The elder of the two sisters, Gauri, is getting married and there is festivity in the household. Elders in the village advise her to visit a temple before groom arrives and so she is accompanied by her younger sister Krishna and uncle. While on their way back, uncle notices in the newspaper that groom's family had met with a fatal accident while coming to the village. Gauri and Krishna's father is paralysed after the shocking news. The villagers shun Gauri as an ill omen. Soon, the family starts facing financial troubles so they attempt to till their piece of infertile land to get some money. When nothing works out, their mother requests uncle to take Gauri to Mumbai for a job. Initially hesitant uncle agrees to the persuasion but requests mother not to ask any further questions about Gauri's whereabouts in the future. Uncle puts Gauri into prostitution and she starts sending money to her family every month. Things get better for the family and uncle finds a groom for Krishna, a young idealist Shesh Waghmare working with an NGO. Gauri visits the village for Krishna's marriage but their mother does not allow her to take part in any activities because of Gauri's unfortunate marriage incident and her way of earning money. When Krishna gets to know about this, she questions their mother and convinces her to accept Gauri. When Gauri decides to leave marriage and village, Shesh's activist friend Nivrutti Kamble proposes her for marriage, in spite of knowing her past. Gauri stays back in the village, never to return to her life as a prostitute in Mumbai.
The film marked the directorial feature film debut for Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar. While working on a short filmBai, Sukthankar joined Bhave as an assistant. Later, they worked on several short films together. After watching one of their short film Chakori, the National Film Development Corporation of India invited Bhave and Sukthankar to make Doghi. The film was eventually produced by NFDC in association with Doordarshan. The director Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni worked as an assistant director for the film.
Reception and awards
The film received wide critical acclaim and won several awards. It won three awards at the 43rd National Film Awards in 1995. The film was awarded the Best Film on Other Social Issues "for its depiction of poverty-stricken rural family consisting of two young sisters" and depicting "the agony of survival in a tradition bound hostile society and their subsequent liberation". Anjali Marathe was awarded the Best Female Playback Singer "for her melodious and heart rendering song expressing the aridness of life" and Uttara Baokar won a Special Mention "for her sensitive portrayal of the agony of a mother in the midst of poverty and honour". The film won nine awards including the Best Film at 32nd Maharashtra StateFilm Awards in 1996. It was awarded Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Script, Best Story, Best Music, Best Songs, Best Female Playback Singer, and Best Art Director. Bhave and Sukthankar were awarded as the Best Director at the 1997 Kalnirnay Award. Sonali Kulkarni won the Best Actress Award at the Filmfare Marathi Awards and the film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at Cinema Delle Donne Italy in 1996.
