The Rapist

The Rapist is a 2021 Indian Hindi drama film, written and directed by Aparna Sen, that premiered at 26th Busan International Film Festival. A Quest Films Pvt. Ltd. production, produced under the banner of Applause Entertainment, stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Arjun Rampal and Tanmay Dhanania. The film chronicles the journey of three protagonists, whose lives are interlaced because of one horrific incident.

The Rapist
Official poster
Directed byAparna Sen
Screenplay byAparna Sen
Produced bySameer Nair
Deepak Segal
Suchhanda Chatterjee
Shubha Shetty
StarringKonkona Sen Sharma
Arjun Rampal
Tanmay Dhanania
CinematographyAyananka Bose
Edited byRabiranjan Maitra
Production
companies
Release date
  • 7 October 2021 (2021-10-07) (BIFF)
Running time
132 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Cast
  • Konkona Sen Sharma as Naina Malik
  • Arjun Rampal[1] as Aftab Malik
  • Tanmay Dhanania as Prasad Singh
  • Ashok Chhabra as Naina's Father
  • Anindita Bose as Malini, colleague of Naina
  • Harleen Rekhi
  • Gitanjali Rao as rapist's mother
  • Vijay Kumar Dogra as police inspector
  • Chetan Sharma as Latif, slum gang leader
  • Sukesh Arora as Subhash, Aftab’s lawyer friend
  • Semma Azmi as Savitri, Naina's maid
  • Devika Prasad as Nurse in Nursing Home

Production

Aparna Sen while writing script for her 3rd Hindi film The Rapist, said "What drew me to this is the psychology of the three main protagonists. Stripping off the layers and carefully built up facades to get to the real person underneath is quite a challenge and a fascinating process." Pre-production work of the film began in February 2021 with finalization of cast and producers. The filmmaker Aparna Sen in her pre-production interview said, The Rapist will be a “hard-hitting drama that examines how much of society is responsible for producing rapists.”[2] Principal photography began in early March 2021 in Delhi. Arjun Rampal finished his part of shooting in the 3rd week of March.[3] The film was wrapped up in first week of April 2021.[4]

Release

The Rapist had its premiere at 26th Busan International Film Festival on 7 October 2021, under the 'A Window on Asian Cinema' section, where it was a joint winner of the Kim Jiseok award, alongside the 2021 Philippine Japanese sports biographical film Gensan Punch.[5]

Reception

Richard Kuipers of Variety praising the direction of Aparna Sen wrote, "One of the best works directed by veteran filmmaker-actor Aparna Sen". And appreciating screenplay he wrote, "The great strength of Sen’s screenplay is the realistic manner in which it depicts Naina and Aftab’s reactions to events that challenge firmly held beliefs and threaten their marriage." Kuipers opined about the film, “The Rapist is a deeply affecting portrait of personal trauma and an intelligent examination of social and cultural factors fueling the horrifying prevalence of sexual violence in India." Criticizing visuals of the film, he said, "The only real imperfections to the film are visual, with some scenes being drained of most color for no immediately apparent reason."[6]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Recipient/ Nominee Result Ref.
2021 26th Busan International Film Festival Kim Jiseok award The Rapist Won [7][8]
2022 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Best film The Rapist Nominated [9]
Best Performance (Female) Feature Konkona Sen Sharma Nominated
Best director Aparna Sen Won [10]

References
  1. "Arjun Rampal to star with Konkona Sensharma in The Rapist". The Tribune. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  2. "Konkona Sensharma, Arjun Rampal to lead Aparna Sen directorial The Rapist; filming will begin in March". Firstpost. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  3. Bhowal, Tiasa (22 March 2021). "Arjun Rampal wraps up Aparna Sen's The Rapist, calls his journey intense and fulfilling". India Today. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  4. Jha, Subhash K (7 April 2021). "Aparna Sen completes shooting of Arjun Rampal, Konkona Sen starrer 'The Rapist'". National Herald. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  5. Patrick Frater (15 October 2021). "'Apartment' and 'Hometown' Share Busan Festival's New Currents Award". Variety (in Korean). Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  6. Kuipers, Richard (11 October 2021). "'The Rapist' Review: This Hard-Hitting Social Drama is One of Aparna Sen's Finest Works". Variety. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  7. Kathuria, Charvi (6 September 2021). "Aparna Sen's 'The Rapist' Nominated For Busan's Kim Jiseok Award". She The People. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  8. "Konkona-starrer 'The Rapist' wins top award at Busan film fest". IANS. Onmanorama. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  9. "IFFM Awards Nominations". The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  10. "Here's the complete list of winners for IFFM Awards 2022". Firstpost. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
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