Sembi

<p>10-year-old Sembi (Nila) and her grandmother Veerathayi ( ), an apiarist, live peacefully amidst nature in the hilly regions of . They lead a beautiful life until three influential miscreants – Mathivendhan (Jickson), Akshay (Yasar), and Surya (Suryaprakash) – gang rape Sembi and shatter all their dreams. When a police officer chokes Sembi and forces Veerathayi to withdraw the case after finding out the criminal is the minister’s son, the latter has no other option but to thrash the officer very badly, and he ends up in a coma. The two escape and board a bus called Anbu, which is on its way from Kodaikanal to Dindigul. All 24 passengers on the bus, who are from different walks of life, thwart all the political interventions and are guided by a lawyer ( ). They help Veerathayi and the innocent Sembi get justice through the enactment of the POCSO Act (2012). Veerathayi and Sembi win the case, and the three criminals get life imprisonment till death. While giving a glimpse of the journey of the passengers aboard the Anbu bus, the film professes “Love thy Neighbor as Love thyself”. Most of the scenes in the film were majorly shot near . The music of the film was composed by , which marks his first collaboration with the director. The first single titled “Aathi En Mela” was released on 28 October 2022. The film was released worldwide in theatres on 30 December 2022 alongside ’s starrer . The trailer of the film was released on 16 December 2022. The post-theatrical streaming rights of the film has been sold to , while the satellite rights of the film is sold to . However, the digital and satellite rights were later changed to and . The film had its digital premiere on from 3 February 2023. Logesh Balachandran of gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote “Kovai Sarala’s intense performance is a treat to watch. She has done great justice to the role and carries the film on her shoulders”. Bhuvanesh Chander of wrote “Despite all the fumbles, Prabhu manages to leave you with hope. To the vulnerable sections of society, he assures them that they are not alone, and to the rest of us, he asks us to look out for others”. Senthilraja R of wrote “It makes it seem like the song is not being focused on because the story should be given importance”. Saradha U of gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote “Makers of Sembi briefly focus on how sexual abuse is politicised and how it hardly benefits the survivors”. Navein Darshan of gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote “Nivas Prasanna fills in the shoes of Prabhu’s regular composer and he delivers a remarkable background score that almost compensates for the forgettable songs”. Dhanushya of gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote “Overall, Sembi is a film that gives voice to the voiceless”. Khalillulah of wrote “On the whole, Prabhu Salomon’s Sembi, who intends to transmit the intense pain by committing sexual violence against girls, is stymied by some obstacles”. A critic for wrote “That’s why the POCSO court trial shown in the climax and the vibe it gives passes without much of a shock to us.” gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote “Sembi is a movie worth a watch.” A critic for wrote “Applause is due to the makeup artist and costume designer for bringing some realism to the screen.”</p>