Section 375(2019)- Review

Section 375 is a courtroom drama based on, as its name suggests, the section 375 of the Indian Penal Code. The film focuses on a well-known film director Rohan Khurana (Rahul Bhat) who comes to the infamous center stage when one of his subordinates Anjali Dangle (Meera Chopra), an assistant costume designer for his movies, accuses him of rape. Dejected and felling like a victim himself Khurana sees his reputation tarnished leading to a downfall in his personal & professional life while he is arrested and in jail. While in the court of public opinion he is already convicted, senior criminal barrister Tarun Saluja (Akshaye Khanna) still accepts to be his lawyer. Though his task won’t be easy with Hiral Gandhi (Richa Chadda), once his trainee, now the prosecutor and defence barrister of the claimed victim. The film takes us through the events of this case in and out of the courtroom with both counsellors trying their best to prove their client’s innocence.

In India the court has not always been seen as the place anyone gets justice so there have been very few films in the genre. These have only been successful mostly because they were inspired by specific cases, talking of Rustom & Jolly LLB’s first instalment. Without a support of a critical story of real life, this film’s writers have a done a great job fictionalizing the story with vey intricate detail and effort, which can compel anyone to believe that it is based on a specific true story. Khanna does a commendable job portraying the defending lawyer. Chopra & Bhat also give convincing performances of the accuser and the accused. Ajay Bahl doesn’t make any overt mistakes in his directing that can trouble the movie. Lastly, the two lawyers’ protégé-master relationship gives a good dynamic to the characters and plays out very well on screen.

However, Chadda does not live up to expectation and nowhere near the performance as given by her counterpart. The movie obviously tries to force the viewer to take a side, not maintaining a neutrality, maybe for better viewer experience but that might trouble a few viewers. There is also a series of scenes depicting the different events that may have been possible, not every scenario needed to be in as much detail as shown, but the primary one.

The film is created at a time when there is a good stir about the topic across the globe which keeps the viewer interested in the film having the relevance showing the sign of the times. It is neither a stellar movie nor having a well touted star cast but would still come in the checklist of better movies created in the genre.

Acting- 8.5

Casting- 8

Cinematography- 8

Dialogue- 7

Directing- 8

Editing & Effects- 7

Sound & Music- 8

Story- 9

Storytelling- 8.5

Rating- 8.5

Available on: Amazon Prime

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