I sure did. And if you’re a woman, I know you did too. Or you will when you watch it.

While we live in a world that on the surface appears to be evolving & modernizing at supersonic speeds, the movie bares the underlying, naked truth of how society continues to perceive and define the ‘boundaries’ within which a woman ought to live.

How ‘the rules’ continue to remain contrasting for men and women of one planet; a planet that is CRAWLING towards the much hyped phenomena of ‘gender equality’.

Directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, the plot revolves around an intense courtroom drama and sledgehammers the message that when a woman says NO, she means NO! It underlines a woman’s freedom to her own sexuality.

While I had a lump in my throat all through the movie, I could hear my husband clear his larynx several times; something that he does when he’s moved to tears, which he has always tucked away before they are noticed.

Widely acclaimed for his colossal screen presence, Amitabh Bachchan, the male protagonist, plays Deepak Sehgal, a temperamental old man, who is a retired lawyer. While he has an ailing wife in the hospital, he lives in a South Delhi locality where he is a neighbor to three young working women, Minal Arora (Taapsee Pannu), Falak Ali (Kirti Kulhari) and Andrea (Andrea Tariang). The women share a great equation while living together as tenants, and are in the city pursuing their individual professional careers.

The story unravels with the happenings of one particular night, when the women meet a group of young men through a common friend, at a rock show. Rajveer Singh (Angad Bedi), the nephew of a powerful politician of South Delhi, invites the women over to a resort for dinner with two of his other mates, Dumpy (Raashul Tandon) and Vishwa (Tushaar Pandey). After they’ve all had a couple of drinks, the men find ways to separate the girls from one another...

When Rajveer tries to molest Minal, she refuses over and over again to give in. Finally, she grabs a glass bottle and crushes it on his head causing serious injury.

When she says no, it means one thing. No grabbing. No forcing. Take that groping hand and mouth away. She isn’t easy. She isn’t a person of loose morals. She is not, never, ever, asking for it.

While the girls run out of the place frenzied and panic-stricken, Rajveer’s friends rush him to a hospital.

Although Rajveer is on his way to recovery, to avenge the incident, he and his mates make multiple attempts to bring harm upon the girls. They threaten the landlord asking him to vacate the girls from his house, randomly call and follow them around the city, and even kidnap and molest Minal in a moving car.  

Ever heard of an incident where women have thought of gang-raping or collectively molesting a man or his mates? EVER?

The girls however are left resentful, yet practically helpless. When Minal and her friends finally muster the courage to lodge a complaint against these menaces, the police, aware of the power of the politician in question, are far from helpful or supportive, and deny them their legal safety rights.

Instead, Rajveer pulls a fast one on Minal, by getting her arrested shortly after, on charges of ‘prostitution’ and ‘attempt to murder’.

It is at this crucial juncture, when the girls are left anguished and despondent, that Deepak Sehgal decides to make a comeback, to the world he’s kept at bay for years!

Dealing with a fierce prosecution that supports Rajveer, Deepak Sehgal brings into play his fierce power and intelligence, to help these women regain their integrity and position in a hypocritical and male-dominated society. Which he does…and oh so majestically! With his dignity and composure intact.

The most compelling scenes of the movie are those when Amitabh Bachchan draws reference to how people misread into the ‘liberal living’ of women. From the trivia of their dressing sense, to the complexity of their lifestyles… How society assumes, scrutinizes, judges and labels the actions of a woman. Actions, which, if a man were to exercise, would be the absolute done thing FOR HIM! BUT, not for a woman… uh uh… certainly not for a woman.

I’d like to leave you with this soul-stirring poem from the movie narrated by Amitabh Bachchan in his baritone voice. One that I thought carried the potential to bring the dead back to life…

Kaajal Ahuja is a commerce graduate, who worked in the field of Customer Support first at HDFC Bank, and then at Dell International. During her 11-year career break, she spent four years volunteering as a Teacher at a government-run educational institution and also ran her own enterprise - ‘’Hey Gorgeous’’ - alongside, for 8 years. It was during her break that she discovered her love for writing, and is now back to work as a Part-Time Content Writer at JobsForHer.

She is married and is an upbeat mommy to an 11-year-old.