When I was in law school at IIT, thanks to the abundance of content on LAN, I got introduced to the world of awesome legal movies. To name a few, I would start from Witness for prosecution, Devil’s Advocate, Erin Brockovich, The Paper Chase, Pelican Brief, My Cousin Vinny and my favorite Legally Blonde series. Being a movie buff I have seen quite a few of these. Be it the battle between good and bad, between the powerful corporates and the downtrodden common man, the victory of truth over false or simply the struggles of a law student at Harvard law, every concept has been immortalized by these amazing English/Hollywood movies. Unlike Marshall I might not have yet found my purpose as a lawyer but legal movies have always been very interesting and an amazing watch for me. And whether my liking stems from justice for people or fighting for a social cause is, legally speaking, beyond the scope of this post.
Recently my brother suggested watching Jolly LLB. Well looking how the legal process, judicial system and courts have been portrayed/ridiculed in most of the Hindi movies… I was not even interested. Add to the fact that this one stars Arshad Warsi, a renowned comedy actor. Well, I had my doubt and you can’t blame me for that. I did not want to waste my time on a movie that I had not even heard of or worse still could turn out to be a legal comedy. A satire would have been apt, but after reading so many disgusting facts about the failing legal system in India, who would want to get more depressed by watching a 3 hour movie on the same topic.
But I was wrong; Jolly LLB is a refreshing take on Indian legal system. It wins you over by its simplicity and closeness to real life. The plot is a simple drama inspired by a famous Indian case. The lawyers and police act the way they always do in Indian cinema and in real life for the most part. But the greatness of this movie lies in the honest portrayal of our lower judicial court proceedings, add to it AWESOME performances by Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani and Saurab Shukla bringing life to the characters they portray. It is also worth noting that the movie in most parts shows correct legal proceedings and not some twisted fancy filmy version of law which by the way also happens in our glamorous Hollywood counterparts where Elle walks in the courthouse wearing her signature designer pink suit to win her first case. The story teller while writing a movie script for Indian cinema has done his homework and alongside keeping the story moving and interesting, not to mention the witty partake, has still managed to keep most of the integrity of court proceedings, criminal procedure code (CRPC) and rules of evidence.
I cannot but applaud the portrayal of simply object of a small town Meerut lawyer for practicing law – to become famous and successful or the menace of a super successful supreme court lawyer who patronizes the lower courts including the judge – his dirty tactics in winning clients and money; and the remarkable performance by a sessions court judge – his wit and assertion of his rule on his territory, to keep his house in order and conduct his business.
Jolly LLB is a jolly good movie. Kudos!! Fox Star Productions for this project. My appreciation stems from a good story line, strong characters and very good acting. It might fall short of a typical Bollywood masala mix as it stands nowhere in music, song and dance but still manages to engage the viewers. It is not as nasty as Damini, which I think is the only Indian movie one can think of when it comes to very strong court room drama. A great piece of Indian cinema, but none the less, very scary and disgusting in parts. No offence to the movie, just that it left me with a pungent after taste. Another movie that I can think of with some tenets of law would be Corporate. It is not exactly a courtroom drama but revolves around corporate espionage. Again a good movie, but sad and depressing.
Don’t mistake my liking for jolly LLB because of a happy ending like legally blonde or Erin Brockovich. I like it because of its part happy but mostly legally correct ending - the decision of lower court subject to appeal in the High Court, a happy small victory none the less.
The film is also a small victory for Indian cinema portrayal of Indian courts. I will take the liberty of equating it to notes worthy films like Fashion and Chameli that have successfully captured the realities of the fashion world and that of the life and struggle of a common prostitute. If I let my philosophical side to pour out, I would say I felt happy after watching this movie because it said yes to HOPE. Hope for the victims in the movie and hope for Indian cinema.
I am happy today that I can now recommend an Indian film too in a long list of must watch good legal (mostly Hollywood) movies to my lawyer friends and fraternity.
No comments:
Post a Comment