Meenakshi Seshadri Was Removed from Damini after Rejecting Rajkumar Santoshi's Proposal: 'I Stood Up'

Veteran actress Meenakshi Seshadri is famous for quite a few of her roles, including in Rajkumar Santoshi’s Damini (1993). Despite her critically acclaimed performance, she faced difficulties during filming. In a recent interview, Meenakshi revealed she was initially removed from the film after refusing Santoshi’s advances and marriage proposal. However, with support from the Producers Guild, she returned to the project.

Speaking to Zoom, Meenakshi said, “Santoshi ji and I decided not to talk about it. It is water under the bridge. But the courage to stand up was important because nobody should be told they aren’t required anymore. It had several implications for rules in the workforce and beyond. I dealt with it by keeping quiet. I just said that I will choose not to comment on this as it is below my dignity to turn this into a fight. This is not a fight.” She added, “I stood up for what I believe in, and if things were going to work out, we would work together as a team. That was the message I wanted to give to the film fraternity and the audiences. I was there to make a great film, and Damini was definitely going to be that.”

Talking about the support she received from the Producers Guild, she said, “I respect all the people involved with the film, especially Santoshi ji because his vision was tremendous. Ultimately, they say action speaks louder than words, so the Producers Guild, the Artists Guild, all came together to make it happen.”

At the peak of her career, Meenakshi was also considered one of the toughest competitors for the actress Sridevi. It is because of her appealing looks and her dancing style. She is trained in many dance forms like Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, and Odissi. She has also worked in Telugu cinema and gained a huge fanfare.

Later, Meenakshi married Harish Mysore in 1995, and they have a daughter and a son. Rajkumar Santoshi also found love and married Manila, with whom he has two children, Ram and Tanisha. Meenakshi and Rajkumar Santoshi first worked together in Ghayal (1990) and then collaborated again for Ghatak in 1996 after Damini.