Richa Chadha and Akshaye Khanna's Section 375 has been going places and how! Not only has the film received thunderous applause from critics but also has been received warmly by the audience. Manish Gupta, the writer of Section 375, revealed that he was deeply affected by Shiney Ahuja's rape case and that is what gave him the idea of making the film.
While talking about the movie, Gupta also revealed some disturbing series of events that occurred during Shiney's trial. The actor was accused of raping his house-maid and was sentenced to seven years of jail by a sessions court, before getting bail from the High Court.
"It is absolutely inspired by the Shiney Ahuja case because I knew Shiney personally. This was in 2009. In 2009, I was supposed to do a film with Shiney. It was supposed to be a film on the gangster Charles Sobhraj. So I used to visit Shiney at his residence in Oshiwara and his wife Anupam," Gupta told The Quint.
Section 375 has opened to resounding love and accolades from the critics. It's a tricky film to make in sensitive times like today but the team has been praised for their empathetic depiction of the subject. Interestingly, the movie is the highest rated Bollywood film with a rating of 8.8 on IMDb, ahead of Uri which is 8.5, Gully Boy at 8.3, Article 15 at 8.3 and Chhichhore at 8.7
The film has received good reviews unanimously and the great word of mouth is triggering people to flock into the theatres. The film stars Richa Chadha and Akshaye Khanna as sparring lawyers battling out a case of rape of a junior costume assistant on set by a well-known director.
The film raises pertinent questions about a woman's consent and the grey area of sexual harassment at workplace that remains unaddressed. Richa has been praised for her depiction of prosecution lawyer Hiral Gandhi for whom the battle is of idealism and fighting to create a just world.
