Section 375 Marzi Ya Zabardasti (2019)

#FinalVerdict

It's not just Director Ajay Bahl & writer Manish Gupta's best work but also one of the best to come out of Bollywood. Kudos to Panorama Studios, SCIPL, Abhishek Pathakk, Kumar Mangat Pathak and Aditya Chowksey! With stellar performances & superlative narration, besides presenting a captivating courtroom drama so effectively, Section 375 will hold your guts till the end & pinch your soul hard. It gets a bit technical to keep it realistic to the core. Near-perfect!

Boasting of a gripping screenplay that holds your attention till the end & despite the film's slow narrative, it keeps you engaged. The film has some hard hitting dialogues (Ajay Bahl, Manish Gupta), which elevates the situations & the corresponding elements. The interrogation sequence, Akshaye Khanna confronting with the judges & his opening speech & closing statements along with Richa Chadha's, Section 375 keeps going on a high. It demands your attention and you’ll be glued to the screen throughout. Pedantic!

Teamwork makes dream work & this holds true for Section 375. The manner in which director Ajay Bahl has extracted realistic performances from the actors is definitely laudable. Manish Gupta is a genius. The verbal jousting is loaded with details and facts. Sudhir K Chaudhary's cinematography is most appropriate. Arif Sheikh & Praveen Angre's editing is razor-sharp. Clinton Cerejo's background score is exhilarating, filling in the silences very well. Apurva Singh Rathore's casting is spot on. Spiffing! From actors in smaller roles to the central players, there isn’t a false note here. It's, undoubtedly & undisputedly the towering Akshaye Khanna who steals the show. It won't be erroneous to state that it's one of his career best and memorable performances. Trailing an extreme close second is Richa Chadha, who manages to 'earn her place under the sun' with her no-nonsense portrayal of Hiral Gandhi. Meerra Chopra delivers a rock solid performance. She utilises to the maximum the screen time that is offered to her. Rahul Bhat gets into the skin of his character. Watch out for the scene when he comes on the set & blasts everyone. Menacing! Shriswara speaks a lot through her silences & makes her presence felt. Krutika Desai & Kishor Kadam are authentically impressive.

On the whole, Section 375 is a hard-hitting/power-packed courtroom drama and a compelling film. It makes its point with such force that it is difficult not to be impressed. It isn't often that Bollywood shows such spine. Don't miss this one! Double Thumbs Up!