When Rishi Kapoor felt Sunny Deol ‘took all the credit’ for Damini even though he was the hero: ‘He was the loud character’
Rajkumar Santoshi’s 1993 film Damini had Meenakshi Seshadri playing the titular role and Rishi Kapoor playing the “hero”, but the one who walked away with all the applause here was Sunny Deol, who had a small but significant part here. This was the film where Sunny said his unforgettable line ‘Dhai kilo ka haath’ and had an electrifying courtroom scene saying ‘Tareekh pe tareekh’ that fetched him a National Award. Rishi Kapoor felt that his role of the “protective husband” sounded “really challenging” but after watching the film, he felt “that Sunny Deol, who played the lawyer, took away all the credit.” The film completes 30 years of release today; Rishi Kapoor passed away in April 2020.
Damini follows its titular character who is fighting for her househelp Urmi after she is raped by her husband’s brother. Damini makes it her mission to fight for her Urmi even if it means that she has to go against her family. Rishi Kapoor played Damini’s husband who cannot pick sides and Sunny Deol played the lawyer who fights for Urmi.
Rishi, in his memoir Khullam Khulla, shared that when he was given a narration, there were “two male protagonists.” “One was a lawyer and another a drunkard. The two roles were later merged into one and played by Sunny Deol.” He admitted that at the time, Sunny was “more bankable actor” than him.
Rishi said, “Although I was supposed to be the hero of the film and Sunny had a guest appearance in it, in the end he walked away with the accolades and the applause.” Hinting that Sunny was the “loud” character, he said that the “audience could easily identify with” him more, in comparison to his “complex” character. “Underplaying a character and still standing out is a tough act to pull off,” he wrote and added, “Perhaps, Sunny was better than me, perhaps his role resonated more with the audience, but my character was more difficult to essay.”
Rishi stuck to his guns and maintained that his role in Damini was “difficult to execute” for he had to portray the “dilemma and the tortured anxieties of a husband torn between his family and love for his wife. “
