Damini

Damini gets a 10/10, mainly thanks to Sunny Deol in the 2nd half. He was brilliant as the drunk and clever lawyer. See how he tells of the main baddie, Amrish Puri. The confrontation scenes between them are definitely worth watching repeatedly. Sunny won National Award for this. The dialogues are so witty, and the manner in which Sunny says them is humorous. Even his outburst in court is excellent, especially "Tarikh Pe Tarikh." I also like the phrase, "Judge order order karta hain aur tu pidtha rahega!" that uses against Amrish Puri (corrupt lawyer). Their confrontation scenes are immensely watchable. Sunny overshadows everyone else with an awesome performance, as he is the saving grace because his introduction after intermission takes the movie to a new level. He even bashes the baddies at the very end. If you ever watch this movie, do it for Sunny Deol. Enjoy!

In my opinion 'Damini' is Rajkumar Santoshi's best work to date. Meenakshi Sheshadri gives a powerful and flawless performance in what can be described as a role of a lifetime, a part every actress would only dream for. However, the actress decided to call it quits because, rumour had it, she didn't win the best actress award. She only did a handful of films to keep up with her other commitments.

Damini is a simple honest young lady who lives with her poor parents and sister. To save her parents from misery, Damini's elder sister elopes with an alcoholic. A wealthy businessman Shekhar sets his eyes on Damini and falls in love. The two get married but Damini's in-laws keep their distant. A lonely Damini develops a close relationship with the young housemaid Urmi. During the holi festival, the whole household celebrate the colour and music with visitors. Damini's brother-in-law and his three friends gang-rape Urmi. A helpless Damini witnesses the horror and she desperately seeks help from Shekhar. But they're too late and Damini faints from the shock. Shekhar's brother and co dump Urmi's ravaged body in the gutter. When Damini is conscious, she wonders about Urmi and Shekhar assures her that Urmi's fine and receiving medical attention in the hospital but suddenly the police arrive and want to interrogate Damini. Shekhar begs Damini to 'lie' for the sake of the family honour. But Damini never lied in her life...

Definitely an innovative screenplay and Santoshi deserves full marks as a director especially for the way he builds up the tension without going over the top (in most cases). However, the courtroom sequences tend to be a little too dramatic.

There are very few songs but they provide a nice break and are melodious and pleasant.

Rishi Kapoor does well in a role with shades of gray. Same goes for Kulbushan Kharbanda. In a very brief role, Sunny Deol too is good (though he should have tried not to be too loud). Amrish Puri does well but his character is slightly caricatured. Ditto for Paresh Rawal.

But, 'Damini' is a one woman show and it rests entirely on Meenakshi Sheshadri's powerful performance. The actress is amazing and she finally gets a role that does full justice to her immense talent. Known to be one of the finest dancers (and yes, here too she dances with grace and energy), with 'Damini' she's proved to be one of the finest actresses of India. It would have been easy for an actress to mess up the role but Sheshadri portrays Damini's strength and vulnerability through her innocence and sincerity with gusto.

'Damini' is also a socially relevant film about the power of one. How the power of one voice can make a difference, how honesty is always best policy (as the truth shall prevail), to do what's right and always fight against injustice.

Rape is that heinous crime in which the culprit escapes punishment due to the social structure as well as the law being heavily tilted in his favour and the victim, i.e., the raped woman has no option but to swallow her tears and live her life with the unhealable wounds on her heart and soul. Mostly, such cases are either not registered or aborted before reaching the court. And even when any such case reaches the court of justice, the defendant's lawyer takes the advantage of the legal loopholes and save his client for whom the acquittal proves to be a moral booster to repeat the crime with someone else. Damini is a movie which deals with this issue with utmost gravity and sincerity.

There is one apex court above all the worldly courts, the court of conscience which no criminal or anybody aiding and abetting him can escape. Where all the worldly courts fail in their job, the court of conscience takes the charge. Though in today's world, hardcore criminals have buried their conscience also deep down the earth, never allowing it to surface agai; nevertheless conscience plays its role at least for those who are not tainted themselves but don't raise their voice due to the fear of social obloquy or blood relations with the culprits. This fact is emphatically brought to fore in the climax of Damini (lightning).

Damini (1993) starts with the love of Rishi Kapoor as Shekhar and Meenakshi Sheshadri being in the title role. Shekhar is the eldest son of a rich business house whereas Damini is from an ordinary family. Damini who is trying to adjust herself to the hostile environment in the family is stunned to see the maid being raped by her brother-in-law and his friends. She could not save her honour but then she makes up her mind to make her get justice. Quite naturally, she finds herself all alone in this compaign with all her in-laws going against her and her loving husband preferring to be the silent spectator to their activities in the name of the family's honour.

Situation gets from bad to worse for Damini when the maid is killed in the hospital, the crooked lawyer (Amrish Puri) hired by her in-laws proves her as insane in the court so that her testimony is not taken into cognizance by the court and even the sympathetic police inspector (Vijayendra Ghatge) also proves himself to be greedy of tangible beneifts instead of doing his duty diligently to ensure justice to the victim. Imprisoned in an asylum, everything seems to be bleak for her. But when she is able to escape from it, fortune make her cross path with another desperate person Govind (Sunny Deol) who, despite being a laywer, could not get justice when his wife was killed in a hit and run accident and is now trying to find solace in alcohol. In Damini's relentless quest for justice, Govind also gets a purpose for living. However since the criminals are too strong to allow any evidence against to survive, finally justice is ensured when the slept conscience of Shekhar awakens and the failure of worldly court is overshadowed by the victory of the court of Shekhar's conscience.

A hard-hitting movie, Damini is thoroughly impressive and keeps the viewer hooked throughout. It's an intense movie with only the songs providing some relief in between. The biggest credit for making this movie a success goes to its director Rajkumar Santoshi who has rendered utmost reality to the narrative sans the court-room scenes (especially those involving Sunny Deol). The theatricals in the court-room are the only unreal thing shown in the movie because nowhere in India (and the world too), such kind of rhetoric and shouting is allowed by the judges. Otherwise, the A class direction of Santoshi has kept the narrative not only engrossing but also hitting the conscience of the viewers at the appropriate places with appropriate force. Santoshi has crafted each and every scene with the finesse of a devoted artist. A very well made movie indeed.

Rajkumar Santoshi is said to have been in love with the heroine, Meenakshi Sheshadri (who is said to have turned down his proposal). May be due to this personal reason or otherwise, Santoshi gave the role of a lifetime and she excelled like anything. Obese Rishi Kapoor alongwith Amrish Puri and the supporting cast has done well. But it's Sunny Deol who remains with the audience after the movie is over. His over-the-top but very very effective performance make him win the national award for the best actor and his dialogues are still remembered by the people. He is brilliant not only in action and dialogue-delivery but also expressing his anguish and frustration through his gestures.

Technically the movie is A class. The length is quite OK and the production value is high. Dialogues (despite the rhetoric and the over-dramatic tone) are just like hitting the nail right on its head. Nadeem-Shravan's music is good with the beautiful lyrics having been penned by Sameer.

I recommend this socially relevant and eye-opening movie to all those who like meaningful cinema and who believe that the voice of your conscience cannot be suppressed or ignored forever.

Damini Gupta (Meenaskshi Sheshadri) who comes from a middle-class family is seen by Shekhar, the son of wealthy Mr. Gupta, when he goes to a small hill-station town. He is captivated by her beauty and falls in love with her. Shekhar brings his father to meet Damini and her dad who is a post-master named Chandrakant. Mr. Gupta is charmed by the simple beauty and outright honesty of Damini, and they finalize Shekhar's and Damini's marriage, which is celebrated with great pomp and ceremony.

On day during the Indian festival of Holi, Damini catches Shekhar's brother called Rakesh and some of his friends in the act of molesting a maid servant and calls in aid of her husband. However they are to late. Rakesh makes off with the maid servant in a van.

Then the Gupta family conspire to cover-up this shameful incident. But Damini is unable to get this incident out of her mind, and finally decides to inform the police. She does so, and is instantly shunned by the Gupta family, and asked to leave the house. The police arrest Rakesh and three of his friends, and the matter is taken up in court, and Damini is asked to testify. Damini is portrayed by the Gupta family's lawyer, Indrajit Chhadha, as a mentally unstable person, with everyone from the Gupta family to her very own dad testifying to that effect. Damini is confined in an mental institution for two weeks by a judicial order. Mr. Gupta bribes the warden of the institution into permanently making Damini mad so that she is no longer a threat to Rakesh. And so Damini is made mad by shock treatment.

Meanwhile, Rakesh is scared that if Damini regained her senses she would be able to put him behind bars. Also seeing that Damini has no longer use of her mental faculties he would also be able to indulge himself with her. He plans to take her from the institution by making a deal with the warden.

During that fateful day, Damini who is gazing outside of her cell, witnesses an event that restores her mental faculties.

She barely manages to escape and runs being into a down-and-out alcoholic lawyer by the name of Govind (Sunny Deol) while being pursued by Rakesh and his friends. Govind is more than a match for Rakesh and his friends and scares them off.

Govind was a lawyer who gave up law when he failed to get justice for his wife who was killed in a hit and run accident. He does not believe in the justice system, but Damini's courage boosts him. He re-opens the rape case and starts his crusade against Mr. Gupta and family.

Will Govind succeed? Will Damini be united with her husband? Watch this blockbuster film by acclaimed director Raj Kumar Santoshi.

Powerful acting. Even Sunny Deol in the second half rocks with 'taarik pe taarik' and my favorite 'dhai kilo ka haath' dialogues. His act as a drunk lawyer is brilliant. If more Indians watch this, crime and corruption would go down. Great movie, especially with Sunny. Amrish Puri makes a great villain, although he is humorous at times as the corrupt lawyer named Chadda (what a name)! Anyways, the point is to take the stand for what is right. Speak out people! It is your right, and nobody can ever take that away from you. I would watch this for Sunny Deol, as he is my favorite action star. A movie like this is really thought-provoking and meaningful.