One of the finest OTT offernig from 2019 and subsequently under-rated as many good content, Criminal Justice is not a binge-able show the
pace is inconsistent and the cliffhangers foreseeable, you will find yourself
thinking about it well after it is over. Just as you begin watching Criminal
Justice — may be an officially licensed Indian adaptation of
BBC-produced series Criminal Justice. The first thing that strikes you is, "how can a person like
Vikrant Massey play a cab driver?". It's a superficial judgment, coming
from years of stereotypical portrayals of blue collar jobs on the Indian small
screen, but the show deliberately plays on this. In doing so, they set the tone
for a series that is somewhat predictable in plot, but unpredictable in
character and entertaining for sure.
The show then splits into two definitive halves — one
follows the criminal trial of the incident, with two lawyers in focus (the
hilariously good Pankaj Tripathi as Madhav Mishra, and Mita Vashisht), both of
whom work to prove Aditya is innocent; the other follows Aditya's journey in
jail and how he transforms from a meek, lanky asthmatic kid into a Bulked-up
Badass.
Aditya Sharma is a college student doing his MBA. His
family owns a First Cab (play on Uber/Ola) and he sometimes helps out by
driving it around during surge pricing to make extra money. One night he picks
up a passenger, Sanaya Rath (Madhurima Roy), and she leaves her phone in his
cab. When he goes back to her apartment to drop the phone, they hit it off
(she's from the same college) and end up sleeping together after a few shots of
whiskey and tryst with drugs (looks like Digene but we're told it's MDMA). When
Aditya wakes up, he finds that Sanaya has been stabbed multiple times, but he
has no memory of it.
As I was watching this series, I realised that they have
portrayed the courts & its procedures not in a Bollywood style or in a fancy
manner. But, what they have shown is very relatable to real courts & its
procedures. Which can be very helpful & interesting for everyone or even
for young lawyers who have just stepped into this field and to all law
students. And it depends on indivisual
taste whether you find it entertaining
or not.
Now, WHY can it be so
interesting . I will talk about some incidents from the series from which you
can determine that and then decide to watch it or no. Officials like the police
officers, public prosecutor, forensics, etc. Seem quite realistic & so
impactful, their get up, their acting, etc. Lead character Aditya played by
Vikrant Massey is real portrayal of
young mba student and football player. There is no cinematic glorification about
his football carrier or academics, no unnecessary subplots given to character to
prove stardome is what impressed me most. Mita Vashisht aka Adv. Mandira Mathur
is shown as a reputed Senior counsel calm & professional ; Anupriya Goenka
aka Nikhat Hussain as her Junior lawyer plays actual amateur assistant . And
Pankaj Tripathi aka Adv. Madhav Mishra is shown as that kind of a lawyer who is
struggling to get Cases, surrounded with petty matters and hence indulging in jhols
for their survival. I am fully impressed with Pankaj Tripathi as his expertise
in playing such complex yet simplicity showing roles can be seen truly.
The main thing which
I liked was that they have shown the distinction between a senior counsel, a
junior lawyer and a low profile court lawyer very well. They have shown those
conversations between Police & lawyers which they usually have,
profession favours, their settings. Have you not observed how some lawyers get most
of the Cases from a particular police station? How do they get it? Well you
know it… Mishra is shown as one of those lawyers. First Courtroom scene starts
in the second episode. Set is good, with small courtrooms, stacks of files
everywhere, a judge with its stenographer other court staff, not as shown in
most Bollywood movies.. This one looks very much like a real Indian court. As
we all know, that every person who is arrested by the police must be presented
before the Magistrate within 24 hrs. So, the protagonist in the series – Adtiya
after being caught by the police with prima facie evidence for Rape & Murder
is taken to the Magistrate Court. The Investigating Officer presents the Arrest
memo And asks for a date, seeking time for investigation.Its first time I seen
this court procedure on screen. Argument between Investigating Officer & accused's
Adv. Mishra goes on... The Investigating Officer argues that Evidence can be
tampered or Bail jumping may take place if you are into criminal litigation,
you know that such grounds are quite common. Tripathi tries to defend, saying
the accused doesn't even have a passport so how can he jump Bail. (Defending
with such simplicity in that situation impressed me).These words Remand, Arrest
memo, Bail jump are used which are not usually used in movies. The Magistrate
orders for Police custody/remand for 14 days. Accused's lawyer Mr. Mishra is
shown to be just after money and justice for his client is his secondary priority.
Until Adv. Mandira Mathur takes his place. His role is quite interesting and
looking at his character one can understand how such lawyers despite having
struggle for getting Cases make decent amount of money.
On one hearing in ep.5, it starts by calling the name of the
case…. “PW/469780/2018” which I was not expecting, because usually in movies
they just call as “Case No….!!”. For those who don’t know, PW means Police Warrant
case. Also the IPC sections 302,354D,449,353,354,376A. Under which Aditya was
booked were also the exact sections under Indian Penal Code. So, I just want to
point out that they have researched well and also paid good attention to minute
details. There are many other things which they have covered like - How Judges
get oftenly changed? How the police use different tactics to strengthen their
case?
How young inmates get
sodomised in a Jail is another aspect am impressed with as reality of indian
jail peeps through it. And other things too showing the dark side of an indian
jail. Exploitation done by local hawaldars. Other sufferings of his Parents,
Sister...financial, sociel, etc. All such things were not glorified but
presented as it were to be, no extra drama showed here . The only character
that retains nuance in Criminal Justice is Jackie Shroff , who
plays Mustafa bha i, a Godfather character in jail who seems
to be the senior most and well respected. It's always pleasing to see Jackie
Shroff on screen, especially his unique brand of effortless acting. Here he
brings his 'Bhiduness' to his performance and the supporting
of Mustafa bhai played by Jackie Shroff
were exact to the point. How thing changed in jail and Adis survival and period
change in his character felt so real and without any heroic appeal is what
stands plot out.
Criminal Justice tries to market itself as a murder-mystery-cum-procedural-drama, where you can't tell if Aditya is actually guilty or not. But there's no nuance added to this fundamental question in the show. One thing I would like to point is...Closing arguments also know as final arguments were given by Aditya himself, who is the accused. I’am not sure if this is correct or no. What do you think? Is it procedurally correct for an Accused to submit his closing arguments himself and not through a lawyer?? Tell me your answers in the comments below. So, as a whole if I look at it I would say it that this web series is worth watching especially to get to know the problems one could face if indulged in crime. It is interesting and you will enjoy it too. Yeah, there may be some small mistakes…but we can understand that...as they are actors and not lawyers. But, if you find any such mistakes then do mention it in the comments below. Subscribe to the channel and share this blog with as many people as you can.
VERDICT : Unjoy...!
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