JAWAAN (2023) : review

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And finally the much hyped, much awaited Jawaan saw light of the day ! Big stars, big budget( humongous budget actually), big music composer, everything super large. But does it meet the expectations of the average viewer? No it goes not. Read on.  A decorated jawan locks horns with a criminal called Kaali, this is in 1986 ( the year movies like Aakhri Raasta released, just for reference). Kaali gets him eliminated and send the pregnant wife to jail. The baby born in jail grows up to become the hero (look alike of the father) and decides to avenge the misdeeds done to his innocent patriotic parents. Well, isn’t it a masaaledaar full on Bollywood- Tollywood drama subject ?  And then the director Atlee also borrows ideas and references from various retro movies, some idea from Sholay (1975) as the hero assembled a gang of jailed Qaidis in order to form a team to nab the villain, then there’s an entire episode borrowed from Dhartiputra (1993), and the basic theme is copy pasted ...
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE 2(2020): review

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Directed by- Rohan Sippy 
Cast- Pankaj Tripathy, Kirti Kulhari, Ashish Vidyarthi, Deepti Naval, Mita Vasishtha, Anupriya Goenka, Pankaj Saraswat, Shilpa Shukla, Vibhawari Deshpande, Kalyani Mulay, & others 





Currently streaming on Disney hotstar, the second season of criminal justice just about manages to pass muster, comparatively season one was a little more thrilling. 





The premise is that of an alleged cold blooded murder. A high profile lawyer is found brutally stabbed in his bedroom, the prime suspect being his psychologically depressed wife. A courtroom drama ensues revealing dirty, dark secrets of the window dressed posh lifestyles of the wealthy and famous. Is the accused acting depressed? What exactly happened that fateful night? Defense lawyers (Tripathy and Goenka) try their sincere best to expose the bitter truth. 




Sippy is in fine form in his direction, if this was meant to be only a courtroom drama then he gets brownie points but considering it’s an eight episodic crime series delving into various other spectrums, he falls short of his directorial abilities. Most sequences are shot either in the women’s jail or the court and after a point it gets monotonous to the risk of boredom. Sippy’s direction lacks the “thrill” otherwise expected in this genre. The series does explore a sensitive subject which can’t be revealed considering it’s a murder mystery. 




Kirti Kulhari dominates with her brilliant execution of the accused, no over the top dramatics, very underplayed and nuanced style of voice modulation and good display of expressions throughout, Tripathy reprises his role from the previous season and acts so casually that it appears disappointing and unimaginative after a point. Goenka and Vidyarthi display good command over their non dramatic acting in the courtroom sequences, I’m stressing on “non dramatic” because it’s an acceptable norm in Indian movies for actors playing lawyers to overact, thankfully things are changing. 




In case you’re expecting a fast paced thriller and are one of those who like to get involved in the investigative process of murder mysteries then let it be made clear, this is a painstakingly slow non thrilling series, it tries to explore the unspoken, rarely discussed psychological trauma faced by several women(irrespective of the social strata), so it’s more a case of morality than a murder mystery. ⭐️⭐️

All images courtesy: google images

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