Lakeerein Review: Truly inspiring!

LAKEEREIN

Producers- Naval K Tandon, Kavita Pathak, Dinesh Kumar

Director- Durgesh Pathak

Cast- Gaurav Chopra, Tia Bajpai, Ashutosh Rana, Bidita Bag, Aman Varma and Saharsh Shukla

Platform of Release- Theatres

Rating:

By Jyothi Venkatesh

The movie is written by Dilip Shukla who had earlier written films like Damini, Ghayal, Andaz Apna Apna etc . Based on the real life story of a marital rape victim, Lakeerein is a dramatic tale of a woman’s quest to seek justice and how she faces her husband and her rapist in court. The film sets out to address the complex and often underreported issue of marital rape within the confines of marriage.

Like Pink which was an offbeat courtroom drama which revolved around consensual rape, Lakeerein is a courtroom drama based on the theme of marital rape, where a married woman is seeking justice against her husband, especially since marital rape in our country often remains underreported and stigmatized due to societal misconceptions about consent within marriage. The film sets out to tackle the inflammable question, whether marriage is a license to rape.

A storyline like this has the potential to shed light on important social and legal issues related to consent and domestic violence. Very often, we tend to ignore the bitter truth that marital rape is actually a very distressing form of sexual violence that occurs within the confines of a marriage or intimate partnership.

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However, we are apparently too shy to even address the issue, Sadly, the ignorance about consent is so much that for many people, the words ‘marriage’ and ‘rape’ simply can’t just go hand in hand. A courtroom drama based on the theme of marital rape, where a married woman is seeking justice against her husband, often remains underreported and stigmatized due to societal misconceptions about consent within marriage. Marital rape is a distressing form of sexual violence that occurs within the confines of a marriage or intimate partnership.

Set in Lucknow, Lakeerein follows Kavya’s transformation from a simple girl to a strong woman who fights against all odds. Kavya gets help from renowned advocate Geeta Bishwas as she faces Dudhari Singh who is defending her husband professor Vivek Agnihotri. Geeta while fighting for Kavya realizes that this is happening all around her and marital rape is common problem respective of class of women.

Gaurav Chopra nails his role well and renders a very sensitive performance while Tia Bajpai is too good. Bidita Bag is also good. Ashutosh Rana though is good, often resorts to over-the-top performance. Aman Verma plays a character which does not connect with the story while Saharsha Shukla renders good support.