“Sab log Sunny ko bohot maante hai Damini mein, but main Chintu ji ko maanti hoon (Everybody loved Sunny Deol, but I appreciated Rishi Kapoor more in Damini),” Meenakshi told Radio Nasha.
She feels that when you are not given major lines unlike the rest of the characters in a movie and you still hold your ground, it deserves much more appreciation. “He has fleshed out that part, hats off to him,” she said.
She further added that only Rishi Kapoor could have created meaning in a role which was not author-backed. She said that the industry took it very well and people thought she will do challenging roles like this.
In his biography Khullam Khulla, Rishi Kapoor had written that he was supposed to be the hero of the film and Sunny had a guest appearance in Damini. But in the end, Sunny walked away with the accolades and the applause. He had mentioned that underplaying a character and still standing out is a tough act to pull off. He tend to believe perhaps Sunny was better than him and his role resonated more with the audience, but his character was more difficult to essay.
Damini is a gripping social drama that revolves around the life of Damini Gupta, played by Meenakshi Seshadri, a young woman who witnesses a brutal rape and assault on their housemaid committed by her brother-in-law and his friends. She is determined to seek justice for the victim, even though it means going up against her own family, who tries to suppress the truth to protect the accused. While Rishi Kapoor played Damini’s husband Shekhar Gupta, Sunny essayed the role of Advocate Govind Srivastava and Amrish Puri as Barrister Indrajit Chaddha.
