The film stars Sridevi as Rajni, a Nāginī who marries a civilian to avenge the death of her spouse at the hands of an evil saint.

It also stars Rishi Kapoor, Komal Mahuvakar, Amrish Puri, Sushma Seth and Prem Chopra.

Upon its release, it was a widespread success grossing over ₹13 crore at the box office, becoming the second-highest-grossing Indian film of 1986.

And major watershed moment in Indian cinema, as the film, despite being a woman-centric movie became a massive commercial success.

[2] According to Taran Adarsh, Nagina turned out to be the biggest blockbuster of the year,[4][5] with Box Office India stating that Sridevi remained "the undisputed No.1".

[12] In 2013, Sridevi was given the Filmfare Special Award for her performances in Nagina as well as Mr. India (1987) to recognise her work at that time.

[15] According to the Bengali author Suman Sen, Nagina was the main inspiration to write his novel Sarpa Manav: Nagmoni Rohosyo.