- Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj is making a film on Tarun Tejpal's legal case and studied court records in Goa
- The film will use a Rashomon-style narrative showing multiple perspectives of the case
- Tarun Tejpal was accused in 2013 of sexual assault and acquitted by Goa court in 2021
Vishal Bhardwaj is working on a new film based on former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal's legal case in which he's been convicted for the rape of his junior colleague in 2013. On Thursday, the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court overturned Tejpal's acquittal by a trial court and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
Vishal Bhardwaj spent time in Goa attending court proceedings and studying the 527-page trial court judgment to understand the case in detail.
What caught his attention most was the difference between the two court judgments. The director believes this gives him a chance to tell the story from multiple perspectives, similar to Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon.
Speaking to Variety India, Bhardwaj said, “The contradiction between the two judgments makes it a perfect case for a Rashomon-style narrative. There 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.”
“As they say, the devil lies in the details. How 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's a very important case for society,” he added.
Rashomon, a 1950 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, is the story of the murder of a samurai in a forest. The event is described in conflicting versions by different people leaving the ending ambiguous.
Bhardwaj said he has yet to decide how he wants to present the story. Different people can see the same event in very different ways, just like a glass can be seen as half full or half empty, he said.
For the role, Bharadwaj said he would prefer someone with very little knowledge about the real case and not form an opinion based on the court judgments. He wants the actor to focus on understanding the character and the events from the script.
The Bombay High Court has given Tejpal two weeks to surrender. The former editor told the court after the verdict that he was a "victim of politics" and that he would appeal against his conviction in the Supreme Court.
A former junior colleague had accused the veteran journalist of sexually assaulting her inside a hotel elevator during an event in Goa in November 2013.