Notable film director Rohan Khurana is arrested and convicted by a sessions court after assistant costume designer Anjali Dangle accuses him of rape. In the High Court, senior and talented criminal barrister Tarun Saluja works hard to punch holes in the accuser’s claims, while Hiral Gandhi, a utopian and fervent lawyer fighting her first big case, who was once Saluja's trainee, serve as the prosecutor and defence barrister of the claimed victim. Insisting that it is a case of an affair gone sour, Tarun Saluja points out that the law does not regard consensual physical relations as rape. Hiral Gandhi refuses to call it anything but rape, demanding justice to be served. Tarun Saluja states that Law is a fact, Justice is abstract. The case disputes the legal provisions of the penal code 375 that defines conditions under which a sexual offense can be defined as rape.
Cast
Akshaye Khanna as Tarun Saluja, defence barrister of the accused
Annuup Choudhari as Pramod Dangle, Anjali's brother
Tanuka Laghate as Meera Singh
Kshama Ninave as Anjali's mother
Nishank Verma as Shekhar
Marketing and release
The first poster of the film was released by its makers on 7 August 2019. The official teaser was released on 8 August 2019 by T-Series. In the teaser, Khanna and Chadda were seen fighting a rape case. On 13 August, official trailer of the film was launched by T-Series. On 5 September, a dialogue promo presenting Khanna was released. The film was premiered at Singapore South Asian International Film Festival on 7 September 2019. It was closing film of the festival and received appreciation. The film was theatrically released in India on 13 September 2019.
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 64% based on eleven reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. Sreeparna Sengupta of The Times of India gave the film four stars out of five, praising screenplay, dialogues and performance of Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Rahul Bhat and Kishor Kadam, noted that the film made for a 'gripping watch with a crisp runtime and top-notch performances'. Concluding she wrote, "Overall, Section 375 is an audacious effort. It is a relevant film that tackles a complex issue and one that will engage, inform and open up debates." Trade analyst and critic Taran Adarsh gave the film four stars out of five, tagged it as "Powerful" and praised the performance of Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, writing and direction. He opined, "A relevant film that raises pertinent points... Recommended!" Udita Jhunjhunwala of Firstpost gave three and half stars out of five and opined that it was the cinematography and editing that kept the film moving at desirable pace and in mood. Praising Manish Gupta’s writing, she concluded that the film neither took a shrill, moralistic stand, nor caved to 'Bollywood-ised courtroom hysteria', rather it stuck to a highly charged narrative that deftly examined both sides of the case and deferred to the rule of law. Devesh Sharma reviewing for Filmfare rates the film with three stars out of five. He wrote that the film was a 'well-crafted', 'well-acted' film with pithy and witty dialogues. He praised performance of Khanna and Chadha, but criticising the climax, concluded, “This criminal twist at the very end undoes all the good done by the film and leaves you with a bitter taste in the mouth. The director is trying to be too clever here but this cleverness eats away into the nobility of the film." Manjusha Radhakrishnan of Gulf News gave three and half stars out of five, concurring in praising lead cast she wrote, "Both Khanna and Chadha are in top form as warring legal counsels". She also praised the editing of the film and noted that film was off-beat, but concurring with Sharma she felt that the second half was made 'frustratingly convenient'. Concluding she opined, "While you may not be thrilled at where the film is headed, the right thing to do is to give the searing Section 375 a fair trial." Writing for CNN-News18, Rajeev Masand termed the film as an 'unmistakably compelling courtroom drama' and rated it with three and half stars out of five. He noted that director Ajay Bahl and writer Manish Gupta have made a 'sharp, thought-provoking drama' which is topical and conscious of the situation prevailing. Concluding, he opined, "It’s a well-made film with a persuasive argument that is nevertheless disturbing."
Box office
Section 375 collected on the opening day, and on the second day, whereas the third day collection was, taking its total opening weekend collection to. , the film has a collection of in India.
