Guilty – The latest teen movie starring Kiara Advani is creating some hype among the youth audience and for good reason. The film touches on the highly sensitive issue of rape, consent and victim shaming and this makes it a relevant film. ‘Guilty‘ is a film by Dharmatic productions that was dropped on Netflix last month and if you are thinking of watching the movie then read our review first.
The story begins with a student testifying about a particular Valentine’s day night to the police and we are shown the flashbacks leading up to that night. A particular girl is being talked about and is suggested to be ‘easy’ by the character because she is loud and bold. The way the girl is described we get an idea where the story is going and from there you can pretty much guess the plot of the movie.
The film revolves around a college band, comprising of lead singer Vijay VJ Pratap Singh (Gurfateh Singh Pirzada), songwriter Nanki Dutta (Kiara Advani) and a few other members. VJ is the college heartthrob. A well-built guy, who is a politician’s son and is dating Nanki who is a ‘woke’ intellectual but her judgement might get blurred when her boyfriend is involved. VJ is accused of raping a girl but his privilege gives him a proper chance of proving his innocence and on the other hand Tanu is judged for her character constantly and most people don’t believe her because of her personality.
The movie talks about the me too movement that spread like wildfire a few years ago when many victims of sexual assault chose to break their silence and fight against their culprits even if they were people with a lot of privilege and power. It shows how the movement also impacted India to a great extent. India is a country where sexual abuse is one of the biggest issues and consent is still an alien concept for most people.
Kiara Advani who plays the lead character of Nanki Dutta in the film gives a strong performance and through her character, the director portrays the different stages of denial and acceptance.The most powerful performance of the film is given by Akansha Ranjan who plays the character of Tanu and her character is also written very well as she chooses to fight and not hide. She portrays the role of the small town girl effortlessly and her character is not afraid to be herself which is an extremely strong message.
The film is almost like an Indian counterpart of teen shows like ’13 reasons why’ that explore the dark side of youth and how prevalent sexual assault is in our society. For a film that plays out like a he-said-she-said narrative, there isn’t much focus on Tanu’s point of view as the rape survivor in this story and too much time is spent on balancing the narratives of the victim and the culprit. Some scenes are intense and graphic which makes this movie more suitable for adult audience. Overall, it is a movie with a good message and intent but below average execution.
