Assi Movie Review: Hard-hitting, horrifying, and heartfelt, this courtroom drama is impossible to ignore

Story: The courtroom drama follows a teacher, Parima (Kani Kusruti), who is brutally gang raped while returning home, and her lawyer Raavi’s (Taapsee Pannu) fight for justice. Beyond the horrific crime, it explores themes such as vigilantism, patriarchy, systemic corruption, and societal apathy that normalises sexual assault and crimes against women.Review: Director Anubhav Sinha’s title denotes the approximate number of rapes that take place each day in India — around 80. The film does not allow the viewer to sit comfortably with this statistic. Every 20 minutes, a reminder flashes on screen that another assault has occurred somewhere in the country during the film’s runtime. Alongside the alarming figure, the legal drama unsettles with its unflinching portrayal of how cruel society can be toward survivors.After Parima is violated, her male students joke about it in WhatsApp groups, while her husband Vinay (Zeeshan Ayyub) is pressured by his family to drop the case to “save honour.” Police corruption sabotages the investigation, victim-blaming becomes routine, and the accused display chilling apathy. They turn the crime into a game, with the loser buying beer; two of the four swap scarves in court to match their outfits, and one heads to a disco to party. Each culprit has a sister, girlfriend, or daughter — an irony the narrative quietly underscores.Parallelly, the story examines vigilantism through the rise of a ‘Chhatri Man,’ who begins targeting these rapists when the system fails. The film logically dissects the dangers of trial by media and mob justice. One of its most powerful moments sees Raavi’s face smeared with black ink by an irate supporter after she publicly speaks against vigilante justice. The success of any courtroom drama rests on the strength of its arguments and verbal sparring, and writer Gaurav Solanki delivers some of the sharpest exchanges through Raavi. Among the most heartrending sequences are her impassioned references to real cases, from infants assaulted to minors abusing an 80-year-old woman.Though hard-hitting, the narrative resists melodrama, making it more thought-provoking than sensational. It adopts a forward-looking stance through the children who appear during the proceedings, suggesting the need to sensitise the next generation. This is portrayed through the moving relationship between Vinay and his son, Dhruv. When Dhruv visits Parima in the hospital, Vinay quietly admits that the aftermath will follow them home anyway; there is no shielding a child from such a reality. Besides the legal battle, the narrative also has plot twists that will shake you to the core.Taapsee Pannu leads from the front here, embodying frustration, empathy, and even dry humour with finesse. Kani Kusruti is outstanding as a survivor attempting to rebuild her life. Revathy brings gravitas as the presiding judge, while Kumud Mishra leaves a mark with his layered performance. Zeeshan Ayyub’s restraint is moving.For its poignant storytelling, hard-hitting narrative, and fine performances, and to fully absorb the message it delivers, Assi deserves to be experienced in a theatre.