This is one of the most disturbing and hard-hitting Indian films I have watched which was pain stacking to sit through and I cannot cut even a single mark in it. Maybe just as an optimistic person I might cut 1 mark because we don't have a movie-like hero saviour who does some crazy action scenes to stab these monsters to death but yeah that is just me being dilutional because we all know in real-life there are no saviours for these people. Does not mean there is no hope shown in the movie, you have to watch it to find it out. Talking about the film full marks to the makers and director Tabraiz Noorani who stayed true to the realism and difficult to watch genre and never let the screenplay dip. They never shied away from the torture and the dark brothel spaces which will make you dizzy like the protagonist does. One disturbing yet hard-hitting scene follows the other, you just keep hoping that this new character she is interacting with supports her and let's her run away but from her own parents to the brothel girls, the whole world sees her as a commodity. If your head doesn't hurt if you do not cry then you are a really strong person. The way the camerawork just uses close-ups, keeps the world really dark both literally and metaphorically is masterfully done and just shows a glimpse of the horror which millions go through everyday which blows my mind. It was wonderful to see international heavyweights like Demi Moore and mark Duplass involve themselves with it because this is not an exclusively Indian issue, this is a world issue and every individual should try their best in doing something to eradicate it. We throughout stay invested in this journey and it is extremely gripping, the major credit of which should go to National Award level performances by each and every actor. I have to start with one of my favourites currently and debutant Mrunal Thakur who is breathtakingly jaw-dropping, I mean an actress who can debut like this shows what she is made up of. She perfectly encapsulated a village teenager with heart-breaking innocence and shares a deep bond with her elder sister. We see the dirty world through her eyes and she carried the film on her young shoulders you cannot take your eyes off her. Her tears makes you weep, watch the scenes when someone is having sex with her against her consent, her expressions will shatter your heart. The best scene performed by her was when she meets her sister later in the film and her sister does not recognize her, the changes in expression in the whole scene is absolutely National Award worthy and she is one of the best Indian young actresses right now. There are plenty of veterans in it, most of them who were monsters but were perfectly believable and hateable, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee and Adil Hussain were absolutely fantastic. The convincing manner in which they were a**holes shows that they are 3 of the best thespians in Indian cinema. I liked Rajkumar Rao's presence in it, which comes as a slim beam of light in this dark tunnel and he as usual had his presence felt lik he does for every project. From the supporting cast my favourite though was Richa Chadha both for her performance and the layers and growth her character had. She came across as a ruthless person to Mrunal in this world at the start who seemes to have accustomed to this world pretty well but the realities and the turns her life takes and what this profession does to her was truly heart-breaking and Richa as usual knocked it out of the park in the most challenging scenes and holds her own and will make you teary for sure.
Overall it is an extremely difficult painful but important and hard-hitting award-winning watch. Do not expect any Bollywood heroism or typical hero saves the day (there are positives in this story as well but not in the way you expect so watch it to find out) or any commercial standard tropes in it, it is a glimpse of a dark real-life, if you can deal with it then watch, it is not for everyone but the ones who appreciate such cinema will find it a masterpiece. Total 5 stars from me.
Overall it is an extremely difficult painful but important and hard-hitting award-winning watch. Do not expect any Bollywood heroism or typical hero saves the day (there are positives in this story as well but not in the way you expect so watch it to find out) or any commercial standard tropes in it, it is a glimpse of a dark real-life, if you can deal with it then watch, it is not for everyone but the ones who appreciate such cinema will find it a masterpiece. Total 5 stars from me.