‘Kafas’ review: Show on child abuse lacks the courage of its convictions

The movie industry is notorious for exploiting the vulnerable, and complaints have been usually buried till the #MeToo movement blew the lid on the best-kept secrets of Hollywood as well as the Indian film industry.

However, child abuse is a touchy subject, in spite of scandals such as the one surrounding Michael Jackson. The documentary Leaving Neverland (2019) tackled the Jackson case. Around the same time, the British series Dark Money came out, which is the source of the SonyLIV show Kafas (Cage).

Director Sahil Sangha and writer Karan Sharma have Indianised Dark Money in minor ways. The victim is a 15-year-old boy, the abuser a movie star. A character ponderously advises a teenage girl that she must not become an actress because the industry isn’t a nice place for women. It has not occurred to him that boys can be abused too – “whoever has heard of a man being raped”, he says, in all ignorance or innocence.

When Sunny (Mikail Gandhi) returns from the shoot of the film Superdad, which features the actor Vikram (Vivan Bhathena), his family and neighbours are excited, but the boy is listless. He reveals to his parents Raghav (Sharman Joshi) and Seema (Mona Singh) that he was assaulted by Vikram. A video shot on a cellphone...

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