''Damini'' () is a 1993 Indian
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
-language
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
film directed and co-written by
Rajkumar Santoshi
Rajkumar Santoshi is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter of Hindi films. Having received several accolades including three National Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards, he made his directorial debut with the crime film ''Ghayal ( ...
. It stars
Meenakshi Seshadri
Meenakshi Seshadri (; born 16 November 1963) is a former Indian actress, model and dancer who worked primarily in Hindi films, with a few films in Telugu and Tamil. She made her debut with the film '' Painter Babu'' (1983) produced by Manoj K ...
in the titular role with
Sunny Deol,
Rishi Kapoor
Rishi Raj Kapoor (4 September 1952 — 30 April 2020) was an Indian actor, film director and producer who worked in Hindi films. He was the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards and a National Film Award.
Born into t ...
and
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Indian cinema and Theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himself as one of the most popular actor ...
.
Aamir Khan
Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...
makes 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 sixth
highest grossing of the year and was declared a "hit" at Box Office India.
[Box Office 1993]
Box Office India. ''Damini – Lightning'' is mostly remembered for
Meenakshi Seshadri
Meenakshi Seshadri (; born 16 November 1963) is a former Indian actress, model and dancer who worked primarily in Hindi films, with a few films in Telugu and Tamil. She made her debut with the film '' Painter Babu'' (1983) produced by Manoj K ...
'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 cinema The pathbreaking film was praised for breaking social taboos and handling the subject of rape with sensitivity; a rarity in Bollywood at the time.
It is equally memorable for
Sunny Deol's brilliant portrayal of an alcoholic lawyer and the role gained him a
Filmfare as well as
National Film Award
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...
for 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 like ''
Ghayal'' (1990) and ''
Ghatak: Lethal'' (1996) together.
Aamir Khan
Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...
acted in a special appearance in the stage show dance song. He also promotes his upcoming film ''
Andaz Apna Apna
''Andaz Apna Apna'' () is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and produced by Vinay Kumar Sinha. It stars Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Raveena Tandon, Karishma Kapoor, Paresh Rawal (in a dual role) and Shakti Kap ...
'' (1994) which was also directed by
Rajkumar Santoshi
Rajkumar Santoshi is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter of Hindi films. Having received several accolades including three National Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards, he made his directorial debut with the crime film ''Ghayal ( ...
.
''Damini'' is the recipient of a number of accolades. At the
40th National Film Awards, Deol won
Best Supporting Actor. In addition to other awards, the film received seven nominations at the
39th Filmfare Awards including
Best Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
,
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
for Seshadri, and
Best Villain
Best or The Best may refer to:
People
* Best (surname), people with the surname Best
* Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer
Companies and organizations
* Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain
* Best Lock Corporation ...
for Puri. It won a 4 leading awards —
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:
Film awards
* AACTA Award for Best Direction
* Academy Award for Best Director
* BA ...
for Santoshi,
Best Supporting Actor for Deol,
Best Story for Sutanu Gupta, and
Best Sound for Rakesh Ranjan.
Plot
Shekhar Gupta (
Rishi Kapoor
Rishi Raj Kapoor (4 September 1952 — 30 April 2020) was an Indian actor, film director and producer who worked in Hindi films. He was the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards and a National Film Award.
Born into t ...
), a rich businessman, falls in love at first sight with Damini (
Meenakshi Seshadri
Meenakshi Seshadri (; born 16 November 1963) is a former Indian actress, model and dancer who worked primarily in Hindi films, with a few films in Telugu and Tamil. She made her debut with the film '' Painter Babu'' (1983) produced by Manoj K ...
). They get married and Damini moves into his luxurious bungalow. 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. The Gupta family conspires to cover up this shameful incident. But Damini decides to inform the police. The matter is taken up in court and Damini is asked to testify. Damini is portrayed as a mentally unstable person and confined in a mental institution for two weeks by judicial order. Unable to bear the mental torture in the institution, she escapes and runs into a down-and-out alcoholic lawyer, Govind (
Sunny Deol), who has the rape case re-opened. Urmi dies in hospital and the police write her death off as a suicide. But Govind is able to prove otherwise. It is up to Damini, Govind and Shekhar to provide justice to the victimized girl.
Cast
*
Rishi Kapoor
Rishi Raj Kapoor (4 September 1952 — 30 April 2020) was an Indian actor, film director and producer who worked in Hindi films. He was the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards and a National Film Award.
Born into t ...
as Shekhar Gupta
*
Meenakshi Seshadri
Meenakshi Seshadri (; born 16 November 1963) is a former Indian actress, model and dancer who worked primarily in Hindi films, with a few films in Telugu and Tamil. She made her debut with the film '' Painter Babu'' (1983) produced by Manoj K ...
as Damini Gupta
*
Sunny Deol as Advocate Govind Srivastava
*
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Indian cinema and Theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himself as one of the most popular actor ...
as Barrister Indrajit Chaddha
*
Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Kulbhushan Kharbanda (born 21 October 1944) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi films. He is best known for his role as the antagonist Shakaal in '' Shaan'' (1980), Starting off with the Delhi-based theatre group 'Yatrik' in the 1 ...
as Kedarnath Gupta, Damini's father-in-law & Shekhar's father.
*
Anjan Srivastav
Aanjjan Srivastav (born 2 June 1948) is an Indian film, television and stage actor, associated with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) in Mumbai of which he remained Vice-President for several years. Outside theatre, he is best known as ...
as Chandrakant, Damini's father
*
Paresh Rawal as Tolu Bajaj
*
Rohini Hattangadi as Sumitra Gupta, Damini's mother-in-law & Shekhar's mother.
*
Tinnu Anand
Tinu Anand (born Virender Raj Anand, 12 October 1945) is an Indian actor, director, writer and producer in Hindi cinema and a few Telugu and Tamil films.
Early life
He is the son of veteran writer Inder Raj Anand, brother of producer Bittu An ...
as Shekhar's maternal uncle
*
Sulabha Arya
Sulabha Arya (born 15 July 1950) is an Indian actress in Hindi and Marathi film, television and stage industry. She is the wife of late veteran Indian cinematographer Ishan Arya and mother of cinematographer Sameer Arya and actor Sagar Arya. S ...
as Shekhar's maternal aunt
*
Achyut Potdar as Police Commissioner
*
Vijayendra Ghatge as Inspector Kadam
*
K.K. Raina
K. K. Raina is an Indian film, television and theatre character actor and award-winning script writer, who is best known for his roles as ''Juror #8'' in the 1986 film ''Ek Ruka Hua Faisla'', a remake of 12 Angry Men, and Byomkesh Bakshi's ass ...
as Shekhar's friend
*
Virendra Saxena
Virendra Saxena (born 23 November 1951) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi theatre, film, and television. He is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. Saxena is known for his character roles as well as his unique voice. He has acted in ...
as Advocate Saxena, First Lawyer of Damini and Public Prosceutor.
*
Viju Khote
Viju Khote (17 December 1941 – 30 September 2019) was an Indian actor who was known for his work in more than 440 films in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He was famous as the dacoit ''Kaalia'' in the film ''Sholay'' and the dialogue, "Sardar ...
as Shekhar's Driver
*Madhav Moghe as Birju , Mimicry artist , Damini's brother-in-law.
*Ashwin Kaushal as Rakesh Gupta, Damini's brother-in-law & Shekhar's brother.
*Prajakta Kulkarni as Urmi
*Suhas Bhalekar as Urmi's grandfather (guest appearance)
*
Aamir Khan
Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...
as himself Dancer in a song with Damini. (special appearance)
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of this movie was composed by the music duo
Nadeem Shravan
Nadeem (also spelled Nadim or Nedim; ar, نديم) is an Arabic masculine given name. It means "best friend of the drinker" "companion", "confidant" or "friend". Originates from the plural word "Nadama""نَدامَى" which means, drink to forg ...
and the lyrics were penned by
Sameer
Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...
. 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 by
Kumar Sanu
Kedarnath Bhattacharya (born 20 October 1957), better known as Kumar Sanu, is an Indian playback singer. He is known as the King of Melody in Bollywood. He is famous for singing thousands of Bollywood Hindi songs. Apart from Hindi, he has al ...
,
Alka Yagnik, and
Sadhna Sargam
Sadhana Sargam (née Ghanekar, born 7 March 1969) is an Indian singer known for her playback career in Indian cinema predominantly in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil language films. She is a recipient of the National Film Award and Filmfare Awa ...
The lyrics were written The song "Gawah Hain Chand Taare Gawah Hai" is based on the Swahili folk song "
Malaika
Malaika is a Swahili song written by Tanzanian musician Adam Salim in 1945. This song is possibly the most famous of all Swahili love songs in Tanzania, Kenya and the entire East Africa, as well as being one of the most widely known of all Swahili ...
".
Critical reception
Film reviewer Pranay Bhagat wrote: "If there is one modern film which signifies the importance of truth it has to be ''Damini''. 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."
Critic 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.
Film critic Sulagana Biswas for the ''Telegraph 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 for ''News18'' hails 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 why ''Damini'' was 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 like ''Raazi ''and ''Pink'' were made in Bollywood, Rajkumar Santoshi's ''Damini'' gave us a HIT feminist movie with a female central character, who fights against all odds to bring justice to another woman."
Accolades
Remakes
''Damini – Lightning'' was remade into Oriya as ''Nari Nuhne Tu Narayani'', starring Sidhanta Mohapatra and Rachana Banarjee, in Tamil as ''
Priyanka
''Priyanka'' is a popular female given name in Hindu and Buddhist cultures. It is a name derived from the Sanskrit word 'Priyankera' or 'Priyankara', meaning someone or something that is amiable, lovable, or makes you happy and the one who has lov ...
'', starring Revathi as the title character, in Telugu as ''Urmila'', starring
Suman and
Malashri
Malashri (born 10 August 1973) is an Indian actress. She has predominantly worked in Kannada films and was the topmost heroine in the 1990s. She has also worked in Telugu and Tamil cinema. Malashri was popular for playing diverse roles in wome ...
, and in Bangladesh as ''Sottyer Bijoy'', starring
Manna
Manna ( he, מָן, mān, ; ar, اَلْمَنُّ; sometimes or archaically spelled mana) is, according to the Bible, an edible substance which God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert during the 40-year period follow ...
and
Moushumi
Arifa Pervin Zaman (born 3 November,1972), better known by her stage name Moushumi, is a Bangladeshi film actress and director. She won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Actress three times for her roles in ''Meghla Akash'' (2001), ''Dev ...
, directed by F.I. Manik. ''
Box Office India
Box Office India is an Indian film website. Its traffic ranking in India is 83,665 . A new Box Office India website went live on 20 January 2014.
About
Box Office India was launched on 10 June 2003. Its uses Whois privacy to anonymize its ow ...
'' declared the film a super hit. The rights of the movie were owned by
Shah Rukh Khan's
Red Chillies Entertainment
Red Chillies Entertainment is an Indian visual effects, production and distribution company established by actor Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan in 2002. It was transformed from the defunct Dreamz Unlimited. Based in Mumbai, the studio' ...
, which were transferred to
Sunny Deol who plans to remake the film with his son Karan Deol.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Damini - Lightning
1993 films
1993 crime drama films
Films scored by Nadeem–Shravan
Films directed by Rajkumar Santoshi
Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor National Film Award-winning performance
Hindi films remade in other languages
1990s Hindi-language films
Indian crime drama films
Indian legal drama films
Indian courtroom films
Films about rape in India
1990s legal films
Indian avant-garde and experimental films