New Delhi: Sunny Deol is returning to play a lawyer after nearly three decades in Sidharth P Malhotra’s upcoming film Ikka. Decked in black and white, Deol will once again charm audiences in this courtroom drama alongside Dia Mirza, while Akshaye Khanna plays the accused in the film.
In a recent interview, Deol shared how he wanted to be part of the Rajkumar Santoshi-directed Damini, where he last played a lawyer in 1993. Initially, there was no role for him in the film, but luckily Santoshi later offered him a small role.
“When I did Damini with Rajkumar Santoshi, our friend was producing the film. At that time, I wanted to be part of this film, but I had no role in it,” he said.
“There was a small character in it, and he (Santoshi) asked me if I would like to do it, and I instantly said yes as I wanted to be part of it. We didn’t think this film would create the impact that it did,” Deol added.
The film became an instant hit, collecting nearly Rs 11 crore worldwide against a budget of Rs 2 crore. Not only was Damini a box office favourite, but it was also critically acclaimed.
Deol’s dialogue, “Tarikh pe tarikh (Date after date),” gained significance beyond the words of a lawyer; it gave the film a recall value hard to find in modern cinema.
Internet culture revived the dialogue, with every meme page using it as a reference. Not only did fans recreate his iconic dialogue, but Deol recreated the scene in 2021 where he is seen practising the dialogue. He keeps repeating it with more emotion, as the person helping him narrates it with increasing intensity. In anger, Deol suddenly stops the person and says, “Do you think I’m a thug from Indiranagar?”
In Damini, Deol played the role of advocate Govind Srivastav. He is not an ideal lawyer. He is an alcoholic, makes decisions in anger, but always stands by ethics and principles, and is ready to fight more with his hands and less with arguments. Despite appearing on screen for less than half an hour in a film that runs for nearly three hours, Deol delivered two of its most iconic dialogues.
“Tarikh pe tarikh” became a hit the internet never forgets.
“Jab yeh dhai kilo ke haath kisi pe padta hai na, toh aadmi uthta nahi, uth jaata hai (When this two and a half kilo hand falls on someone, the person does not get up, he goes up),” quickly became iconic and is recalled in everything from Indian road rage to neighbourhood arguments.
Deol’s famous lawyer avatar is not the only thing coming back. While he is ready to fight a case after nearly three decades, he is also collaborating with the man who gave him this role, director Rajkumar Santoshi, after three decades for Bantwara 1947, releasing on 14 August. Meanwhile, Ikka is set to release on 10 July.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)