Vakeel Saab

Venu Sriram's 2021 Telugu film follows three young women who defend themselves after being molested. The attacker is injured and the three are charged with attempted murder; a lawyer with a drinking problem takes the case. The subject is consent. The court sections proceed through the women's behaviour; what they wore, where they were and whom they had met before are all questioned, and the lawyer takes those questions themselves as his target. It is adapted from a Hindi film and the structure is largely preserved; in the Telugu version a separate section on the lead's past was added. Pawan Kalyan leads. The courtroom scenes are the film's strongest passages. Who it's for: those who like Telugu courtroom drama. Who it's not for: viewers sensitive to sexual harassment; the film reconstructs the incident in detail.