Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu on Thursday urged audiences to support meaningful Hindi cinema in theatres ahead of the release of her upcoming film Assi.

She also announced that the makers had decided to hold special screenings of the Anubhav Sinha directorial across cities, ahead of the general release on February 20.

The actress shared a note on Instagram, calling on viewers to introspect about their role in encouraging rooted stories rather than blaming the film industry for a perceived lack of quality content.

“Let's not hide behind the curtains of ignorance when a film and its makers are leaving no stone unturned in their capacity to get the film to you. Let's not shove it under the carpet that it's our laziness and not the inefficiency of the film industry to bring such stories to THEATRES. If we want to compete with world cinema, let's start with supporting OUR stories. The real ones,” Taapsee wrote.

“Let's change the times because sadly it is no more about just making your film and sitting back. We deserve good cinema only when we value it. The society will soon be deprived of good films, not because we have consistently called out mediocrity, but because you chose to stay silent when your voice could help push towards supremacy,” the actress added.

“Starting our journey to gain your trust and love for #Assi in different cities with special screenings one week before our official release. Call it confidence in our film or your judgment, we are making sure we don't have a "Kaash (I wish)..." in our narrative, you make sure you don't have it in yours :),” she signed off.

Directed by Anubhav Sinha and written by Gaurav Solanki, Assi is a courtroom drama that features Pannu in the role of a lawyer fighting to secure justice for a rape survivor.

The film also stars Kani Kusruti, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Revathy, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra, Naseeruddin Shah, Supriya Pathak and Seema Pahwa in key roles.

Produced by T-Series, Assi is scheduled to release in theatres on February 20.