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,