Section 375

If there is one word that can describe my experience watching Section 375, that word would be uncomfortable. That however doesn't imply that this movie is bad by any stretch of imagination. On the contrary, I found it to be excellent and recommend everyone to watch it, however uncomfortable it might it be.

The movie navigates a rape case from its inception to its verdict. Akshaye Khanna and Richa Chaddha lead the cast and play the role of lawyers, representing the accused and the victim respectively. In one of the introductory scenes, Khanna is shown explaining the difference between law & justice. Rape is an extremely serious, unforgivable and delicate issue affecting India and the rest of the world. There have been multiple movies depicting stories & tribulations of rape victims which take us through their journey in seeking justice.

This movie is not quite that. Rather, the movie takes a step back and introduces some formerly unexplored nuances emerging in a rape case & showcases the perspective of the accuser, which makes the movie an extremely uncomfortable watch. I expected the movie to have a divisive reception, and after browsing through some critic and user reviews, I was right. Some reviews tagged the movie as being misogynistic. I honestly don't agree with this sentiment. Though the movie ventures into really controversial territories, I still found the movie to be an earnest and unbiased attempt at depicting what it was trying to. I feel this is an excellent movie and recommend everyone to try it out and form your own opinion.

Let's get back to the review itself. Almost right away, the audience is presented with the rape scene. The accuser is a film director, played by Rahul Bhat and the victim is a young girl helping with the film's costumes, played by Meera Chopra. You know what has happened from the get go; but do you really? The rest of the film navigates through that and makes us question our preconceptions. Throughout the film, you are presented with alternating scenarios of this scene which makes you question what really happened. The way these different scenarios are presented immediately reminded me of Meghna Gulzar's fantastic Talwar.

The performances are good. Rahul Bhat as the accuser does a good job and so does Meera Chopra as the victim. Richa Chaddha is reliable as always and does what she can with what she is given. And that is my biggest gripe with this film. The movie for some reason never really dives deeper into her character. Even in the courtroom, she is usually shown as being reactive rather than proactive trying to object what the opposing lawyer is bringing up, most of the time being overruled by the judges. Similarly, the opposing lawyer gets multiple scenes outside the courtroom walking us through his mind and how the case is affecting his life. We get none of this with Richa, and that is very disappointing.

The movie also has some production rough edges, especially with editing. The transition between scenes was too jarring sometimes to overlook. Sandhya Mridul plays the opposing lawyers wife and her character feels unidimensional and merely a means an entity to reflect the protagonist's thoughts. Kishore Kadam and Kruttika Desai play the judges, the former putting in a great performance as always.

This brings us to the titular character of this movie and that is the lawyer defending the accused, played by Akshaye Khanna. The movie rests squarely on his shoulders and he bravely carries it. He dons the shoes of Tarun Saluja, a no frills lawyer trying to fight the most difficult case of his career. He is shown working pro bono for the underprivileged but also charging a fortune for his regular cases. It is very easy to hate on him at times when he is trying to exploit loopholes in the system to defend the accuser. He works according to his own code and lives with his own set of ideologies. This is a difficult role to play and Akshaye excels and delivers what I feel is one of his career best performances. After a break, it's great to have an actor of his caliber back.

The movie is well directed and written and kept me me engaged throughout. I recommend you to give the movie a chance. It is possible that you will end up hating the movie and I get that. But I urge you to form your opinion after watching it yourself. I give it a solid 8/10 rating.

Section 375 - A rape is registered, a woman is violated and trampled by a person in superior position, and for the ease of understanding, it's the film industry that's in focus. Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and others are people against whom the #MeToo movement began in Hollywood that later spread like a wildfire in India too. The film director in Section 375 played by Rahul Bhat strongly denies the allegations of the junior costume designer but there is almost infallible evidence against him, good enough for his conviction.

With a running time of 125 minutes, the narrative keeps you on the edge of your seat as the courtroom drama swings from one end of the spectrum to the other. Truth is often stranger than fiction and lawyers are in the business of law, not justice. Akshay Khanna delivers yet another superlative performance in the role of the suave, smooth talking and convincing defense lawyer, fighting a case that's all but lost, battling public and media fury on the one hand and opposition at home too. Richa Chadha is not exactly spectacular as the public prosecutor, somewhat undermined by her flawed dialogue delivery that sounds monotonous, but quite formidable in her upright mannerisms and conviction of the rape. The director manages to unfold the suspense slowly and logically, keeping the consequence and judgement open to debate, interpretation and it's for you to take sides.

Section 375 is deeply disturbing with graphic violence, uncomfortable interrogation of the victim in the courtroom, a botched police investigation and a judiciary under social turbulence. The subject is contemporary and of significant relevance in workplace, any for that matter. It has a message that needs to be absorbed amid all the throbbing drama where sympathy may change sides. If you don't enjoy depth and detail or are looking for entertainment, give Section 375 a miss. But if you like serious narrative, in-depth analysis, crevices of law and human psychology, please watch the film for a very rewarding mental stimulus.

This film may not be successful at the box office but it's a well made and well acted film. Deserves more.

Akshey Khanna the most underrated actor in Indian cinema delivers yet another powerful performance. How law sometimes overpower justice, that's the theme of this movie. Watch it and learn it.

A movie director is accused of raping a costume assistant working on his film.

While he is sentenced to jail by the Sessions Court, the case is reopened in the High Court then 2 lawyers battle it out.

The film is a gripping watch with a crisp runtime and top-notch performances.

Akshaye Khanna is intense, He is simply brilliant as he owns every minute that you see him on screen.

Richa Chadha follows up with same intensity.

'Section 375' is an bold effort. It is a good film that tackles a complex issue and one that will engage, inform and open up debates.

Good court room intense drama.