Indian filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj is developing a film inspired by the Tarun Tejpal rape case, following the Bombay High Court’s reversal of Tejpal’s acquittal and its imposition of a 10-year prison sentence. Bhardwaj says the sharply differing court judgments make the case suitable for a ‘Rashomon’-style story, examining competing perspectives rather than presenting a predetermined conclusion.

The director said he has repeatedly studied the Goa trial court’s 527-page judgment and regards the case as socially significant because of its complex factual and legal record. He intends to approach the film as a dispassionate observer, is seeking an actor able to treat the role as fiction without prior knowledge of the case, and is producing it with an unnamed major Bollywood studio.