Daman means ’to dominate’. Well, thats what the this arty kind of film tries to potray in a rather unusual saga of a woman Durga (Raveena Tandon) being dominated by her cranky, vulgar and scary looking husband Sanjay (Sayaji Shinde). He is the perfect villian and she is the ever so sacrificing bahu..In the first place why on earth did she marry him? Raveena Tandon won the National award (2000) for this movie. This sort of drove me to go ahead and rent this movie. Well I wasn’t very pleased with my decision but then again it satisfied my curiosity. Art movies sometimes interest me as they have some substance or a message in them.
The message here is..How important it is for a woman to educate herself and to be independent ..so that she is able to face and fight for her rights. The difference here is, Durga breaks all ties with her Devil like husband, runs away with her daughter and her daughter in turn becomes the pillar of strength for the mother.
The movie begins with Durga running away with her daughter Deepa (Raima Sen) & proceeds in flashbacks as she keeps remembering little incidents starting with her wedding day where she comes with many dreams into a strange crazy family. Her only source of inspiration is her sweet brother in law Sunil (Sanjay Suri), who has a soft corner for his Bhabhi. He keeps protecting her and making her smile. The Situation with her husband worsens everyday as he keeps humiliating her..Things become complicated as she gives birth to a girl instead of a boy..This time she leans on Sunil for support who gives it without hesitation.
Years go by..and one fine day amidst a fight her husband accuses her of having an affair with Sunil ( her brother in law) and in a fit of rage kills poor Sunil. That is when Durga runs away.
Well, to continue the latter half could have been better but the story keeps flipping back and forth with songs, romance between Raima Sen and Shaan (He is making his debut in this movie I guess)..
Daman could have been much much better and powerful but somewhere something fails to make that impact. However certain scenes are very touching. Raveena’s performance was convincing. The rest of the cast was good too. Well, Daman is not a entertainment movie kind, but all those curious to watch what it is all about, its worth a video rental..BUT when you are in a mood for some sob stuff..!!