Siya Movie Review: Fight For Justice In Manish Mundra’s Directorial Debut Is Disturbing and Unsettling (LatestLY Exclusive)

Siya Movie Review: Debutant director Manish Mundra’s Siya featuring Vineet Kumar and Pooja Pandey is not crafted for the faint-hearted souls. This fight for justice saga is hauntingly realistic and leaves you questioning humanity through many lenses. It exposes the atrocities a rape victim as indeed a rape survivor faces post the immense physiological and psychological trauma she goes through. Viewers' discretion has to be exercised in abundance here and should be done so extremely cautiously. In that sense, this venture may demand repeated viewings to grasp the horrific event and its repercussions in its entirety. Siya: Pooja Pandey and Vineet Kumar Singh’s Frightening Drama To Release on September 16 (Watch Video)

The makers have handled the sensitive subject with tremendous sensibility. The sheer barbarity of the event is not depicted graphically, but the question it raises and the ground it covers in terms of the emotions of the survivor, will wrench your heart. Mundra in his capacity as the producer of cinematic gems such as Aankhon Dekhi, Newton and Masaan has delivered a very fine film as a director this time, even if the production has some inherent flaws.

The story of Siya revolves around a young woman (Pooja Pandey) from a far-fetched village in Uttar Pradesh who is repeatedly abused and kept in captivity for over a week by a group of men. Her family friend Mahendra, a lawyer by profession (Vineet Kumar), brings attention to the case and decides to fight back. Those who have committed the heinous crime are influential and powerful. How will justice be sought in a society that goes in a denial mode using the caste system and corruption as the blindfold? How the judicial and the police system manipulate and maneuver through the sensitive case even if Siya’s poor family decides to be on her side and fight back with vengeance is disturbing to watch.

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Probably drawing parallels with horrific rape cases in Unnao and Hathras, the makers of Siya expose the truth in a hard-hitting but sensible manner. It doesn’t shy away from exposing the political game at play where power wielding is the ultimate norm to suppress reality and oppress the weaker strata of society. Pieces of evidence are tapered with, key witnesses are threatened and the sheer resolve for justice is repeatedly challenged and even murdered, Siya tackles all the elements with conviction and with steely resilience. Vicky Kaushal Pens ‘Dil Se Shukriya’ As He Celebrates 7 Years of Masaan; Shares Throwback Pics!

Normalizing rape survivors and urging them to fight back, Siya is a brave tale-the one that needs the right mix of sensitivity and sensibility. Mudra emerges victorious in both departments. The film is impressive with its cinematography, its background score coupled with powerful screenplay and realistic dialogues. Some events lack the much-needed gravitas and the sub texts are too simplistic for a story that covers so much ground with remarkable accuracies.

As for the performances, Pooja Pandey is brilliant as she slowly but surely transitions from being a victim to a warrior, and Vineet Kumar as a noble lawyer who shows courage in the face of humongous challenges will win your heart even with the vulnerabilities and limitations of his character exposed.

Final Thoughts

Coupled with excellent performances, solid writing and fine direction, Siya is a hard-hitting tale of the landscape where justice has to be snatched from the claws of the corrupt and influential. Watch Siya only if you have the heart to bear the reality about the terrifying plight of justice and women safety with all its brutal harshness.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 16, 2022 02:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).