The Great Indian Rape Trick'

The trope of transforming sexual violence against women into a springboard for rage that can only be channelled through counter-violence has long served as a popular framework in cinema, both globally and in India

- Apeksha Priyadarshini

JOTHI (Sachana Namidass) is barely recognisable as she lies unconscious in a hospital bed. Her countenance, which once radiated confidence and strength, is shrouded in bruises. A broken Maharaja (Vijay Sethupathi) hovers over her, unable to look away from her injuries. His fellow colleague from the barber shop, Gopal thatha (Bharathiraja) limps into the room, weeping. “Why didn’t you inform me?” He asks Maharaja. “My heart aches to see this.” Maharaja shrinks quietly into a corner without a word. “If I were your age, I would find those mongrels, no matter where they are, and stab them to death. You're a waste!” he exclaims at Maharaja and walks away. Consumed by guilt, shame and pain, Maharaja is left with nowhere to look.

Nithilan Saminathan’s 2024 blockbuster Maharaja treads quite deliberately on the fine line between convention and anomaly as a rape-revenge thriller. While the scene above becomes the point of descension for Maharaja into an overdrive of violence to avenge his daughter’s rape, the film also establishes Jothi firmly as an empowered survivor. She is able to walk up to her perpetrator and tell him in no uncertain terms that she will move on from the violence. An otherwise protective father, who is capable of beheading villains, is forced to do her bidding. He refrains from killing Selvam (Anurag Kashyap) because she wants Selvam to know that it is she who is sparing his life.