'Only brutal assault shakes us now': Assi writer Gaurav Solanki says film's biggest challenge is desensitisation to rape

Gaurav Solanki, the writer of Assi, talks about the upcoming film's challenges and why desensitisation to rape is our defense mechanism.

Anubhav Sinha’s upcoming Taapsee Pannu-starrer Assi began its promotional campaign in an unusual manner. The first announcement had no mention of the cast or crew, just the title. Then came the clincher - that the writer was the film’s highest-paid crew member. It was only when the teaser was released that Anubhav and Taapsee’s faces were revealed. Ahead of the film’s release, its writer, Gaurav Solanki, spoke to Hindustan Times about the film’s genesis and more.

Assi stars Taapsee Pannu as a lawyer.

Gaurav Solanki on Assi

Assi is a courtroom drama that stars Taapsee as a lawyer fighting for a sexual assault survivor. Gaurav says the film is realistic in its approach. “We are moving towards realism. As viewers and creators, we have grown up on courtroom dramas. The search for justice in stories is universal. The challenge while writing was to capture the inherent drama of courtrooms and make it real while keeping it engaging. It is a new type of courtroom for Hindi films,” he says.

‘We keep getting desensitised to these cases’

The writer admits that making an engaging story around sexual assault is challenging. He explains, “The sensitivity stems from the makers' and writers' intentions. It came from that. Anubhav and I wanted to tell this story. We keep reading about such cases in the news, and keep getting desensitised to them. Then it’s only a very brutal assault that shakes it. And it’s our natural defence to skip it. The challenge was to break that desensitisation.”

While filmmakers lament that films that address real issues do not receive audience support, Gaurav disagrees. While clarifying he is no ‘expert’ in matters of the box office, the veteran writer says, “My instinct says that people like to talk about things that impact them. The audience wants to see these stories that make us feel something, even if it is pain and anger. Subconsciously, we want that to be talked about. Such things are universal.”

On being Assi's highest-paid crew member

Assi also stars Kani Kusruti and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub in key roles. The film, produced by T-Series, releases in theatres on February 20.