SHSandh

The acting by all the actors was very good. It is difficult to say who was better than the others: all were good. Kudos to the newcomers, Shashank Arora (as Titli) and Shivani Raghuvanshi (as Neelu) for their great performances.

The story is very convincing. There are no loose ends in the narration. The events unfold logically. The story deals with the stark truths about the lives of three brothers, who heist moving cars at night on lonely roads in Delhi. Although it does not seem possible, the youngest brother desperately wants out. He plans to be a car parking contractor at an office tower, and wants to lead a normal, crime free life.

There is nothing implausible in the story. Nor is there any of the Bollywood drama here. A lot of care has been taken to make the story-telling absolutely compelling; no rambling here. The lives of the actors get firmly entangled in the events of the story. Besides, there is also an affair and heart-break.

A few scenes depict violence beautifully without much actual violence. Some of these scenes particularly stand out. The beating in the police station is one such scene. The protagonist's unsuccessful struggles with his new wife on their wedding night, while trying to consummate the marriage, is also very silent and mind-blowing. The deliberate fracturing of the wife's arm, after anesthetization, is one more.

In contrast, several scenes of the five uneducated, uncouth family members mouth-washing after brushing your teeth, are raucous.

A lot of scenes cover travelling by the actors on their run-down scooter. Further, there are a lot of aerial shots taken from high above, giving panoramic views of the city. However, none of these are superfluous.

With all its starkness, one will never cringe at any scene. You will not recoil at anything in the story. The film has subtle justice and a happy ending for the protagonist.

Could anything have been better? Was the movie lacking in anything? Will this merciless story repulse you? The answer to all these questions is NO.

This movie should definitely be seen. You will not regret it.

Section 375 is a provision in the Indian Penal Code which holds that sexual intercourse by any man with a woman against her will and consent is punishable as a crime.

A costume assistant on a film, Anjali Damle (Meera Chopra), makes a criminal complaint of rape to the police against the Director, Rohan Khurana (Rahul Bhat). The Director gets rigorous imprisonment from the Sessions Court. He then hires a hotshot lawyer, Tarun Saluja (Akshaye Khanna), to appeal in the higher court.

The story is weak on the legal aspects as many assertions and submissions, particularly those made by or on behalf of Rahul are not challenged by the prosecutor. The second court proceedings bring out many details about the police investigation and details of the past relationship of the two (Anjali and Rahul).

In spite of several dissimilarities, one is reminded of the Hindi movie, Pink, which won a National Award.

The acting by everyone (except one) was pretty average. Akshaye Khanna and Richa Chadha were quite under par in their roles. The victim Anjali (Meera Chopra) was very good and very nuanced as a shell-shocked, tense and speechless rape victim who struggles to tell her rape story several times to get justice. Compared to all the others, her acting stands out.

Although with very few dialogues, the casting of Kruttika Desai as a no-nonsense, senior judge was an excellent choice. Kudos to the Casting team for this.

The scene of the aggressive, protesting crowd which overcomes policemen and surges towards the court gates, and which is then dispersed by a water cannon, was very well done. In fact, most of these protest-crowd scenes were done well. Again, the scenes at the hospital when the victim is subjected to a medical examination are truly stark.

The movie is a good human interest story if you disregard the legal aspects which are cursorily depicted. Many scenes in the court-room seem more for the camera and would not strictly be seen in court proceedings.

The movie holds your interest in the way it has been structured and narrated. At every turn, something new turns up, all relevant to the story.

One may find it difficult to not take sides. One may very well start to consider the rapist as the protagonist and the victim as the antagonist, or vice versa. This is one of those stories which effectively blur the distinctions of 'protagonist' and 'antagonist' and is testimony to real life situations which are seldom 'black-and-white'. If you remain neutral about this aspect, you will enjoy the movie more. This movie is interesting for its story, and not for its acting or its legal aspects.

The movie gets a lower rating mainly due to lackluster acting and poorly constructed legal structure. It could have been a memorable movie had the legal aspects and the court-room scenes been researched better and presented clinically, with a little less of the Bollywood urge to be dramatic.

Director Ajay Behl has only one past directorial credit so far. He directed the movie, B. A. Pass, in 2012, 7 years ago.

All told, this movie is much better than so many other story-less entertainers which we all see. So, go for it!

The protagonist is an unbending protest singer, singing in the style of Maharashtrian folk music. He also pens his own songs. He has none of the apparatus or trappings of a huge fan base or power. Singing for free at vacant residential spaces, he has a voluntary ensemble in tow. His fiery words create ripples of unease in the narrow minds of the police, who consider his public singing provocatively seditious.

This is quite a satire on the police and judiciary in India. One can also see the widespread absurdity of life when power is wielded without a balancing sense of responsibility. Life is being lived nonchalantly. A perversely illogical cause-effect reasoning by the police leads to the protagonist being put behind bars, without bail. There is trickery to justify your biases, but no counterbalancing commonsense.

The judiciary mechanically follows the police lead, once the accusations are branded as being under the Indian Penal Code. It gives a date for the next hearing, usually after one or more months, routinely and for flimsy reasons. For example, a lawyer is unsure about the importance of the unique of the serial number of a costly, imported stolen watch, and wants time to revert, to continue to defend his client, who has been accused of robbing it. Again, the judge exercises his powers on inconsequential things unthinkingly. This is also subtly highlighted when the judge shows his ingrained bias and refuses to hear a middle-aged lady litigant in his court who was dressed in a modest but sleeveless blouse and skirt.

We notice that a catastrophe in the life of the protagonist does not impact the private lives of the lawyers, or the judge or the court employees.

The story has lot of content. Nothing in the movie is peripheral or unnecessary for the narrative. Despite the slow narration, the movie tells us a detailed story of what happens to the protagonist.

Practically every scene is real, and has been chosen with care. Each of them silently tells its own story, which never wanders away from the main narration. The camera stays at the scene for long seconds, and we gradually observe everything in the frame as if we are looking at some huge painting. The time available in each scene seems well spent, and it somehow does not make us impatient or our minds to wander. All the scenes are real, taken from existing places in Mumbai. It appears that the camera was never hand-held and never moved with the story or its characters. And, that experience was uniquely amazing.

An ending scene is very illuminating. A prankster group of kids suddenly scream in chorus at the judge who was slumbering on the lawn seat during a family picnic, while on holiday. Startled and agitated with the rudeness, the judge involuntarily slaps the lingering little mute boy, as the other kids scoot immediately after the mischief. All too often, the innocent get punished in the process and the smart ones make themselves scarce. And, that is what this whole story is about.

Many of the actors in the movie are not professionals. They have been plucked from real life. The protagonist Vira Sathidar (as Narayan Kamble) is a real, fiery protest singer in the folk tradition of Maharashtra. The wife of the deceased Usha Bane (as Sharmila Pawar) is an actual sewer cleaner's widow.

This movie deserved to be India's official entry to the Oscars in 2015. It is a must-watch, even a more-than-once watch, if you seek quality cinema.