Insaf Ka Tarazu

First of all I sincerely thank my dear friend and esteemed MS member, Suketu (@suketu) for inspiring me to pen a review of this much-talked-about movie of 1980 which was made by the prestigious B.R. Films banner of Bollywood and directed by the legendary director B.R. Chopra himself.

Insaaf Ka Tarazu (the scales of justice) is a copy of the Hollywood movie - Lipstick (1976) but very well made and that's why it was a commercial hit. It's the story of a raped woman who does not get justice from the legal system which is heavily tilted in favour of the rapist male. After losing the legal battle, the woman restarts her life licking her wounds but one day the same rapist molests her younger sister too, then she could not bear the pain, now doubled, anymore and kills the rapist, only to face the court-room again, this time in the form of not the victim or the plaintiff but the convict.

Rape is a heinous crime against a woman and ironically and painfully, it's the only crime in which the victim only suffers afterwards too more than the culprit. The patriarchal social structures penalize the victim, i.e., woman only for a crime done to her by a man. That's why, most of the case of rape / molestation are not even reported, leave aside resorting to legal procedure for booking and sentencing the culprit. In Indian courts, it's seen that the defendant's lawyer goes for character assassination of the victim in order to prove that whatever happened was consensual only and not something forced on her. The crude, vulgar and shameful questions thrown at the victim in the court by such lawyers are nothing but the second rape legally imposed on her which is not physical but verbal and more cruel. Quite naturally, most of the rape victims prefer to keep mum and live their lives with the unhealable wounds on their souls and the rapist gets moral strength to go for repetition of this crime.

This is what has been underscored in this movie which is watchable mostly for the court-scenes only. Once Justice Saanwar Mal Agarwal had said - the difference between reel life courts and real life courts is even wider than the reel life and real life. This applies to this movie too in which the court room scenes are though interesting, appear quite unreal. All the same, the trauma of the victim and the irony of this crime has been emphatically underscored through the lively court-room discussions involving the rival lawyers. The insensitivity of the law and the society in general towards the victimized woman has been portrayed in the lengthy court-room dramas, first, after the rape and second, after the murder of the rapist.

B.R. Chopra's direction had a particular plus point. The opening scenes of the movies directed by him were so impressive that the viewer just found himself lost in the narrative that followed. It was the case with Kanoon which is undoubtedly the best court-room drama made in Bollywood and the same is with Insaaf Ka Tarazu which starts with a court-room scene in which a convict (an ex-serviceman, guest role played by Dharmendra) does not get justice and his outburst ends in his death. Then the Insaaf Ka Tarazu (the scales of justice) being in the hands of the lady having black strip tied on her eyes (the goddess of justice who is unable to see due to that strip) is shown as oscillating from this end to that end without properly balancing (symbolic of injustice being done).

The rape scene which was the foundation of the story was a controversial one. However the real story starts after that only and the major part of the movie goes in the court-room proceedings which are the soul of the movie and keep the audience hooked (despite being excessively dramatic and containing a lot of rhetoric). The dialogues are impressive and the momentum of the story alongwith the curiosity of the viewer is well maintained through them.

B.R. Chopra's direction is pretty good but the focus is on the heroine's sensuality whereas it should have been on her mental trauma post the crime. The movie is interesting but the impact that should have been effected on the minds of the spectators, especially the males, is diluted due to this reason. The verdict of the judge in the end is dramatic but not at all convincing. All the same, it's a praiseworthy effort and the movie is worth a watch. Technically the movie is good.

Performance wise talking, Raj Babbar as the rapist, has given a terrific performance in his debut movie itself (though it was not his first released movie). Zeenat Aman as the raped lady, Padmini Kohapure as her younger sister (who is also raped by the same person later) and Deepak Parashar as Zeenat's beau have delivered admirable performances. However the show-stealers are Sreeram Lagoo and Simi Grewal in the roles of rival lawyers.

Music by Ravindra Jain is good. The title song (sung by Mahendra Kapoor) and Log Aurat Ko Faqat Jism Samajh Lete Hain (sung by Asha) are better than the other songs. The meaningful lyrics have been penned by the great Shaayar Saahir Ludhiyanvi.

Rape is a crime whose gravity can never be overemphasized. It is a crime which crushes the soul of the victim and hence should be hated by one and all. Whether it's a war or a racial conflict or a communal riot, the victims are always women for no fault of theirs. The victimized woman sheds tears of blood for the remaining part of her life and none can feel her pain except a similar victim. That's why such movies are important for enlightening the society. I recommend this three decades old movie to all those who like thought-provoking cinema.

DISCLAIMER This movie is based on another Hollywood movie. The names of people and places are changed to hide the identity of the original.

PLOT Having said that this movie is based on a Hollywood movie - Lipstick (1976), I would not go much into the plot of the movie.

Jeenat Aman is a model in love with Deepak Parashar. Raj Babbar is an Industrialist who falls for her, but as he can't win her love he tries the hard way. Padmini Kolhapure, her school going sister, witnesses the rape. Raj Babbar is taken to court, though Simi - Jeenat's lawyer - tries hard, Dr. Shree Ram Lagoo - Lawyer for Raj Babbar manages to save Raj by turning tables onto Jeenat - by questioning her character.

Cut to future, Padmini Kolhapure has finished the studies and she goes for job interview. Finds that the interview is with Raj Babbar, who promptly rapes her too. Jeenat, when she knows about it kills Raj Babbar and is arrested & taken to the court.

DIRECTION AND ACTING

The original is not rated as high as the copy, is by virtue of the good direction. The direction is very good, and Jeenat Aman gives performance of her life. Raj Babbar is excellent, Padmini Kolhapure plays with ease the transformation from a school going girl to a young adult rape victim with ease. Deepak Parashar is not as wooden as his later appearences. Simi and Dr. Laagu are performers to watch.

TRIVIA During the initial numbering, Dharmendra makes cameo appearence as a Army personnel accused of killing a rapist in a court scene.

MUSIC Not worth mentioning, but the rest of movie is so good that the music can be tolerated (or avoided by simply making a trip to toilet). Mahendra Kapoor, BR Chopra's favorite singer has sung the title song (in his unique high-pitched voice).

OVERALL 7.5/10

Insaf Ka Tarazu review :

The most successful as well as controversial rape revenge drama made in Bollywood; B. R. Chopra's Insaf Ka Tarazu introduced Raj Babbar in a sensational negative role of a rich young man who brutally rapes a model Zeenat Aman and then gets a clean chit from the court. As if that is not enough, he goes on to rape Zeenat's teenage sister (Padmini Kolhapure).

The film starts with superstar Dharmendra (in a cameo) playing an army jawan who kills a rapist. He confesses the killing but pleads guilty as he compares the person to the enemy across the border. Both are a threat to the nation, he argues. The court scenes involving Raj Babbar vs. Zeenat Aman case are the movie's highlight and I loved the way Simi Garewal grills Babbar even as the cunning slimy Shriram Lagoo gets him freed by proving the rape to be consensual sex.

Above all, Insaf Ka Tarazu belonged to the style icon Zeenat Aman and this is her best performance after Raj Kapoor's Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978). Raj Babbar took a calculated risk playing a villain as a newcomer but the gamble paid off as he quickly graduated to lead roles after its success and also became a BR Chopra protegè appearing in most of their later movies. Padmini Kolhapure was completely convincing as Zeenat's younger sister who falls victim to Babbar's lust. Infact, that pre-climactic scene where he asks her to strip naked in front of him, oogles at her body and then goes on to violate her makes for a highly disturbing watch. The ageless Simi Garewal was elegant as ever.

The other positive factors of the film are its hard hitting dialogues (Shabd Kumar) and the crisp editing. Chopra's direction was intense and the audience had never seen such a realistic rape sequence in mainstream Bollywood. It lead to a lot of controversy with some critics panning the film as deliberately titillating. But obviously, they weren't viewing it from the right perspective.

Insaf Ka Tarazu became a huge hit and came up for multiple re-runs throughout the '80s and '90s. I wasn't allowed to watch it as a kid and saw it much later in a re-release at Citylight Cinema, Matunga.

The film gave a big boost to Zeenat's career and she gave another huge hit in Feroz Khan's Qurbani the same year and established herself as a top star. Deservedly!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Superb hard hitting movie, one of its kind! 👌👌👍👍 Today film makers make only filthy movies and web series, because they don't have talent to make such beautiful meaningful movie!

Acting, dialogues, cinematography, direction - this movie scores over all these aspects. Well, afterall it's a B R Chopra production, has to be superior, well made and fully justifying the subject without getting trapped into any vulgarity!👌👍

New Gen must watch this movie to realize How a Classic movie is made.

A beautiful model who is engaged with her fiance, attracted by a businessman in a modeling party. Thus he obsesses with her beauty and fall in love with her, when he comes to know she has a love interest with another man, he takes the chance to rape her in her house while she was alone. In this consequences, the model seeks the help of the court. But nothing is proved and the accused becomes released. After some months, the man gets another chance to rape another girl. And he succeed this time as well. But this time he has bad luck after all.

The movie had a potential to be a great one, but illogical sequences made it an average one.

Spoiler ahead....

The court sequences were not logical. So many illogical and unrealistic things happened. The second raping was also illogical. The interview at night. Undressing the girl as the rapist wish. I didn't like the way it was done.

Overall, an average courtroom flick.

But the message for the society is just solid and brave. Recommended 30%.