Name: Assi
Genre: Thriller, Courtroom Dramas
Released: 2026-02-20
Rating: 6.7
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Revathy, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub

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A relentless courtroom drama unfolds around a wave of unexplained sexual assault cases. As shocking truths come out, an investigator and a defence team battle the system to uncover what lies beneath the statistics and the human cost behind the headlines.

Assi

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Anubhav Sinha and Gaurav Solanki's story is absolutely shocking. Anubhav Sinha and Gaurav Solanki's screenplay is captivating. But the writing often wanders into subplots needlessly. Anubhav Sinha and Gaurav Solanki's dialogues are hard-hitting.

Anubhav Sinha's direction has its share of impact. He begins the film on a shocking note and it immediately grips the viewer. In fact, the first 20 minutes are extremely disturbing. Probably, no Hindi film has depicted the crime in such a brutal manner. However, Anubhav has ensured that it doesn’t come across as titillating; viewers would be disgusted by it and would feel the pain of the survivor. The makers also focus on the families of both sides. The manner in which Vinay handles the situation while taking care of his son is memorable. Parima also finds it difficult to resume work and the reason for it is astonishing to say the least. That’s not all. The focus is also on the female members of the rapists’ families and how they cope with it. The film begins with the information that a rape is reported every 20 minutes in our country. To add to the impact, this information is reminded to the viewer after every 20 minutes into the runtime and it further packs a punch. The finale is moving.
On the flipside, the treatment is inconsistent. While several portions carry Anubhav Sinha’s familiar stamp, that is, thoughtful, slightly niche, yet still appealing to a wider audience like ARTICLE 15 [2019] and THAPPAD [2020], a few stretches suddenly shift into a ‘film festival’ mode. Such scenes are often random and incoherent and dilute the impact heavily. Secondly, a lot of prominence is given to the character of Kartik. Though it has its moments, viewers would have preferred the focus to remain firmly on Raavi and Parima. The angle of a cop indulging in a bribe also doesn’t make the desired impact. These scenes distract from the core courtroom drama and are presented in an indie-styled manner that doesn’t blend seamlessly with the rest. Even THAPPAD had sub-plots but they all seemed seamless and the execution was slightly more mainstream. Ideally, ASSI needed a treatment along the lines of Anubhav Sinha’s MULK [2018] or Taapsee Pannu’s PINK [2016] – films that were serious and courtroom-driven, yet commercial, that heightened the impact.

Assi Movie Review Performances:
Taapsee Pannu gets back into the zone that she owns and as expected, delivers a fantastic performance. She’s especially exceptional in the climax. Kani Kusruti is the soul of the story. This is no easy role and she comes out with flying colours. Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub’s character is written in an unconventional manner – a husband who stays largely silent, yet stands firmly by his wife and tries, in his own way, to cope with the tragedy. Performance-wise, he’s first-rate. Kumud Mishra is dependable. Satyajit Sharma (Navratan; defence lawyer), Rajendra Sethi (senior cop), Jatin Goswami and the actor playing ASI Vanita leave a mark. Advik Jaiswal puts up a lovely act. Revathy (Vasudha; judge) and Manoj Pahwa lend able support. Vipul Gupta (Ballu), Sahil Sethi (Sameer), Abhishek Kaushal (Bunty), Tejender Singh (Ghool) and Abhishant Rana (Nikka) perform the roles of the rapists well. Tripti Thakur (Savita; Sameer's wife) and Akshara Padwal (Vidya; Sameer's daughter) are there for just two scenes and yet make their presence felt. Naseeruddin Shah, Supriya Pathak and Seema Pahwa are impressive in special appearances.
Assi Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, ASSI is a hard-hitting courtroom drama that unsettles and stays with you, powered by a gripping premise and solid performances, especially by Taapsee Pannu and Kani Kusruti. However, the uneven treatment and distracting subplots prevent it from reaching the heights it clearly aims for. At the box office, it should stay steady in multiplexes due to a relatively clear run, provided its target audience turns up.

Director Anubhav Sinha’s title denotes the approximate number of rapes that take place each day in India — around 80. The film does not allow the viewer to sit comfortably with this statistic. Every 20 minutes, a reminder flashes on screen that another assault has occurred somewhere in the country during the film’s runtime. Alongside the alarming figure, the legal drama unsettles with its unflinching portrayal of how cruel society can be toward survivors.
After Parima is violated, her male students joke about it in WhatsApp groups, while her husband Vinay (Zeeshan Ayyub) is pressured by his family to drop the case to “save honour.” Police corruption sabotages the investigation, victim-blaming becomes routine, and the accused display chilling apathy. They turn the crime into a game, with the loser buying beer; two of the four swap scarves in court to match their outfits, and one heads to a disco to party. Each culprit has a sister, girlfriend, or daughter — an irony the narrative quietly underscores.
Parallelly, the story examines vigilantism through the rise of a ‘Chhatri Man,’ who begins targeting these rapists when the system fails. The film logically dissects the dangers of trial by media and mob justice. One of its most powerful moments sees Raavi’s face smeared with black ink by an irate supporter after she publicly speaks against vigilante justice. The success of any courtroom drama rests on the strength of its arguments and verbal sparring, and writer Gaurav Solanki delivers some of the sharpest exchanges through Raavi. Among the most heartrending sequences are her impassioned references to real cases, from infants assaulted to minors abusing an 80-year-old woman.
Though hard-hitting, the narrative resists melodrama, making it more thought-provoking than sensational. It adopts a forward-looking stance through the children who appear during the proceedings, suggesting the need to sensitise the next generation. This is portrayed through the moving relationship between Vinay and his son, Dhruv. When Dhruv visits Parima in the hospital, Vinay quietly admits that the aftermath will follow them home anyway; there is no shielding a child from such a reality. Besides the legal battle, the narrative also has plot twists that will shake you to the core.
Taapsee Pannu leads from the front here, embodying frustration, empathy, and even dry humour with finesse. Kani Kusruti is outstanding as a survivor attempting to rebuild her life. Revathy brings gravitas as the presiding judge, while Kumud Mishra leaves a mark with his layered performance. Zeeshan Ayyub’s restraint is moving.
For its poignant storytelling, hard-hitting narrative, and fine performances, and to fully absorb the message it delivers, Assi deserves to be experienced in a theatre.

Is there an obligation to like a film that holds up a mirror to society? Should you feel compelled to praise a film only because it talks about crimes against women? Are you supposed to question yourself if a film hasn't moved you the way it intends to? No. Absolutely not. And that is perhaps why the Hindi film industry largely steers clear of making unsettling dramas. Not Anubhav Sinha, though.


Sinha has reinvented himself as a filmmaker unafraid of discomfort. His cinema is not just social drama; it is a simmering exercise in asking questions that make you examine your own position. His latest film, Assi, starring Taapsee Pannu, attempts exactly that. If you believe cinema exists only to entertain, then neither this film nor this review is for you. But if you are willing to pause and consider what else cinema can do, then this is a conversation worth having.

Assi is primarily the story of a woman who is sexually assaulted in a moving car by five men and then thrown onto a railway track to die. But look closer, and it becomes a story about internal battles -- between a person and their own guilt, between families and society, between hope and a justice system that seems inadequate, and about a world that never looks at a woman the same way after she has been assaulted.
Parima (Kani Kusruti) is a Malayali woman married to a North Indian man, Vinay (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub). They have a young son, Advik. One night, Parima steps out of a metro station late -- the first mistake, as society would have it. She is abducted, assaulted repeatedly in a moving car, brutally beaten, almost blinded in one eye, filmed and left on a railway track.
A passerby finds her, and she is rushed to a hospital. The police begin an investigation and arrest the accused, only to realise there is no direct evidence strong enough to secure a conviction. Enter Taapsee's Raavi, a lawyer already exhausted by the limitations and loopholes of the justice system.

If you think knowing the story is enough, it isn’t. This film is less about what happens and more about what it forces you to confront. (Some may consider the context below a spoiler).

Assi unsettles you every twenty minutes. Just when you begin to settle into the narrative, the screen turns red. A stark message flashes, implying that every 20 minutes, a woman is raped in this country. It is a direct break from the story, a deliberate interruption. The film refuses to let you remain a passive viewer. It reminds you that while you sit in a dark theatre, statistics are revealing themselves in real time outside it.
A large part of Assi is set in a realistic courtroom where a strict judge (Revathi in another strong performance) often finds herself at the crossroads of evidence and truth. However, it is inside the house - in conversations and silences -- that the film wrestles better. A bedroom scene in which an emotionally wounded Parima flinches at her husband's touch and then breaks down, forcing his hand to rest on her head, stands out. It is uncomfortable to watch. It is also honest.

Another moment that stays longer: when someone questions Vinay for bringing his six-year-old son to court, he responds, "Bacha kahan raha ab, bada ho gaya na." The line lands heavily. Sinha gives a 360-degree view of how an assault alters every life attached to the woman. Children grow up overnight. Women learn to navigate fear. Men walk around with a silence that is difficult to articulate.

Vinay is not written as the stereotypical Hindi film husband. He is not plotting revenge. He is not screaming for blood. He is not performing masculinity. He is a law-abiding citizen trying to stand by his wife. Sitting beside her in court. Walking her to work. Waiting for her to heal. Standing silently with her on the balcony. Raising a child in a home that no longer feels the same. That restraint is one of the film's strongest choices.
Assi is neither Sinha's best nor Taapsee's. Her Thappad (2020) remains her most layered performance so far, and Sinha's Article 15 (2019) is still the benchmark he set for himself. But Assi works differently. It operates like a silent detonator. You feel shaken without being physically attacked. Yes, it occasionally turns preachy. But by then you are already thinking about yourself - if you are a woman, or about the women in your life, if you are not. And that discomfort is its win.

The film reaches across demographics. An entire stretch is dedicated to children, asking whether we are teaching them the right things. Are we so focused on marks, careers, AI, and competition that we forget to teach empathy? Respect? Consent? Are we raising boys without teaching them what being a decent human being means?

When one of the accused claims that sexual assault is not possible unless a woman is "participating" and "liking" it, the theatre falls into a heavy silence. The line is disturbing. But what unsettles you more is how familiar it sounds. You've heard versions of it before -- in drawing rooms, on television debates, in casual conversations that blame the woman before the crime. That is where the film hits the hardest. By forcing us to listen to it without looking away.


A woman walking alone in the dark.

No. This cannot be real. Not in Delhi, where stepping out after dusk is an act of danger. Not in India, where predators do not spare even babies and old ladies.

Anubhav Sinha’s Assi, referring to the number of rapes that take place in a minute, loses no time in plunging us into the heart of darkness, when school-teacher Parima (Kani Kusruti) is pulled into a car and savagely assaulted by a group of men. She is returning from a function at a colleague’s place to her modest middle-class home, where husband Vinay (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) and young son (Advik Jaiswal) are waiting, marking the hours of a night that becomes a nightmare.
Written by: Shubhra Gupta
5 min readUpdated: Feb 20, 2026 11:47 AM IST
assi review 1600Assi movie review: The Anubhav Sinha's film stars Taapsee Pannu in the lead role.
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Assi movie review: A woman walking alone in the dark.

No. This cannot be real. Not in Delhi, where stepping out after dusk is an act of danger. Not in India, where predators do not spare even babies and old ladies.

Anubhav Sinha’s Assi, referring to the number of rapes that take place in a minute, loses no time in plunging us into the heart of darkness, when school-teacher Parima (Kani Kusruti) is pulled into a car and savagely assaulted by a group of men. She is returning from a function at a colleague’s place to her modest middle-class home, where husband Vinay (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) and young son (Advik Jaiswal) are waiting, marking the hours of a night that becomes a nightmare.

Also read | Anubhav Sinha says would do his best to not announce Assi box office ‘no matter how good or bad’: ‘It’s just good gossip’
Co-written by Sinha and Gaurav Solanki, the film is at its most powerful when it stays with Parima — bodily bruises slowly healing, soul permanently scarred — and her struggle to put the trauma behind her.

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In a telling aside, Parima’s school’s principal (Seema Pahwa, in a cameo) is reluctant to let her return to work because, as she puts it baldly, she is not ready, nor are the students: the teenage boys in Parima’s mathematics class, who exchange lewd comments on their WhatsApp groups, are as complicit in the continuance of rape culture as are the vociferous defenders of the status quo who allow monsters to roam free.

It is an in-your-face sequence, but then this whole film is totally and deliberately in your face, with the filmmakers clearly hoping that you will never be able to get it out of your mind and heart, even if the frequent usage of the red screen borders perilously close to being gimmicky. It holds up a mirror to those who refuse to acknowledge just how hard it is for women to be out on their own, whether they are in playgrounds, using public transport, crossing roads, or, even their own homes. No place is safe.

The verbal clashes between the feisty Raavi (Taapsee Pannu, reuniting with Sinha after ‘Mulk’ and ‘Thappad’) who fights Parima’s case and the rapists’ lawyer (Satyajit Sharma), presided over by a seasoned judge (Revathi), may remind you of Sinha’s previous films which used the court-room as a battlefield to stake out the ethical and moral ground rapidly slipping from under our feet.
As the cop stuck between a corrupt system and his conscience, Jatin Goswami catches your eye. As does Ayyub, as the husband who stands like a rock, shielding his grievously wounded wife from prying eyes, allowing her to heal at her own pace. Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Pathak appear briefly as the parents of one of the perpetrators, starting off shocked and horrified and then veering into the zone of hamara bachcha hai, usko bachaana hai, kya karein.

Where the film falters is in the inclusion of a couple of characters, played by Kumud Mishra and Naseeruddin Shah, whose shadowy connection hints at something larger but remains fuzzy. The desire for vigilante-style justice takes away from the film’s core which stays within the realm of the credible — if there’s forensic evidence, it will be tampered with; if there are witnesses, they will be bought off — with the victim and her supportive lawyer being made to feel like there’s no justice in the system hollowed out by rutting, strutting men.
But I’m willing to ignore these contrived bits when it comes to the importance of this film, which calls out all those who are responsible for the state of things, including the men who feel able to toss off comments laden with casual misogyny, claiming that a rape can never happen without participation. And just so we can’t pretend it never happened, the film unflinchingly captures the heinous act, without a shred of prurience, making us feel each wound being inflicted on the woman: that sequence is as terrifying as anything I’ve seen in the movies. It is not done to titillate. It is done to bear witness.

And also when it comes to giving a shout out to Kani Kusruti, whose Parima refuses to succumb to weak victimhood even as she acknowledges how profoundly she has been impacted. In one of the most powerful lines in the film, she talks of feeling good upon hearing of a death: I never wanted to feel like this, she says, and that’s a tight sock to the jaw. It is a quietly searing performance, without once calling attention to itself.

Almost every woman has felt it. That slight frisson of fear. A warning that you sense in your gut before it courses through your body.

Your heart beats a little faster. Your hands feel slightly clammy. Late at night, you look at an empty skywalk. Or subway. Or an empty train or bus that you need to catch. An empty road that you need to walk down.

On that road -- it should be safe; the streetlights are on -- a car nears. Comes too close.

A thought flashes through your head, right or wrong: Why did you decide to step out alone this late? (Not that it is really safer if you have a male companion; especially if someone else has decided they want 'to have some fun' that night.)

You start walking faster. Then probably running.

But it's 'too late'.

The car stops. The woman is grabbed. Her beautiful indigo and white printed long skirt is pulled off and flung on the road -- the defence lawyer will later point out that there is not a single tear in it so clearly she could not have resisted -- and the horror that is inflicted on Assi's Parima (Kani Kusruti) that night is reflected in her single eye, the other one has been beaten shut; in the counts to see who can keep it up the most (the loser is to buy the rest of the four perpetrators beer); in the grin of the perpetrator video recording the assault...


It is indeed a powerful beginning, especially in contrast to the happy, loving little family -- mother, father, son and the madness-turns-into-fun and working parents rush to get their day started -- in short; the absolutely everyday, absolutely normal life they lead.

After the rape, Parima is abandoned on a railway track -- she's been used and now she's thrown.

A humanitarian saves her and here comes the film's first flaw -- chillies are flung off a plastic-sheeted cart and she laid on it (it's an old style filmi touch; something you now see in long-running soap dramas) and feels 'off' in a film that has been exceptionally difficult-to-watch-without-your-stomach-churning real until now.

Her husband Vinay (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) reaches the hospital, son Dhruv (Advik Jaiswal) in tow. Is it shock that makes him bring his little son to the hospital especially when he has supportive neighbours? Does he know what has happened to his wife?

Is shock the reason for his deadpan expression when he looks at his beloved battered wife?

She recovers slowly; her eyesight is impaired because 'the arteries in her head have been injured due to her head injury'. But since she has decided to go to court, identifying the aggressors has become vital because their DNA does not match the DNA found on her.

She can't identify them in a line up and you know in that moment that question is going to come up in court: How can you not recognise the faces of the people you claim raped you?

Tossed into the mix is Manoj Pahwa, a desperate father who has used his money to pull his son out of trouble before and is willing to do anything to do so again. A man who cannot see beyond his son. To whom the victim does not exist. To whom the victim is his son.
Where Assi succeeds
In moments.

For me, the most powerful one was the moment between one of the rapists (Abhishek Kaushal) and his sister (Payal Samyani). She makes him confess. For the first time, you see the rapist ashamed; he's in tears and holds her tight, begging for forgiveness.

She can't stand it; can't stand him and struggles, in tears, a scream locked in her throat, to free herself.

The moment when you realise children talk, and understand, more than you, as a parent, think they do. And a little boy comes to know what has happened to his mother.

'Why did they do that to her?' he asks his father.

'Do what?' How does the father even answer such a question. He tries, amid his shock, to buy time.

The moment when Parima tells the judge, 'Madam, I love flowers. There was a bouquet behind my head in the car. Now, I can't stand their fragrance.'

And when one of the rapists is murdered. 'I feel good that he has been murdered,' Parima tells her husband. Almost immediately, there is shock and disgust on her fact that she feels like this as she wonders what kind of person she now is.

In the red screen that flashes every 20 minutes, dragging you out of the movie, reminding you with a punch in the face that a woman has been raped. That's why the film is titled Assi. Eighty. The number of women raped every day.

Assi is also a stark reminder that one rape changes multiple lives forever. The survivor will never see the world though the same eyes again. 'You look at the mirror,' says Parima. 'The face is the same. But the reflection will never be the same.'

Her family's life will never be the same again. Not will the lives of those who love her. Nor will the lives of the rapist's wife. Or daughter. Or sister. Or family.
Should you watch?
Yes.

Because this is a film, though not perfect, has a strong message. It will make you realise how horrifying a crime rape is.

How it is easily, casually turned into a joke even by children. How children know so much more that adults think they do.

How ma, behen and biwi are only important and should be kept safe if ma, behen and biwi are yours.

How a courtroom process, even if you have a good judge (what a fabulous performance by Revathy!), can easily be manipulated.

There are moments when you will get scared, when you will get angry, when you will feel helpless... when you will realise the enormity of the crime.

For that, do watch this flawed film.

Anubhav Sinha’s Assi is audacious, heart-wrenching and an urgent watch. Much like Mulk and Thappad, the theme remains the same – reclaiming dignity in a world where the minority is subjected to dishonour, disrespect and violent oppression. Both Thappad and Assi explore women’s agency after violence – one within marriage and the other after sexual assault – and circumnavigate on how a women redefines self-worth after being wronged. Assi, however, is a macro-level deep-dive on the systemic, bureaucratic and maybe even legal negligence in relaying justice.

Is justice delayed indeed justice denied? What makes a criminal? Is violence the only way to avenge violence? The film throws open a host of questions modern India is dealing with. Assi sets the tone right from its very first frame. A woman is found lying by the railway tracks covered in blood, bruises and tattered clothes. A local carries her to a hospital. The action then shifts back a day, which gives us a glimpse into Parima’s life. Parima, a middle-class Malayali woman, lives with her Haryanvi husband Vinay and their son in a humble Delhi locality.
Like every other day, they leave home in the morning. The husband drops off their son to the bus stop and goes to a super market where he works. Parima goes to school where she works as a teacher. After a farewell party that runs late, she takes the metro and on her way home from the station, she gets followed by a car. Five men come out of the car and push her inside, leaving her skirt scattered on the road. Inside the moving car, they take their turns to sexually assault her.

They treat her as an object in a grotesque contest – boasting, laughing, competing and reducing violence to a scoreboard of masculine dominance. The next day, her husband reaches the hospital. And then enters Raavi, a lawyer. She fights for her in a court of law. But evidences get removed, burnt and tampered with as is the case with most cases involving affluent families. There’s also Kartik, the husband’s colleague and Raavi’s confidant, a man dealing with the death of his wife in a hit-and-run case, who becomes a pillar of support for Parima’s family.

Assi isn’t just about Raavi fighting for Parima to get justice. Anubhav also sheds light on the physiological and the interpersonal relationships of a rape survivor. In a heart-wrenching scene, Parima is seen fighting hallucinations, unable to get over how she was brutally touched and assaulted by a group of strangers. In another, she gets startled and petrified when her husband lovingly tries to touch her shoulder. In yet another scene, we see Vinay calling out his orthodox family expressing concerns about having a rape victim as part of their unit.

But it’s the assault sequence that deeply terrifies and lingers. In Ravi Udyawar’s Mom, a similar incident unfolded inside a moving car, one that was filmed using a purely suggestive, symbolic technique and deafening silence and that’s what made it so disturbing. But here, Anubhav goes graphic and elaborate, making us confront the horrors of a society where brutality becomes a game and a woman’s body becomes a battlefield for male ego. He doesn’t want you to forget the chilling barbarity of the act. Every 20 minutes, the screen goes red with a reminder – yet another rape has happened.
While Assi attempts to widen its lens to include police apathy, corrupt systems and Kartik’s personal backstory, these parallel threads end up stretching the narrative, sifting attention away from the survivor’s emotional journey. But maybe that’s what the makers wanted.

This is no Pink. You may not experience that sense of victory and sweet revenge that Pink left you with. The final argument by Raavi before the judge becomes more like a stage for an extempore-cum-emotional breakdown. It becomes more mechanical than personal. Having said that, Assi largely wins. It wins for its moments that stay back with you without trying too hard. Anubhav insists that rape impacts families too and so, children are made to sit in courtrooms and appear as witnesses. Marital rape and ‘Bois Locker Room’-esque conversations are also dealt with in the story.

As for the actors, the film belongs to Kani Kusruti, who plays Parima with a lot of emotional honesty, never allowing her to slip into self-pity. She conveys the aftermath of trauma through silences, guarded movements and withdrawal from the world, which carry more weight than words. It’s a difficult role approached with dignity and unsettling truth and Kani’s performance is quietly devastating, capturing not just the trauma of the assault but the echo it lives on the body and mind.


Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub is perhaps the softest and yet the strongest character in Assi. Instead of playing the saviour, he allows the focus to remain on Parima’s journey. He embodies a rare cinematic masculinity, bringing a quiet steadiness to his role. Kumud Mishra resorts to restraint as Vinay and Raavi’s confidant dealing with a troubled personal life. And he’s top notch. Naseeruddin Shah, Seema Pahwa, Surpiya Pathak and Manoj Pahwa are brilliant too. Satyajit Sharma as defense lawyer Navratan deserves a special mention too.

Revathy becomes the bridge between both parties. She’s unyielding, often breaking into shock, but never insensitive. As for Taapsee Pannu, she’s on the other side of the witness box this time around – unlike her act in Pink. After Mulk, she dons the lawyer’s robe once again in Assi. Sure, there’s her trademark intensity and moral conviction. But while the part is undoubtedly powerful, the performance feels familiar, treading territory she has explored before. But the seasoned actor in her makes the rage and righteousness appear palpable.

Yes, Assi is an urgent watch. Ultimately, films like Assi matter not because they depict brutality but because they force us to confront the everyday silences that surround it. The survivor’s struggle and a female lawyer’s frustration become a mirror to a society that still hesitates to listen, believe and act. Assi deliberately broke from star-driven promotion by positioning itself as a writer-first film. And needless to say, both Anubhav and Gaurav Solanki deserve a mention for a sensitive portrayal of a woman survivor, a woman lawyer and a woman judge along with a doting husband and a bereaved widower, coloured with both empathy and strength.


There are films that people think ought to be lauded for what they are attempting to say. But there’s a difference between what you are saying and how you are saying. Anubhav Sinha’s Assi is walking on that very tightrope. Sinha is an intriguing filmmaker. He made a heartfelt drama as his first- Tum Bin. He completes 25 years in Hindi cinema this year. In between, he attempted those cash-grabbing potboilers- Dus, Cash, Ra.One. Mulk could be called his 2.0, followed by Thappad and Article 15. But post Anek, is there an overdose of his socio-political commentaries? Is it time he went back and made at least one cash grabbing brain rot? Does he still have it in him to seduce us into a world where anything goes and the fictional characters are having a ball? Or staging thunderous songs like Dus Bahane and Chammak Chalo possessing the kind of kinetic energy and kitsch we no longer see?


Also, sometimes I feel if a filmmaker should try working with somebody else. Vishal Bhardwaj brought out the best and badass in Shahid Kapoor with Kaminey and Haider. Rangoon paled in comparison, and O’Romeo also hasn’t been able to jolt the viewers the way it promised to. Anubhav Sinha comes next in the list. Apart from Manoj Pahwa, an actor he has been working with ever since he began his career, most of the other people in his movies are now trying to find their feet. It unfortunately happens in a film as urgent and breathless as Assi. It has Taapsee Pannu reuniting with the filmmaker after Mulk, and Kumud Mishra, the scene stealing cop of Article 15. But the robust performers largely remain dour. One could argue Mishra’s past haunting him throughout the solemn narrative. And maybe Sinha has chosen minimalism over clamour.


_Assi_ is a film that’s purposely lying low key. The makers aren’t making any noise about what the film is about. It grapples with a grave theme that ought not to be promoted the way Bollywood films are promoted. One can’t expect the cast to laugh on limping quips on a comedy show or tell Salman Khan they are hardcore fans of Bigg Boss. Sinha wishes the audiences discover the film on their own. And know the brutal reality of a nation on the brink. Assi does it right in the beginning what others save for the finale- A statistical analysis of how rapes continue to horrify women and India. This is not the story of just one woman (A lingering Kani Kusruti, the breakout performer of _All We Imagine As Light_). There’s no light for her in this world she has been thrown into. It’s as dark as a dungeon. We are told time and again there are 80 rapes happening everyday. And unfortunately, she becomes one of the victims too.To give credit where it needs to, Sinha as a filmmaker does a fine job of filming this scene with both aesthetic nuance and alarming tensity. There’s Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, who plays a dual role of a father and a husband. When he first sees his wife in the hospital bed, almost comatose and disfigured, he flashes a smile to his son telling him his mumma is sleeping. He doesn’t breakdown even once despite life being….life. Ayyub’s an impressively restrained and subdued turn which makes the film little different from the other titles dabbling with similar themes. Pannu’s now a refined actor, and this is her return to the courtroom after Mulk, Pink, Rashmi Rocket. But among the ensemble, hers sticks out like a sore thumb. Again, it could be because we have seen Pannu and Sinha work on a far more rousing courtroom drama, that of 2018.
_Assi_ is 133 minutes long. But at times, it feels Sinha rushes through the turmoil, not allowing the audience to immerse themselves into the traumas of both the victims and the vultures. When the cover is finally blown, Manoj Pahwa (who’s having a blast off late) threatens to gun his son down. The son breaks down but before he can howl, we move on.
Some scenes last only for a few seconds, most of them featuring an anorexic Kumud Mishra. There’s an odd twist to his character that’s revealed way early than it should have. This could have been a taut thriller and a tense courtroom drama. But it stops short on both the counts. The one actor who carries the bruised moniker on her shoulders and attempts to make it reach the finish line is Kani.

She’s wonderfully affectionate even after being mauled by a bunch of monsters. And these perpetrators also get their fair share of attention, sometimes sprinkled with humour. Sinha kind of ensures this is no partisan filmmaking (à la Section 375). And he extracts a tearful performance from the star of the show. Kani never once bellows. And commands the camera with her bruises and balls. Assi needed more balls and badassery. It needed to be more meticulously executed. And and and more crucially; it feels Anubhav Sinha genuinely needs to explore more actors for his ensembles. Making history with the same people may not be viable every time.

ASSI TRAILER: Taapsee Pannu, Kani Kusruti | Anubhav Sinha | Bhushan Kumar | 20 February 2026

Former software professional, Taapsee Pannu made her debut in Bollywood with comedy King David Dhawan’s hit comedy movie Chashme Baddoor. Winner of titles like Pantaloons Femina Fresh Face and Safi Femina Miss Beautiful Skin, Taapsee is a popular face in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam cinema. She has been a part of movies like Naam Shabana (2017), Pink (2016), Judwaa 2 (2017), Baby (2015) & Running Shaadi (2017).

Taapsee Pannu

Revathy

Manoj Pahwa is an actor who rose to fame with the popular sitcom Office Office. He is a popular character actor who has appeared in Bollywood films like Singh is Kinng, Dabangg 2, Jolly LLB and Dil Dhadakne Do. He made his acting debut on TV with another comedy series called Just Mohabbat. Apart from Bollywood, he also works in Punjabi cinema.

Manoj Pahwa

Kumud Mishra

Mohammed Zeeshan is an actor recognized for his work in Hindi movies. Before entering films, he completed his theater training from the prestigious National School of Drama, New Delhi. In 2011, he made his Bollywood debut with the biographical thriller No One Killed Jessica and went on to appear in films like Tanu Weds Manu: Returns, Shahid, Phantom, Tubelight, Jannat 2 and Raanjhanaa.

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub

Kani Kusruti

Seema Pahwa

Supriya Pathak Kapur is a critically acclaimed actress who is associated with films, TV and stage alike. She made her debut with the 1981 movie Kalyug and went on to appear in films like Kamla Ki Maut, Bewafaa, Awaaz, Jhoothi, The Bengali Night, Madhosh, Sarkar, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela and Sarkar Raj. She won several awards for her performances including the Filmfare. Her recurring role of Hansa Parekh on the comedy series Khichdi contributed towards her nationwide popularity. Pathak has a bachelor’s degree in Fine art, specialising in Bharatanatyam, from the Nalanda Dance Research Centre, University of Mumbai.

Supriya Pathak Kapur

The winner of three National Film Awards, Naseeruddin Shah is a veteran film & theater actor. Known for his impeccable contribution to the Indian cinema, Naseeruddin Shah revolutionized the Hindi film industry with his unconventional movies. He is known for his path-breaking performances in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Sarfarosh (1999), A Wednesday (2008) and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983). Naseeruddin Shah is married to celebrated actor Ratna Pathak Shah.

Assi

Assi(2026)

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