Anubhav Sinha is a fine filmmaker. More importantly, he is a fine filmmaker with a conscience that refuses to be cowed down and a voice that resists being drowned out. After Islamophobia (Mulk), caste chasm (Article 15), marital violence (Thappad) and the pandemic-induced migrant crisis (Bheed), Sinha trains his lens on rape, with the title of his latest film Assi being derived from a terrifying statistic that slaps one in the face, hard and long, as soon as the film begins. As many as 80 women are raped in India every day, one happening every 27 minutes. Assi keeps reminding you of these numbers, in ways more direct than subtle, throughout its 143-minute runtime.
Dangerously close to being reduced to yet another statistic is Parima. A schoolteacher, Parima — with All We Imagine As Light’s Kani Kusruti bringing in quiet strength, seething anger and painful vulnerability — is brutally gangraped in a moving car that she is pushed into on her way home from a farewell party. Sinha, along with cinematographer Ewan Mulligan, pulls no punches when it comes to filming those few moments, which feel like a soul-sucking few hours even for those sitting in the audience. The crime is horrific and the horror has to be shown. Assi makes no bones about that.
Torn, bruised and traumatised beyond measure, Parima, however, realises that the torture has only just begun. For she, the survivor, is the one who has to prove time and again that a crime has been committed. This to a system where the odds are completely stacked against her and where everything from corruption to patriarchy to a social structure that ignores, and often even enables, sexual violence, makes her feel that perhaps this is a battle better not fought. That is further accentuated by the fact that Parima — who combats her trauma on a daily basis — is ready to return to life as she once knew it; but ‘society’ isn’t.
That is the route that a large part of Assi takes. Even when a case is won in court, there is no chest-thumping victory dance. After all, what is the point of it, wonders Raavie (Taapsee Pannu), who plays Parima’s strong-willed lawyer. Does meting out punishment alone mean that justice has been served, asks Assi. It is a loaded question that possibly has no answer to, but one that seeks urgent need to ponder on.
Sinha has used certain mainstream, sensationalist elements in a large part of his recent work. But that was mostly employed as an instrument for social commentary, or more scathingly, to illustrate the ridiculousness of what is often deemed socially acceptable. In Assi, however, he uses it as a means to push forward the narrative. The thread of vigilante justice, which is more than just a subplot, doesn’t sit harmoniously with the rest of Assi. I was also left unconvinced by the inclusion of children in a courtroom trying a rape case. The argument that rape and its ramifications need to be made known to children, especially young boys, is justified, but the manner in which Assi goes about it seems a tad irresponsible.
It is in its seemingly smaller — and more subtle — ways in which Assi speaks the loudest. Like Parima matter-of-factly admitting in court that the presence of a bouquet in the car in which she was raped has now planted a morbid fear of flowers in her. Or two women in court helplessly admitting how crime against women — especially the underprivileged — is considered “irrelevant”.
Assi, as expected, is buoyed by its superlative cast. Taapsee and Kani shoulder the film, with Revathy’s no-nonsense but deeply sensitive judge making an instant impression. The rest of Sinha’s dependable foot soldiers — Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Satyajit Sharma — get the job done, with Naseeruddin Shah, Supriya Pathak and Seema Pahwa pitching in with cameos.
Assi is “based on everyday news but is a work of fiction,” says its disclaimer. A sentence as powerful and painful as the rest of the film.
Assi is an urgent watch because... Tell t2@abp.in