Official Trailer:

Sembi has multiple interesting threads. Anbu the bus, represents a microcosm of the society. Passengers of the bus are from different segments of the society. Along with their value system and perceptions (of others). Then we have the lawyer character thrown into the mix of passengers who plays the catalyst role. Like a catalyst can he brings in the change in the behavior of the passengers in Anbu. I liked the discussions segment between the passengers. To keep the travel engaging we have the core issue which is similar to the bomb in the movie Speed. Sembi, the 10-year-old girl, is sexually assaulted by 3 powerful guys and one of them is the son of opposition leader. Her grandma attacks the cop who tries to bribe and silence her with violence and threat. They escape and end up in the bus along with other passengers. Bomb here is the bad guys chasing to kill Sembi, the 10-year-old girl and her grandma in the bus. Will the passengers (who represents the society), rise up to protect Sembi and her grandma? Safely take them to the court to depose in front of the POCSO judge? This is an interesting and promising premise. In parts they work well. It would have worked well as a whole with better writing. With the lawyer as a catalyst, we expect Grandma to continue the fight for justice with the help of the lawyer, but the lawyer takes the center stage and Grandma takes the support role. Many of the passengers are shown as one-dimensional characters, but that didn’t come across as a big dampener since it works in the narration. But depicting the whole police force as bad guys (except only one) didn’t work at all. Plus, the cops along with defense lawyer fudging evidence which comes across as so brazen but getting accepted by the judge with no cross-examination comes across as lazy writing. This takes away the impact of the final evidence that turns the case around for Sembi. The chase and the switch of passengers from Anbu to the college bus is choreographed well but didn’t give an adrenalin rush. The discussion about God and money is another instance where writing required further work. Even with these dampeners Sembi engages us with her heart being in the right place and leaves us with a ray of hope, that we, the people, can change.