0:00 - Story of Jagat Murari - New Book 0:58 - What is Cinema anymore? 1:59 - Assi story recap 4:12 - Assi Movie Review 7:15 - Gisèle Pelicot’s story on New York Times podcast
Assi Movie Review by Sucharita - Are we AGAIN at the time where simplistic and heavy-handed filmic language is the need of the hour? High-brow cinema is clearly unable to penetrate the mass psyche of a population caught up in unending troubles. And as such, is Anubhav Sinha’s ‘Assi’ an important and necessary film, despite its limited cinematic achievement? What even IS cinematic achievement behind the smoke and mirrors of Bollywood blockbusters anymore? Let’s try to decode the Kani Kusruti, Taapsee Pannu starrer, Assi, now in movie theatres.Anubhav Sinha has a distinct way of disseminating his impassioned, altruistic concerns through his stories, evident since 2018’s Mulk. In his newer work, a lot of it starring Taapsee Pannu as a woman tackling one isolated social evil while also fighting patriarchy, there is a concerted effort to meet the audience where they are at, talk to them in a language most perceptible. Stories about middle-class lives, moulded in a Bollywood potboiler shape, always trying to draw you into a well-intentioned, mild debate. These are good things in an era where Hindi cinema, unfortunately is judged either by how much money it earns or by how many politicians tweet about a film, both positively and negatively. That popular cinema, the voice of a nation, is kowtowing to financial and political powers, is not a secret, galas and events showcasing this intermingling are in the news daily. Amid this, filmmakers like Sinha, Kashyap, Shazia Iqbal, find themselves saddled with the burden of bravado in thei work. Assi, is Sinha attempting to answer a very existetional question about the need for the medium itself. Sinha cuts to a red screen EVERY 20 minutes to highlight that in the time you’ve seen the last few scenes, another sexual assault happened in India. The screen breaks away from the movie and is talking to the audience that was so taken by the red screen in Dhurandhar. Will you react the same way to this one, too?
Assi (transl. Eighty) is a 2026 Indian Hindi-language courtroom drama film directed by Anubhav Sinha and starring Taapsee Pannu in the lead role. The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and Anubhav Sinha under the banners of Benaras Mediaworks and T-Series Films. The film was released in theatres on 20 February 2026.Sucharita Tyagi is the Vice Chairperson of the Film Critics Guild of India. With nearly 20 years of media experience, she is best known for her popular movie reviews on YouTube, where she has built a community of dedicated fans. Now splitting her time between Mumbai and New York, Tyagi also has extensive experience in broadcast radio. With a unique voice, she reviews films and discusses South Asian pop culture with honesty and passion through a contemporary, feminist lens, breaking down complex issues in relatable ways.
