ASSI Movie Review: A Mirror to India’s Rape Culture
I normally don’t write movie reviews. But for Assi I wrote with a blunt and strong title ‘A Mirror to India’s Rape Culture’.
I also don’t watch movies that much, but for ‘Assi’, starring Taapsee Pannu directed by Anubhav Sinha and written by Gaurav Solanki, I took time to go and watch in the movie hall.
For me taking time to go and what movies, specially the ones which a social message, is about showing solidarity. It’s about turning up to support work of actors, producers, writers who choose to make such films. To shout-out, that there is audience for such films as well, amidst the frenzy of blockbuster masala films.
Watching ‘Assi’ was not just watching a film, it was also admiring the journey of Gaurav Solanki. Gaurav and I studied together at IIT Roorkee. In college he was writing Hindi poems and stories. Not simple ones but dense Hindi, layered meanings, often without rhyme, often difficult for many of us to fully grasp.
He was clear about what he wanted to do. He wanted to write. And he stayed with that choice.
Today Gaurav has written highly acclaimed films like Article 15, a deeply moving film on caste-based discrimination in modern India starring Ayushmann Khurrana.
He has also written a Hindi story collection (“Gyarahvin A ke Ladke” -ग्यारहवीं A के लड़के) and continued building his voice as a writer in a country where writing rarely pays well.
This time something interesting happened with Assi. For once in the Indian film industry, the writer reportedly received the highest payment among the team members. In an industry where the spotlight and the money usually go almost entirely to the stars, while writers struggle behind the scenes, this felt like a small but meaningful correction. And yes, it was well deserved.
Assi, starring Taapsee Pannu, is not an easy film to watch. It deals with something that Indian society has dangerously become used to – the normalization of rape.
Every 20 minutes a rape is reported in India
The film reminds the audience of a horrifying statistic: every 20 minutes a rape is reported in India. And this is only the reported number. In a country where families worry more about social reputation than justice, where victims are silenced by shame, pressure and fear, the real number is certainly far higher.
The film keeps reminding us of this statistic in a striking way. Every twenty minutes, the screen suddenly turns red. A message appears: Another Rape Reported. It interrupts the narrative like a shock. It forces the viewer to confront something we normally scroll past in news feeds.
Because somewhere along the way, rape statistics have become just another news item.
A blow on Society’s Indifference and Contradictions on Rape Culture
The film exposes how society reacts when such crimes happen. Families rush to save the accused boys. Money begins to circulate. Influence starts to operate quietly. The system that is supposed to protect the victim slowly bends toward protecting the criminal.
Police investigations get manipulated. Legal battles get delayed. Power and money quietly reshape outcomes.
And all this happens while the survivor is expected to remain silent.
One of the most painful aspects the film touches on is how little attention society gives to the trauma of survivors. Once the headlines fade, the survivor is left alone with the psychological damage. Very little is done to help them recover. Rehabilitation is almost nonexistent. Social stigma isolates them further.
Sometimes things go even further into darkness. Survivors are pressured to withdraw complaints. Families negotiate settlements. And in some cases, survivors are even forced to marry the man who raped them, simply to preserve the “honor” of the family.
The film does not shout these realities loudly. It presents them in quiet, uncomfortable moments. And that quietness makes it even more disturbing.
Also read: How High Beams, White Lights, and Broken Infrastructure are Making Indian Roads Unsafe
The Question the Film Forces Us to Ask
But the most important question the film raises is not only about law, punishment, or justice. It is about how we raise boys.
Rapists do not emerge from nowhere. They grow up inside homes – our homes. Boys grow up hearing casual sexist jokes, seeing women treated with casual disrespect, and watching media where violence against women is normalized. At the same time, families refuse to talk about sex, consent, or relationships openly.
When homes remain silent about these subjects, children learn from the worst possible sources: distorted internet content, toxic peer groups, and violent media narratives.
A society that refuses to talk about consent should not be surprised when consent is violated.
In many ways the film forces us to confront a painful truth: as a society we have failed to raise boys with conscience. Instead, we have allowed insensitivity and entitlement to quietly grow, creating demons that walk among us as ordinary men.
The film also reminds us of another uncomfortable reality, how unsafe everyday life remains for women. Many women cannot travel freely at night. Many constantly evaluate risk in ordinary activities that men never think twice about. Even stepping outside alone can become a calculated decision.
We often say that society is unsafe for women. But the film quietly pushes us toward a harder realization: we are society.
When Rape Becomes Just Another Statistic
In one powerful moment a survivor says something that stayed with me long after the film ended:
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Taapsee Pannu Assi Movie: A Mirror to India’s Rape Culture
“80 rapes per day. Nearly 30,000 per year. Enough to fill a stadium. With numbers like this, even if I get justice, what is the meaning of that justice?”
It is a devastating line because it exposes the scale of the crisis. When violence becomes systemic, individual justice starts to feel painfully inadequate.
I honestly do not know how Assi will perform at the box office. Many people avoid films like this. Not because they are badly made, but because they force us to stare into a mirror we would rather avoid.
Powerful poem “मरना’ by Uday Prakash is a deep taunt to our conscience;
“आदमी
मरने के बाद
कुछ नहीं सोचता।आदमी
मरने के बाद
कुछ नहीं बोलता।कुछ नहीं सोचने
और कुछ नहीं बोलने पर
आदमी मर जाता है।”
A person does not think or speak after death. But perhaps a society also dies when it stops thinking and stops speaking about injustice.
ASSI Movie Review: A Mirror to India’s Rape Culture
Assi is not for entertainment, it exposes the contradictions we live with – in our homes, our institutions, and our culture. It forces uncomfortable questions about masculinity, power, silence and responsibility.
For that reason alone, it deserves to be watched.
And on a personal note, seeing Gaurav choose the difficult path of writing and stay committed to it is deeply moving. In a country where writers rarely get the recognition or the compensation they deserve, this film is also a reminder of the power of good writing.
You can follow Gaurav Solakni on Instagram
This is powerful work by Solanki and the entire crew. I hope the film triggers conversations, especially about how we raise boys.
Because the safety of women will never be solved only through harsher laws or faster courts.
It will begin inside homes. In the way we raise our sons. In the conversations we avoid. And in the silences we choose to keep.
Also read: Understand the Pollution Crisis of North India
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Further Reading:
The courage to be yourself (and how pluralistic ignorance impacts)
