In recent times, we have been witness to the high profile courtroom drama of Johnny Depp-Amber Heard case which saw the former heave a sigh of relief after the allegations made by his ex-wife were found to be predominantly baseless. Well rather than consider the possibility of either of the individuals could be at fault, more often than not the general perception is that the male is the culprit in matters of sexual assault, harassment & domestic violence. At the same time in an Indian society, where majority are still largely judgmental most of the cases dont get reported. Hence there is no denying that it is a herculean task for the female to come forward and seek the legal route. This happens to be the premise of Vishnu Raghav's "Vaashi" which deals with a subject that is both pertinent & sensitive.
Ebin (Tovino Thomas) & Madhavi (Keerthy Suresh) were advocates and close buddies who shared an office and were in the nascent stage of their career. With the influence of Ebin's brother in law, the former gets to don the gown of the public prosecutor & the first big case that landed on his table dealt with rape on the pretext of marriage. Incidentally, at the same time the accused had approached Madhavi to defend his case. To make matters even awkward, both Ebin & Madhavi despite feelings for each other had to tie the knot much earlier than they anticipated. So will professional competitiveness wreck their personal lives???
This is Vishnu's directorial debut though some of us would recollect seeing him as an artist in "Theevram", "Pakida" etc. Apart from calling the shots, he has penned the script based on the story by Janiz Chacko. He has certainly done a fine job as it keeps us engaged with the emotional equations, light moments and chemistry that play out between the protagonists. With regard to the court room drama, he tries to keep it low profile rather than take cinematic liberties and make the artists blurt out bombastic dialogues. The case as such is thought provoking as it deals with consent which at times can be rather murky & has similarities with Ajay Bahl's "Section 375". However, the manner in which the conflicts inside and outside the court gets resolved felt way too simplistic and lacked the impact that the story demanded. On the technical side, all the aspects were ok and does not deserve special mention.
Coming to performances, both Tovino & Keerthy has done a fine job and giving them good support was Baiju as their friend. Anagha Narayanan did justice to her part while Anu Mohan was also fine along with Rony David and Kottayam Ramesh.
Verdict: It is a reasonably well crafted flick that works without taking a toll on our patience. It does come across as underwhelming with regard to the case, however it is still a decent one time watch. in short, give it a try!!!
Rating: 2.5/5
Regards...Ben
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