30 Years Of Damini EXCLUSIVE: Rajkumar Santoshi reveals why Om Puri couldn’t be a part of the film: “The producer and Om Puri’s secretary had some misunderstanding over the fees. Then I thought of trying Sunny Deol. And he came on board GLADLY”

One of the greatest courtroom dramas of all time, Damini (1993), completed 30 glorious years on April 30. Starring Rishi Kapoor, Sunny Deol, Meenakshi Seshadri, Amrish Puri and others, the film was loved for tackling sensitive issues, its bravura performances and of course for Sunny’s iconic ‘tareekh pe tareekh’ dialogue.

As Damini celebrates its 30th anniversary, Bollywood Hungama spoke exclusively to director Rajkumar Santoshi about the film and a lot more.

As per the trivia on IMDb, it is mentioned that Dimple Kapadia and Sridevi were the original choices for the role of Damini and not Meenakshi Seshadri. Is it true? Not at all. Since its inception, Meenakshi Seshadri was a part of the film.

It’s also said that Om Puri was considered for the role that was eventually played by Sunny Deol… Yes, we had the thought of bringing in Om Puri and show his confrontation with Amrish Puri. Sunny had become a very big hero after Ghayal (1990). He was supposed to do another action-packed film, Ghatak (1996), with me. And the character in Damini comes in reel no 12. Hence, we thought that instead of Sunny, we should bring in Om Puri. However, the producer and Om Puri’s secretary had some misunderstanding over the fees. Then I thought of trying Sunny. And he came on board gladly.

Since Sunny Deol was a big star at that point, were you or the producers tempted to bring him into the narrative earlier or before the interval? Everything in the film was instinctive. I don’t believe in corrupting the process or harming the script. Jis character ki jahan zaroorat hai, wahin hona chahiye.

It is also said that you were not happy that the makers of Damini came up with solo posters of Sunny Deol… Once I direct a film, then it’s the producer who takes care of the marketing and other aspects. Uska paisa laga hai. If I were the producer, I will have a say. Or else, I won’t.

Did you visit cinema halls to check the audience feedback? Sunny and I visited Bandra Talkies. The response was fantastic.

The ‘tareekh pe tareekh’ dialogue is iconic and even today, gives goosebumps. At the same time, it is saddening to see that it is relevant even today, 30 years after the film’s release. This means that the justice system is still largely flawed in our society as it was in 1993. Your thoughts? Not really. These dialogues were written from the heart. I had a personal experience involving courts. My mother and grandmother had to visit the court regularly as our flat in Thane was a disputed property. This is when I saw that paise waale paison ka use karke taarekh lete rehte the. I knew the pain of the common man and how he can be harassed.

How many years did the court case go on? It went on for 4-5 years.

Damini won the Filmfare Award for Best Direction, Best Supporting Actor (Sunny Deol), Best Story (Sutanu Gupta) and Best Sound (Rakesh Ranjan). Shockingly, it didn’t win the award for Best Dialogues though it had several hard-hitting one-liners. Did that sadden you? Why would I be sad? For my first film Ghayal, I won so many awards, from National Awards to Filmfare. Awards are secondary. Log aapke dialogues ko yaad rakhte hai, dialogues pe taali bajate hai, khush hote hai aapki film dekh ke…yehi important hai.

We are living in an era of remakes. Have you ever thought of remaking Damini? There are so many new stories waiting to be told.

And what about a sequel to Damini? Ghayal also had a sequel, Ghayal Once Again (2016). Do you think the character of Advocate Govind Srivastava, played by Sunny Deol, can be taken forward? We had thought about it but nothing materialized.

Also Read:Sunny Deol recreates the Tarikh Pe Tarikh dialogue and adds a dash of Rahul Dravid’s Indiranagar Ka Gunda to it

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