Assi

Parima is a teacher in Delhi. One night, coming home from a work party, she is attacked and raped. The next day she goes to the police station. The process begins: the statement, the medical examination, the file, a lawyer and the court. At the same time the people around her get involved; the school administration, her family and acquaintances each act out of their own concern. The narrative follows not the event but what comes after it. Anubhav Sinha directs. Taapsee Pannu plays Parima; Kani Kusruti and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub are in the cast. Sinha has made films treating social questions directly in India in recent years and this continues that line. Taapsee Pannu had worked with the director before and their films share a similar frame. The real matter it treats is how the legal process works; the film shows the stages in detail, from the forensic report to the court timetable. The narrative does not show the event on screen and does not make a spectacle of the violence. Its second strand is public opinion; the effect of the press and social media on the case is inside the narrative. Its limit is register; some sections state their message directly and the narrative turns didactic. Who it is for: people who watch Indian drama on social subjects. Who it is not for: the subject is extremely heavy, the narrative angry, and some scenes are difficult.