In 1989, Kapadia appeared as Jackie Shroff's love interest in "Ram Lakhan", a crime drama directed by Subhash Ghai. The film was a success with both critics and audiences, becoming the second-highest grossing Hindi film of the year and earning eight nominations at the 35th Filmfare Awards. She played a courtesan-turned-vengeful mistress in "Pati Parmeshwar". The film was released after a well-publicised two-year court battle with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which initially banned it from screening for its perceived glorification of submissiveness of women through the character of the forgiving wife who is in "ignoble servility" to her husband. Other films starring Kapadia that year include Babbar Subhash's "Pyar Ke Naam Qurbaan" and J. P. Dutta's action picture "Batwara".