| Damini | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Rajkumar Santoshi |
| Produced by |
Aly Morani Karim Morani Bunty Soorma |
| Written by |
Rajkumar Santoshi Sutanu Gupta (Story) |
| Starring |
Meenakshi Sheshadri Sunny Deol Rishi Kapoor Vijayendra Ghatge Rohini Hattangadi Kulbhushan Kharbanda Amrish Puri Paresh Rawal Tinu Anand |
| Music by |
Nadeem-Shravan Sameer (Lyrics) |
| Cinematography | Ishwar Bidri |
| Edited by | V. N. Mayekar |
Release date | 30 April 1993 |
Running time | 176 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Box office | ?117.5 million (US$1.8 million) |
Damini – Lightning is a 1993 Indian crime drama film directed by Rajkumar Santoshi starring Meenakshi Seshadri in the title role alongside Sunny Deol, Rishi Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Tinu Anand, Paresh Rawal in pivotal roles and Aamir Khan in a special appearance. The story is of how a woman fights against society for justice. The film is considered to be one of the best woman-centric films ever made in Bollywood.
Besides being critically acclaimed, the film became the sixth highest grossing of the year and was declared a "hit" at Box Office India. Damini – Lightning is mostly remembered for Meenakshi Seshadri's best career performance and it is also memorable for Sunny Deol's role as an advocate and gained him a Filmfare as well as National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1993. It strengthened his Bollywood he-man image. His dialogue in the film "Tarikh pe tarikh" became iconic and a pop-culture reference. The film was a milestone in the careers of Meenakshi Sheshadri, Sunny Deol and Amrish Puri, who gave some great hits like Ghayal and Ghatak: Lethal together. Aamir Khan acted in a special appearance in the stage show dance song. Damini – Lightning was remade into Oriya as Nari Nuhne Tu Narayani, starring Sidhanta Mohapatra and Rachana Banarjee. It was remade into Tamil as Priyanka, starring Revathi as the title character. Box Office India declared the film a hit. This film was remade in Bangladesh as Sottyer Bijoy, starring Manna (actor) and Moushumi, directed by F.I. Manik. The rights of the movie are now owned by Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment.
Contents
Synopsis
Shekhar Gupta (Rishi Kapoor), a rich businessman, falls in love at first sight with Damini (Meenakshi Sheshadri). 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, raping the maid-servant Urmi (Prajakta) and rushes to tell Shekhar. Shekhar rushes over to prevent the sexual assault but is too late. The Gupta family conspire 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 a 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 victimised girl.
Cast
- Meenakshi Sheshadri as Damini Gupta
- Rishi Kapoor as Shekhar Gupta
- Sunny Deol as Govind
- Amrish Puri as Barrister Indrajit Chaddha
- Anjan Srivastav as Chandrakant (Damini's father)
- Paresh Rawal as Tolu Bajaj
- Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Mr. Gupta
- Rohini Hattangadi as Mrs. Gupta
- Vishwajeet Pradhan as the Police Commissioner
- Ashwin Kaushal as Shekhar's Brother
- Vijayendra Ghatge as Inspector Kadam
- K.K. Raina as Shekhar's friend
- Suhas Bhalekar in a Guest Appearance as Urmi's Grandfather
- Prajakta as Urmi
- Sulabha Arya as Mami Tinu Anand's wife
- Tinnu Anand as Shekhar's uncle
- Aamir Khan as Dancer in a song with Meenakshi[5]
Reviews
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."[6]
Remakes
| Year | Film | Language | Cast | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Urmila | Telugu | Suman, Malashri, Sunil, Soundarya, Murali Mohan, Tanikella Bharani | Tammareddy Bharadwaja |
| 1994 | Priyanka | Tamil | Revathi, Jayaram, Prabhu | G. Neelakanta Reddy |
| 2006 | Sottyer Bijoy | Bangladesh | Manna, Moushumi | |
| 2007 | Nari Nuhen Tu Narayani | Oriya | Siddhanta, Rachana |
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of this movie was composed by the music duo Nadeem Shravan. The lyrics were written by Sameer.
| No | Title | Singer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Jab Se Tumko Dekha Hai Sanam" | Kumar Sanu, Sadhana Sargam |
| 2 | "Gawah Hain Chand Taare" | Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik |
| 3 | "Bin Sajan Jhoola Jhoolu" | Kumar Sanu, Sadhana Sargam |
| 4 | "Sacha Aashiq Hai To" | Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik |
| 5 | "Kaga To Udd Gaya" | Alka Yagnik |
Awards
- Winner - National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor – Sunny Deol
Filmfare Award
- Winner - Best Director: Rajkumar Santoshi
- Winner - Best Supporting Actor : Sunny Deol[7]
- Nominated - Best Actress :Meenakshi Seshadri
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