What happens to a schoolteacher, Parima, in the recent release Assi is every woman’s worst nightmare. On her way home from a party, she is abducted by four men, raped in a moving car, subjected to horrific violence and dumped on the railway tracks to die.

The film, directed by Anubhav Sinha, then does something that breaks the old rape-revenge trope used in Bollywood. It is as if the way the aftermath of sexual violence has been depicted in movies for decades underwent an evolution. That is probably because the attitude of society towards the survivor has changed to some extent. Nowhere in the film is the archaic term “izzat lut gayi” used.

When Parima (played by Kani Kusruti) is found by a man, he does not look away, thinking, “Why get involved in police hassles?” With the help of ordinary people like him, women quickly empty a cart to transport her; she is taken to hospital, and the Delhi cops, notorious for their apathy, actually get cracking right away. Parima is badly injured and traumatised, but never does she or her husband, Vinay (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub), even consider not going ahead with the complaint for fear of what people will say. He even takes their pre-teen son to the hospital and court so that he is not shielded from brutal reality.

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There is a scene when she returns home after being discharged from the hospital, and many........

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