MOVIE REVIEW

ASSIGNMENT FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC OFENCES

Movie: Section 375
Under supervision of: Mr. Sumit Kumar Pichori
Name: Aman Tyagi
SAP ID: 500076922
Roll No.: 012
Section 375 is a timely film. It comes at a time when the impact of #MeToo appears to have
ebbed, if you go by the noise created by social media platforms, but is in fact finding its way
forward, and digging in. Section 375 film talks about a very important law, IPC 375. You can
find the exact definition of the rule in the Government of India’s official list of all the rules. It
empowers women against molestation and sexual abuse. Like with any other rules/laws it is
also found misused in various cases. The movie explores a case revolving around Section 375
justifying its title.
The movie starts with Tarun Saluja [Akshaye Khanna] delivering an interesting speech to law
students. Not a single word of this session is missable. The dialog writer has paid attention to
write to each and every word very carefully. Be it the reference of the “Nirbhaya case” or any
other advice Tarun is giving to aspiring lawyers, everything moves forward in a controlled
manner.
The scene is followed by Anjali Damle [Meera Chopra] getting ready to going somewhere.
We can see a typical middle-class environment in which she lives. The way her character and
her family and their surrounding is explored shows a real middle-class set up in a very
convincing manner. The way the details appear on screen, including her mother having a
small chat with her, her father getting his medicines and Anjali saying him bye, Anjali’s
brother washing his rikshaw and a neighbour girl talking to Anjali; all these things, not only
explores the way of living of a typical middle class family and the social environment, but all
these people in the scene conclude another scene pretty effectively. So, paying attention to
this will give you deja-vu feeling later.
She visits Rohan Khurana [Rahul Bhat], a well-known figure in the film industry. You should
pay attention towards Anjali’s commute and you will see how a different world appears
gradually. She has started from a very humble setup from where she walked up to the shore to
take a ferry and after landing, she took an auto-rickshaw to visit a posh area. You can also see
her untieing her hair while entering the lift of the building where Rohan lives. If you pay
attention to all these scenes, you will understand the quality of the rest of the movie and what
you should expect (in terms of quality).
This is a movement which is here to stay, and like all movements, it will have its high and
low moments: Section 375: Marzi Ya Zabardasti has an on-the-nose title, but manages to
include several welcome, complex grey areas in its telling.
The setting is the film industry in Mumbai. For a Bollywood movie to focus on the sexual
exploitation rampant on set is not a new thing, but in a post-#MeToo period, it assumes fresh
significance.
A complaint of rape by junior costume designer Anjali Dangle (Chopra) against director
Rohan Khurana (Bhat) is the pivot around which the plot revolves. Defence lawyer, top legal
eagle Tarun Saluja (Khanna) makes the case that it was a matter of consent and that it’s an
affair gone wrong; the victim’s lawyer Hiral Mehta (Chadha) wants the court to see beyond
the ‘facts of the case’, and have justice served.
It’s well known that the law will almost always be skewed in favour of the rich and the
powerful, and in this case, the accused whose sense of entitlement remains even when he is
behind bars. Khurana blusters and scowls as the suave Saluja keeps holding out hope: we will
go by the facts as recorded, he says, and those will get you free.
The result is a solid courtroom drama, with good performances all round, which keeps us
engaged right through, even through some of the film’s hiccups. To produce disturbing
evidence of physical harm in camera is one thing, but to display it repeatedly to the court and
to us, the audience, borders on the voyeuristic. Not nice. Also, the conflation of national pride
and rape statistics in India is ludicrous and wrong: rape is a crime, and it needs punishment,
wherever in the world it happens to be committed.
In terms of acting the film belongs to Akshaye Khanna supported nicely by Meera Chopra.
Kishore Kadam and Krutika Desai as judges, Sandhya Mridul and Shriswara as the protective
wives are performances that add value to the script. I am disappointed with Richa Chaddha’s
performance, who otherwise gave some fantastic performances. She looks like a model and
not a lawyer, she must have had worked hard on her body language.
While this film doesn’t have a scope of typical Bollywood songs, you don’t miss them in this
film either :). The background music is really a positive attribute of the film. It adds
positively to the impact of the film.
The film has punches on the mindset of orthodox people and is progressive in nature. What I
like is the end of the film. It concludes in the best possible way. Of course, you may not find
it ending in an “ideal way”. But, the society we live in is not having an ideal environment.
And, “poetic justice” is also an important phenomenon. Remember, all wounds don’t leave
visible scars.
But what saves the film is the way the court (and for once, it is good to see the judges not just
as paper cut-outs but with people who want to do the right thing, and both Kadam and Desai
are impressive) articulates its conclusion. Consent is imperative every single time, even
between people who have been intimate before; and the wielding of power in the workplace
and demanding sexual favours in exchange of career advancement is a crime. No two ways
about it.