The Rapist by Aparna Sen makes a splash at Busan

National Award-winning filmmaker Aparna Sen’s The Rapist has started collecting accolades and is all set for a World Premiere at the prestigious 26th Busan International Film Festival.

The OTT release of this movie on the highly sensitive issue of rape,
the film will feature as part of the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ section at Busan with the prestigious Kim Jiseok Award nomination.

By all accounts and if you are privy to the trailer, The Rapists promises to be a gut-wrenching, provocative drama, starring Konkona Sen Sharma, Arjun Rampal and Tanmay Dhanania in the lead roles.

Directed by the veteran director Aparna Sen, it marks the reunion of the talented mother-daughter duo of Aparna Sen-Konkona Sen Sharma after several acclaimed films, including the National Award-winning, Mr And Mrs Iyer.

After the success of its premium drama series Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors and Scam 1992, Applause Entertainment’s entry into the world of movies is being with a lot of positive speculation.

The Rapist chronicles the journey of three protagonists and how their lives get entwined because of one horrific incident. The film looks beyond the obvious crime, to explore not only how it affects the survivors and perpetrators of the crime, but also delves into how one’s idealistic views are drastically altered when the truth hits uncomfortably close to home.

“Apart from trying to explore the reasons why our society turns out rapists in such numbers, and looking into the inequalities in our social system that are responsible for giving rise to criminals, what drew me to this story, was the psychology of the three protagonists. Stripping off the layers and the carefully built up facades to get at the person underneath was a fascinating process. Fascinating too was getting the two Indias to come face to face – the India that lives in urban slums with its age-old beliefs, and educated urbane India with its ‘progressive’ value system,” Sen said.

Widely acknowledged as the largest film festival in Asia, the Busan International Film Festival is underway and will end on October 25.