Lyrics)
Release date	30 April 1993(1993-04-30)
Running time	150 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Box office	est.₹11.75 crore

Damini(transl. Lightning) is a 1993 IndianHindi-languagecrime dramafilm directed and co-written byRajkumar Santoshi.It starsMeenakshi Seshadriin the title role withRishi Kapoor,Sunny DeolandAmrish Puri.Aamir Khanmakes a special appearance.The story revolves around Damini who witnesses her housemaid being raped by her brother-in-law and his friends. Despite facing many obstacles, she strives to get justice for her with the help of her husband and Govind, a lawyer. The film is considered to be one of the best woman-centric films ever made in Bollywood.

Besides being critically acclaimed, the film also became the sixthhighest grossing of the yearand was declared a "hit" at Box Office India.Damini – LightningmarkedMeenakshi Seshadri's career best performance that was highly acclaimed.

It is considered a cult feminist film and is still regarded as an all-time classic female oriented film and important for portraying women empowerment in cinemaThe pathbreaking film was praised for breaking social taboos and handling the subject of rape with sensitivity; a rarity in Bollywood at the time.

The movie is highly memorable forSunny Deol's portrayal of an alcoholic lawyer and the role gained him aFilmfareas well asNational Film Awardfor Best Supporting Actor for 1993. It strengthened his Bollywood he-man image. His dialogues in the film "Tarikh Pe Tarikh"(" date after date ") and"Dhai Kilo ka Haath"('Two-and-a-half kilogram hand') became iconic and a pop-culture reference.The film was a milestone in the careers of Sunny Deol, Meenakshi Sheshadri and Amrish Puri, who gave some great hits likeGhayal(1990) andGhatak: Lethal(1996) together.Aamir Khanacted in a special appearance in the stage show dance song. He also promotes his upcoming filmAndaz Apna Apna(1994) which was also directed byRajkumar Santoshi.

Daminiis the recipient of a number of accolades. At the40th National Film Awards,Deol wonBest Supporting Actor.In addition to other awards, the film received seven nominations at the39th Filmfare AwardsincludingBest Film,Best Actressfor Seshadri, andBest Villainfor Puri. It won a 4 leading awards —Best Directorfor Santoshi,Best Supporting Actorfor Deol,Best Storyfor Sutanu Gupta, andBest Soundfor Rakesh Ranjan.

Plot

Shekhar Gupta (Rishi Kapoor), is the elder son of a rich businessman and industrialist, Kedarnath Gupta. He falls in love at first sight with Damini (Meenakshi Seshadri) after seeing her dance performance at a charity event. Damini belongs to a poor family but tends to raise voice against injustice in society. Her sister runs away from house with a drunkard and mimcry artist Birju Moghe to Mumbai, in a bid to relive her father from the onus of arranging dowry for her wedding. Damini and Shekhar get married and Damini moves into his luxurious bungalow. However, this irks Tolu Bajaj, the business partner of the Guptas who was planning to marry his daughter to Shekhar. He breaks the partnership with Guptas and begins to conspire against Guptas. Damini befriends Urmi, a young maid-servant who was brought up in the house of Guptas. On Holi day, she witnesses Shekhar's younger brother, Rakesh (Ashwin Kaushal), and his friends, gangraping the maid-servant Urmi (Prajakta) and rushes to tell Shekhar. Shekhar rushes over to prevent sexual assault but is too late. Later, Rakesh and his friends throw Urmi roadside. The Gupta family conspires to cover up this shameful incident. But Damini decides to inform the police. At this Shekhar tries to convince her to not to speak anything in front of police. When police visits her home, and ask Damini about the incident she denies to have any knowledge about it. Later it is revealed it is Tolu Bajaj, who has bribed police department to escalate the matter in order to tarnish the image of Guptas.

The matter is taken up in court and Damini is asked to testify. Guptas then hire Indrajit Chaddha as the matter get worsen. At the first hearing, Damini is portrayed as a mentally unstable person by Chaddha, and confined in a mental institution for two weeks by judicial order. At this Shekhar gets upset with his family while the Guptas and Bajaj reunite. At the mental institution, Damini overhears Rakesh asking the Doctor to deliberately make Damini mental or even kill her showing off as suicide. Damini escapes and runs into a down-and-out alcoholic lawyer, Govind (Sunny Deol), who saves her from the culprits chasing her. Govind decides to help her. He gets the rape case re-opened. Following this Guptas get Urmi murdered in hospital and try to showcase it as a suicide.

At the second hearing, Govind cross-questions the driver of Guptas, and is successful in proving that even driver knew about the incident. He also proves that the suicide note found by police near Urmi's body was fake. Seeing situation going out hand, Chaddha fakes a chest pain and asks court to give another date of hearing. Later that night, Chaddha meets Govind and asks him to settle out of court for some money, however an angry Govind challenges him to face him in courtroom. Following this Guptas send goons to kill Govind however in a fight-off he defeats them. Damini goes out in public and gets support. Drivers, servant and other relatives being fed up of the incident leave the House of Guptas.

On the day of third hearing, Guptas and Bajaj plan to kill Damini. This is overheard by Shekhar and vows to stand with Damini come what may. Later he is attacked by goons on road who kidnap him. This is seen by Mamaji, who go behind him in order to free him. Meanwhile, Bajaj along with his men tries to kill Damini going to court. However, they themselves get attacked by local people who shoo them off. At the court, Chaddha requests for another date since he believes that Damini and Shekhar is absconding. But sometime later Damini and Shekhar arrive, and both testify and bear witness to the incident. The court convicts Rakesh and his friends and also convicts the Guptas along with Bajaj and Chaddha as accused for covering up the same. Shekhar is spared for helping achieve justice and the court thanks Damini for her resilience and resolve, stating that she has set a historic example in the history of law and order.

Cast

• Rishi Kapooras Shekhar Gupta
• Meenakshi Seshadrias Damini Gupta
• Sunny Deolas Advocate Govind Srivastava
• Amrish Purias Barrister Indrajit Chaddha
• Kulbhushan Kharbandaas Kedarnath Gupta, Damini's father-in-law & Shekhar's father.
• Anjan Srivastavas Chandrakant, Damini's father
• Paresh Rawalas Tolu Bajaj
• Rohini Hattangadias Sumitra Gupta, Damini's mother-in-law & Shekhar's mother.
• Tinnu Anandas Shekhar's maternal uncle
• Sulabha Aryaas Shekhar's maternal aunt
• Achyut Potdaras Police Commissioner
• Vijayendra Ghatgeas Inspector Kadam
• K.K. Rainaas Shekhar's friend
• Virendra Saxenaas Advocate Saxena, First Lawyer of Damini and Public Prosecutor.
• Viju Khoteas Shekhar's Driver
• Madhav Mogheas Birju, Mimicry artist, Damini's brother-in-law.
• Ashwin Kaushalas Rakesh Gupta, Damini's brother-in-law & Shekhar's brother.
• Prajakta Kulkarnias Urmi
• Suhas Bhalekaras Urmi's grandfather (guest appearance)
• Aamir Khanas himself Dancer in a song with Damini. (special appearance)

Production

Rishi Kapoorsuggested Santoshi to castSrideviin the title role whereasSunny Deolthought that she would be a misfit for the role.Deol suggested to castDimple Kapadiainstead. Kapoor on being informed that Deol suggested Dimple Kapadia to portray the role, at once declared that he would leave the project if she was cast.The role was then offered toMadhuri Dixitwho turned it down because of her date issue.Meenakshi Seshadriwas then finalized to portray the role.

Soundtrack

Damini
Soundtrack albumby Nadeem-Shravan
Released	1993(1993)
Venue	Bombay
Studio	Sunny Super Sound
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	31 Min 25 sec
Language	Hindi
Label	RPG-HMV
Producer	Aly Moorani, Karim Morani & Bunty Shoorma

The soundtrack of this movie was composed by the music duoNadeem Shravanand the lyrics were penned bySameer.The soundtrack was released in 1993 on Audio Cassette and Audio CD in RPG-HMV Music Made in India and EMI Made in England, Which consist 5 Songs. The full album is recorded byKumar Sanu,Alka Yagnik,andSadhna Sargam

The lyrics were written The song "Gawah Hain Chand Taare Gawah Hai" is based on the Swahili folk song "Malaika".

Damini (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

No.	Title	Music	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Tandav (Instrumental)"	Nadeem Shravan& Traditional		2:21
2.	"Jab Yeh Dhai Kilo Ka Haath (Dialogues)"	Nadeem Shravan& Traditional	Sunny Deol	0:30
3.	"Chilaaoo Mat Nahin Toh Yeh Case Yahin Rafa Dafa Kar Doonga (Dialogues)"	Nadeem Shravan& Traditional	Sunny Deol	0:30
4.	"Chadha Samjhao Iss Aise Khilone Baazar Mein (Dialogues)"	Nadeem Shravan & Traditional	Sunny Deol	0:30
5.	"Achchha Aap Yeh Bataiye (Dialogues)"	Nadeem Shravan &Sameer	Rishi Kapoor, Meenakshi Seshadri, Amrish Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda & Anjan Srivastav	22:56
6.	"Mujhse Court Mein Ulajh Ne Se (Dialogues)"	Nadeem Shravan & Sameer	Rishi Kapoor,Meenakshi Seshadri,Amrish Puri& Kulbhushan Kharbanda	22:03
7.	"Damini (Dialogues)"	Nadeem Shravan & Sameer	Rishi Kapoor, Meenakshi Seshadri, Amrish Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda & Anjan Srivastav	22:56
8.	"Nahin Nahin Main Kuchh (Dialogues)"	Nadeem Shravan & Sameer	Rishi Kapoor, Meenakshi Seshadri & Amrish Puri	22:03
9.	"Bin Sajan Jhoola Jhulu"	Nadeem Shravan & Sameer	Kumar Sanu&Sadhana Sargam	6:15
10.	"Gawah Hai Chand Tare"	Nadeem Shravan & Sameer	Kumar Sanu &Alka Yagnik	6:16
11.	"Kaga To Ud Gaya"	Nadeem Shravan & Sameer	Alka Yagnik	5:16
12.	"Jab Se Tumko Dekha"	Nadeem Shravan & Sameer	Kumar Sanu & Sadhana Sargam	5:12
13.	"Sachcha Ashiq Hai To"	Nadeem Shravan & Sameer	Alka Yagnik & Kumar Sanu	8:23
Total length:				2:05:11

Critical reception

Pranay Bhagat wrote: "If there is one modern film which signifies the importance of truth it has to beDamini.Though the movie is more remembered for the dialogues of Sunny Deol and his confrontational scenes with Amrish Puri, I feel the movie should also be appreciated for a tight bound script, the wonderfully directed courtroom scenes, good background music as well as a career best performance from Meenakshi. "

Vineeta Sinha in her review praises the film for its tight bound script, courtroom scenes, music and above all the career best performance of Meenakshi.

Sulagana Biswas ofTelegraph India;states the film despite being dated is still "eminently watchable" and also praising Sheshadri's portrayal of the title role states "the film still holds its own due to the earnestness of Meenakshi Sheshadri's performance".Simantini Dey writing forNews18hails the film as a "cult feminist film" and states "Damini-- released in 1993 -- is perhaps one of the most misunderstood films in Bollywood history. Despite receiving instant critical acclaim upon its release and having a successful run at the box-office, we as an audience have celebrated this film for all the wrong reasons. Yes, Sunny Deol's punchy dialogues like, "Tarikh par Tarikh milti rahi hai, lekin insaaf nahi mila, my lord!" deserved all the claps and whistles it received, and the theatrics of the courtroom drama, wherein two lawyers Govind (Sunny Deol) and Mr. Indrajit Chaddha (Amrish Puri) exchange angry words and stares indeed make for a great Bollywood entertainer. But the real reason whyDaminiwas such an iconic film and deserves a cult status is the protagonist of the film --- Damini (played brilliantly by Meenakshi Seshadri). Till date, Bollywood has not given us such a strong and beautifully written female character as Damini, who not only has a mind of her own, but also a conscience. Long before films likeRaaziandPinkwere made in Bollywood, Rajkumar Santoshi'sDaminigave us a HIT feminist movie with a female central character, who fights against all odds to bring justice to another woman. "

Accolades

Ceremony	Category	Recipient	Result
40th National Film Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Sunny Deol	Won
39th Filmfare Awards	Best Supporting Actor
	Best Director	Rajkumar Santoshi
	Best Story	Sutanu Gupta
	Best Sound	Rakesh Ranjan
	Best Film	Damini	Nominated
	Best Actress	Meenakshi Seshadri
	Best Villain	Amrish Puri

Remakes

Damini – Lightningwas remade intoOdiaasNari Nuhne Tu Narayani,starring Sidhanta Mohapatra and Rachana Banarjee, in Tamil asPriyanka,starring Revathi as the title character, in Telugu asUrmila,starringSumanandMalashri,and in Bangladesh asSottyer Bijoy,starringMannaandMoushumi,directed by F.I. Manik.Box Office Indiadeclared the film a super hit. The rights of the movie were owned byShah Rukh Khan'sRed Chillies Entertainment,which were transferred toSunny Deolwho plans to remake the film with his son Karan Deol.

External links

• DaminiatIMDb