Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence

Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence
Movie poster
Directed by	Kalpana Lajmi
Produced by	Hrishikesh Mukherjee N. C. Sippy
Written by	Kalpana Lajmi
Starring	Raveena Tandon Sayaji Shinde Sanjay Suri Raima Sen Bharti Jaffrey Shaan
Music by	Bhupen Hazarika Maya Govind (Lyrics)
Cinematography	Jatinder Sharma Bijoice Verghese
Editing by	Anirban
Distributed by	National Film Development Corporation of India Dept of Family Welfare (Government of India)
Release date(s)	4 May 2001
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence is a 2001 Indian film directed by Kalpana Lajmi released on 4 May 2001. The lead actress, Raveena Tandon, won the distinguished National Film Award for Best Actress for her role as Durga Saikia. The film follows the story of a battered wife. The film was distributed by India's Government.

Synopsis

Set in the backdrop of Assam, a state in the north eastern part of India, the film portrays the conservative pan Indian socio cultural life where the women are subject to domestic violence. The Saikia family are extremely wealthy. The two sons of the family are Sanjay (Sayaji Shinde) and Sunil Saikia (Sanjay Suri). The latter being the kinder of the two whilst the former is very hot-tempered and has occasional mood swings. The parents decide to get him married to Durga (Raveena Tandon), a lower caste girl from a poor family, thinking she will be able to cope with Sanjay's temper. Sanjay initially refuses to marry Durga, but when his mother threatens to cut him off from the family will he relents. Thus, Durga marries Sanjay and looks forward to her new life. From day one, Durga is subjected to physical and mental harm by her husband. To add insult to injury, he spends their wedding night with a prostitute called Chameli. Durga continues to be tortured by her husband and after a drunken night he rapes her.

Soon Durga is pregnant, but Sanjay is convinced the child is not his but Sunil's. Durga gives birth to a girl, named Deepa, but this only disappoints Sanjay and he shuns the child. Sanjay decides to get Deepa, now twelve years old, married to a much older man. When Durga protests, he viciously beats her. Durga's only companion Sunil is killed by Sanjay after he suspects that he and Durga were having an affair. Durga is devastated by Sunil's death and decides that enough is enough. She runs away with Deepa and decides to cut all ties with Sanjay. Sanjay files a police complaint but is unsuccessful in finding the two. Durga carries on with her life but it's not long before Sanjay finds the two...Finally Durga learns to stick up for herself and she kills her evil husband.

Cast

• Raveena Tandon
• Sayaji Shinde
• Sanjay Suri
• Raima Sen
• Bharti Jaffrey
• Shaan

External links

• Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence at the Internet Movie Database