[4] Directed by Meghna Gulzar, the film stars Deepika Padukone in leading role of a character inspired by Agarwal[5] alongside Vikrant Massey and Madhurjeet Sarghi.

The police arrest Babbu after triangulating his phone signal in the same area as the attack, while Malti undergoes a series of surgeries to reconstruct her severely damaged face.

The film was released worldwide on 10 January 2020 and allowed by the government to be exhibited without payment of taxes in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

[12][13][14] On 7 January 2020, Padukone joined a protest-gathering at Jawaharlal Nehru University against the 2020 JNU Attack against left wing students and passage of CAA 2019.

[21] On 8 January, social media users pointed out that filmmaker Meghna Gulzar had changed the name and religion of the attackers and their family members in the film.

[17] Advocate Aparna Bhat, who represented Agarwal in the case fought at Patiala House Courts, pursued legal action against the makers for not mentioning her in the film, "to protect her identity and preserve her integrity".

"[28] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express credited the film for portraying "drama without dreaded melodrama" and highlighted Padukone's "solid, realized performance"to be its prime asset.

Without that, what we are left with are good intentions, a heart in the right place, a major star taking a huge risk with an unorthodox role and a bunch of pluses that somehow do not come together to deliver an immersive experience.

"[30] Writing for The Hindu, Namrata Joshi summarised that "Padukone's performance and Meghna Gulzar's direction ensure that Chhapaak is like a splash that leaves you misty with emotions, if not entirely drenched".

[31] Ankur Pathak of HuffPost labelled it "a quietly-powerful social commentary, a film that never allows you to be comfortable" and considered Padukone's performance to be her career-best.

[32] Uday Bhatia of Mint wrote that it "earnestly highlights a depressingly common horror", adding that it "deals squarely with its subject without quite transcending it".

[33] In a mixed review, Anupama Chopra praised Padukone's performance, but added that the film "hovers dangerously close to becoming a public service announcement.

[34] Conversely, Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com commended Gulzar for documenting "Chhapaak's grim reality barefacedly without losing sight of its character's quiet determination to fight the reasons that make such heinous crimes possible in the first place".