Webdesk: Raveena Tandon spoke out about the films that shaped her career.
“Daman was decades ahead of its time.” We discussed marital rape when, in the 1990s, the type of films that were coming out still had a’mera pati mera devta hai’ vibe to them, with the heroines believing their husbands can do no wrong, no matter how horrible he is, and that they will stand by him. “These were the emotions we were experiencing in movies back then,” she remarked.
“Daman changed everything. Suddenly, our film addressed marital rape and domestic violence, which is still relevant today. Marital rape is still being debated in courts as to whether or not it should be criminalised. “It was a huge departure from the type of films people had been seeing,” Tandon explains.
“People took me seriously as an actor after Shool and Daman,” the actor continued. I recall Eeshwar Nivas, the director of Shool, being eager about signing me. Nevertheless, Ram Gopal Varma, the producer, was unsure. “My image was ‘kisi Disco mein jaayein,’ and it was so strong in his mind that he said, ‘When I close my eyes, I can only see you doing Kisi Disco!'” the actor remembered.
