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!

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.

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.

The great Rajkumar Santoshi delivers "Damini", a powerful, gripping and hauntingly fascinating picture which can be rightfully called a great relief at a time when most Hindi films were poorly written. This is the story of a young girl who marries into a wealthy family. One day, during the Holi festival she witnesses a horrifying incident of her brother in-law gang-raping the housemaid Umi along with his friends. She cannot get into the closed room, and seeks help from her husband, but the two are too late. When the police comes to interrogate Damini about the physically and emotionally ravaged Umi who lies in hospital, Damini, despite all the pressure coming from her in-laws and her own husband, says the entire truth, and that's how this is taken to court. The story narrates the nightmare Damini goes through only because she is decisively stuck by her stand.

Amazingly scripted and aptly executed, Damini shocks you with its unpredictable proceedings and its disturbing and brutally honest portrayal of rape, injustice and social ignorance, without overdoing any scene in this regard. Its main goal, however, is not to portray the society as bad or unfair, but to show the power of one, and in this case, the power of one simple yet strong woman who has nothing but her truth, and who is ready to face the entire world if necessary to go with this very truth. The film is aided by pleasant music, brilliant dialogues, good editing, effective cinematography, but what makes it stand out is of course Rajkumar Santoshi's fantastic direction. Santoshi pulls this project off and delivers a product that is laden with intensity, suspense and entertainment value. He pays attention to details and extracts first-rate performances from his actors and from Meenakshi Sheshadri in particular.

Meenakshi Sheshadri, in a role of a lifetime, acts like never before. An actress who was limited to insignificant roles of the wife and the love interest in mindless action films, she is simply outstanding as Damini. She is compelling, intense and very convincing throughout the film. I also liked the "nervous breakdown" dance number she did, like the one of Sridevi in Lamhe. This is an exceptional performance. The only other actor who stands out in a big way is Sunny Deol, whose character of the good lawyer comes as a great relief. This is one of his greatest performances. Other cast members include Rishi Kapoor, who makes no impact as 'the husband', Kulbhushan Kharbanda who is good as Rishi Kapoor's father, and Amrish Puri who is as brilliant as always as the corrupted lawyer. Damini is an incredibly interesting, disturbing and ultimately inspiring piece which should not be missed by anyone.

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.