Section 375...hmm, sounds familiar. I'm pretty sure this is the response that almost all of you would be saying since this particular section of the Indian Penal Code has unfortunately featured prominently in the news. So what exactly is it? A man is said to commit 'rape' who, except in the case hereinafter expected, has sexual intercourse with a woman consent, by coercion, misrepresentation or fraud at a time when she has been intoxicated or duped or is of unsound mental health and in any case if she is under 18. As per the UN Crime Trend statistics of 2013, India is among the nations with the maximum amount of rape & it's high time that strict action is taken against such perpetrators.This is the subject around which Ajay Bahl's "Section 375" is based upon & it seemed like an compelling court room drama.
Anjali Dangle (Meera Chopra), an assistant costume designer goes over to the residence of the director Rohan Khurana (Rahul Bhat) to get approval for a couple of costumes for the next day's shoot. After her visit, she files a sexual assault complaint against him & her medical examination corroborated her version. With incriminating evidence against Rohan, the sessions court sentences him to ten years of imprisonment. However, Rohan still maintained that he was innocent & his wife approaches popular advocate Tarun Saluja (Akshaye Khanna) to take up the case. Despite the case seemingly appeared not to have an loose ends, Tarun decides to take up the challenge. But was it really worth it with the public & media strongly against the accused rapist???
With the MeToo movement gathering momentum in the past few years, this is an interesting choice of movie that Ajay Bahl has come up with. This is his second directorial venture & it has been scripted by Manish Gupta who does have quite a few movies of his own like "Darna Zaroori Hai", "Hostel" etc. There is no doubt that the manner in which the court room is
presented makes it interesting especially the segments where Akshaye provides
his version as to how the events might have panned out. All the outrages,
debates that are associated with such an incident are well showcased along with
the pressures that the judicial system also faces. As a director, he has the
right to exercise his creativity & show both sides of an incident, however
one cant be faulted if it is misunderstood as a subtle belittling of the plight
of the victim. Personally, I felt the scene where the judge seemed like a bit
worried when he witnesses the outrage in the public was rather uncalled for.
None of the other technical aspects deserves special mention.
In terms of performance, Akshaye portrays a character with
shades of grey & feasts on it with glee. He gets to mouth the catchy lines
& as always his expressions were spot on. Richa Chaddha has done her part
reasonably well along with Meera Chopra. As for the rest of the cast, they did
their parts aptly.
Verdict: It’s not
the type of movie that will have a lot of takers but there is no doubt that it
has been made well. Many might not like the manner in which Akshaye’s character
presents the case as by nature we tend to put our support behind the victim.
Anywaz do give it a try & come to your conclusion!!!
Rating: 3/5
Regards…Ben
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