‘Gargi’ movie review: A gripping courtroom drama that exposes social ills

Director: Gautham Ramachandran
Cast: Sai Pallavi, Kaali Venkat, RS Shivaji, Saravanan, S Sudha, Aishwarya Lekshmi

 

Director Gautham Ramachandran’s ‘Gargi’ is a fantastic courtroom drama that shines the light on several important issues plaguing the society today, including the often-sidelined topic of child sexual abuse and the humiliation that the families of those accused of heinous crimes like rape have to undergo.

Gargi (Sai Pallavi) is a middle-class woman working in a school, who lives with her aged parents and younger sister. With her wedding on the verge of getting fixed, Gargi is concerned about dowry demands being made by the bridegroom’s side.

Nevertheless, she is in a happy frame of mind until one day news breaks out that the cops have arrested a fifth person in a sensational case pertaining to the gang-rape of a girl child. Initially, Gargi pays little or no attention to the news but when her dad doesn’t return home that night and she gets to know that he, along with other employees at an apartment complex, have been taken in for questioning by the cops in connection with the gang-rape case, her heart skips a beat.

It doesn’t take long for her to be informed that her dad, a watchman at the victim’s apartment complex, is accused of being the fifth rapist.

Gargi begins her fight to prove that her dad is innocent. The odds are stacked against her and adding fuel to fire are media persons, who are constantly on the lookout for breaking news. She has no support other than a junior lawyer called Indrans (Kaali Venkat), who works part-time in a medical shop to make ends meet. Together, they embark on the mission of proving Gargi’s dad’s innocence. Do they manage to prove his innocence? The film gives you the answer.

The film has three powerful performers vying with one another to take the top honours and that invariably lifts the film’s class to another level. Sai Pallavi, who essays the titular role of Gargi, Kaali Venkat, playing her stammering lawyer and S Sudha, who appears as a transgender judge, are all exceptionally brilliant in the film.

Sai Pallavi delivers yet another stunning performance in this film.