{"id":31057,"date":"2026-08-07T12:24:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=31057"},"modified":"2026-08-07T12:24:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:24:23","slug":"vishal-bhardwaj-sets-rashomon-style-film-on-tarun-tejpal-rape-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=31057","title":{"rendered":"Vishal Bhardwaj Sets &#8216;Rashomon&#8217;-Style Film on Tarun Tejpal Rape Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIndian auteur <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/vishal-bhardwaj\/\" id=\"auto-tag_vishal-bhardwaj\" data-tag=\"vishal-bhardwaj\">Vishal Bhardwaj<\/a> is developing a film based on the <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/tarun-tejpal\/\" id=\"auto-tag_tarun-tejpal\" data-tag=\"tarun-tejpal\">Tarun Tejpal<\/a> rape case, the director confirmed with <em>Variety<\/em>, hours after the Bombay High Court overturned a Goa sessions court acquittal and convicted the former Tehelka editor of rape, sentencing him to 10 years\u2019 rigorous imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBhardwaj, whose adaptations of Shakespeare \u2013 \u201cMaqbool,\u201d \u201cOmkara,\u201d \u201cHaider\u201d \u2013 have established him as one of Hindi cinema\u2019s foremost interpreters of moral complexity, said he has read the Goa trial court\u2019s 527-page judgment multiple times and described the divergence between the two rulings as the creative catalyst. He was in Goa for the hearing of the case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cThe contradiction between the two judgments makes it a perfect case for a \u2018Rashomon\u2019-style narrative,\u201d Bhardwaj tells <em>Variety<\/em>. \u201cThere are a lot of facts and incidents in this case that nobody knows about, and people will be amused and surprised to discover them on screen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tHe said the density of the legal record is precisely what drew him in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cAs they say, the devil lies in the detail,\u201d Bhardwaj says. \u201cHow do you expect people to go through the tiring, dry legal language of a 500-plus-page court judgment? I have gone through the minutest details. I have read the judgment many times and am still grappling with it. It\u2019s a very important case for society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBhardwaj was careful to stress that his approach has not yet hardened into a fixed point of view. \u201cIt\u2019s too early for me to make up my mind on what the film is about,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I\u2019m very clear that the approach must be that of a dispassionate observer, like a true film journalist, if I may say so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThat neutrality, he added, is structural as much as ethical. \u201cAny crime of this nature, one with many points of view beyond reasonable doubt, must be approached without preconceived ideas or a biased starting point,\u201d he says. \u201cNo story is complete without all the different points of view, especially in a \u201cRashomon\u201d structure, because half a glass of water is also half empty at the same time \u2013 the only difference is perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tOn casting, Bhardwaj set an unusual brief. \u201cI want the actor to be unaware of the crime, if possible, and to set the judgments aside,\u201d Bhardwaj says. \u201cI would love for him to approach it as fiction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe project is being produced by Bhardwaj alongside a major Bollywood studio, which he declined to name. He deflects a question about his authority on Shakespeare with characteristic self-deprecation. \u201cI\u2019m blessed by the almighty himself, otherwise how could an average student from a small town become an authority on Shakespearean adaptations?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tHe was equally expansive on what the film ultimately represents. \u201cIt\u2019s not about India in 2026,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s about the truth, which must come out at any cost, at any 26th year of any century.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe Tejpal case has had one of the longest legal arcs in recent Indian criminal history. The former editor was arrested in 2013 after a junior colleague accused him of sexual assault. A Goa sessions court acquitted him in 2021, a verdict the state challenged. The Bombay High Court\u2019s ruling on Aug. 6 called the trial court judgment \u201cperverse\u201d and relied on the complainant\u2019s testimony, CCTV footage, and Tejpal\u2019s own apology emails as evidence of guilt. Tejpal has said he will appeal to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indian auteur Vishal Bhardwaj is developing a film based on the Tarun Tejpal rape case, the director confirmed with Variety, hours after the Bombay High Court overturned a Goa sessions court acquittal and convicted the former Tehelka editor of rape, sentencing him to 10 years\u2019 rigorous imprisonment. Bhardwaj, whose adaptations of Shakespeare \u2013 \u201cMaqbool,\u201d \u201cOmkara,\u201d&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Tarun-Tejpal-Vishal-Bhardwaj.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}