Court (En instance)

Watching Court is a unique experience. Its lazy elegance and life like sets. Definitely not for masses.

An avid Hindi film lover has a quite interesting but unreal picture of an Indian courtroom in his mind full of phrases such as My Lord, Judge Sahib, Objection sustained, Objection Overruled, Order Order, Mere Kaabil Dost, Mr. Public Prosecutor, Case Ki Agli Sunvaayi, Tareekh Pe Tareekh and many more.

However the truth remains shockingly contradicting to the on screen presentation and that's exactly what you get to witness in Chaitanya Tamhane's exceptional directorial debut in Marathi Cinema having an interesting cast ensemble and an explosive subject. Based on a completely unbelievable case filed by the State against an old age artist, admittedly the film takes its own times to influence the viewers with a slow paced story progression, resembling the way court cases keep crawling in India till years or even decades. But remaining within this off-beat framework, COURT also makes you feel many painful blows one after another while watching the case proceedings in a strange state of amazement. And further paints a hugely upsetting picture of our present Police and Judicial system forcing you to wonder that how come this brutally honest film was awarded a National recognition by the Government of India itself…..instead of getting banned.

To make your realize the mistake you would be committing by missing it, here are its major exceptional features that might influence you to change your mind and watch it at the earliest in the coming days.

1. You must have seen many films revolving around a false case being filed by the Police officials against an innocent person. But can you believe the height of absurdity when an investigating officer files a case against a 65 years old revolutionary social activist/artist/writer/singer, with a charge that one of his songs talking about suicide, provoked a poor sewage worker to kill himself by getting drowned in the gutter full of hazardous gases.

2. The case not only gets duly filed by presenting more than one witnesses, but it also gets extensively discussed within the court with the lady lawyer reading out many long pages full of false accusations adding a fine touch of black humour that instantly makes you laugh at the absurdity being practiced within the court itself.

3. The sequences bravely expose the flaws in our police and judiciary system when the police officer has no clues about a letter and existence of one crucial witness but still tries to defend his irresponsible actions so casually. Besides one feels disgustingly surprised when the honourable judge refuses to hear the next case as the lady coming forward is wearing a sleeveless dress that is considered to be disrespectful attire in a court room.

4. Through its various references of the weird case and personal lives of both the lawyers fighting it spiritedly, COURT also mocks at the widely prevalent class divide in our society and issues such as freedom of expression, fake arrests and exploitation of laws by the lawyers themselves ignoring the innocent lives and families being affected severely.

5. The language is a mix of Marathi, English, Hindi and Gujarati too, exactly like you find in the region of Mumbai. Reading the above features, you can easily guess that COURT is a rare thought provoking treat coming from our Regional Indian Cinema.

So just go for it at the earliest and don't miss many small but important real life insertions in its brilliant on screen execution such as:

A. The way the lawyer's parents treat a stranger visiting their house, who happens to be their son's client.

B. The strange, unconcerned kind of attitude in the answers given by the dead worker's widow in the court, who later refuses to take any money as help but asks for some work from the lawyer dropping her home.

C. The particular shot of a printing press, where the police officer arrives to arrest the artist checking his new book being printed, but the press worker sitting just a few feet away continues with his work of compiling a magazine pages showing no concern at all.

D. Just study the way, most of the film has been shot with all still frames with the camera placed in a single position making it more real as if one is sitting right there in the theater witnessing the court's proceedings.

E. And then, many shots continuing to a much longer duration than required with nothing happening on the screen, results in the viewer feeling more involved with the characters and their helpless plight.

In the performances, all inspiring actors (non-professionals mostly) provide a big support to the film led by Vivek Gomber as the defence attorney (also the film's producer), Geetanjali Kulkarni as the public prosecutor, Vira Sathidar as the accused artist/social activist and Pradeep Joshi as the judge. But the choice of other non-actors appearing in very short roles throughout the film could have been better.

The film ends with the final 10 minutes revolving around the judge alone and the stress he feels, leaving the viewers with many uncomfortable and horrifying questions about the court-procedures running in their minds. And perhaps the climax (showing him enjoying a picnic with his family, slapping one of the kids for disturbing his sleep), also wishes to present a possible conclusion that after all even a judge is a human too who does have his own personal life, choices and limitations.

In fact that's exactly what makes COURT a highly recommended movie for all thinking minds. So whatever language or region you belong to, shed all your reservations of watching a regional movie with English subtitles and do yourself a favour witnessing COURT at the earliest as its indeed yet another important benchmark set by the Marathi film-makers in our rich Indian cinema undoubtedly.

If you're expecting a mainstream courtroom drama which would focus upon one case and move forward dramatically then you're badly misled. Court in fact is a unique portrayal of how the legal system works in India. It has showed the miscarriage of justice by focusing upon lives of the 4 main characters which heavily determines the outcome of the case they are involved in. As a layman not knowing legal system inside-out you would believe that lawyers are perfect and Judges are God-sent, impartial beings who would deliver justice no matter what, and theoretically that is how it is supposed to be. But this movie focuses upon how these people are as much human beings as you are and how their personal lives usually have direct or indirect impact upon the case and its outcome. Media usually ignores these issues because such undercurrents are usually unnoticeable and difficult to be proved and delivered to lay man. Secondly the movie has hired an outstanding cast. Not one character you would believe is a fanciful picture perfect character as portrayed in other mainstream movies but rather they have tried really hard to keep the characters as natural as possible which helps substantiate the story more convincingly. That is what I believe makes the movie stand out from the rest. Thirdly as many of you must have noticed the movie does take a slower pace than we're generally used to but I guess that is because the Director didn't intend to reach somewhere at the end of the movie (like a Judgement, or a climax). His focus was on the lives of the people and hence the movie tend to have taken that pace. Overall its a brilliant movie not complimenting the mainstream movies and I believe a movie with a message which is the need of the hour.

RATED 8/10 Language: Marathi Source: Netflix RECOMMENDED Well crafted drama about court room and the persons in court room. Too much of artistic and slow but its perfect.

The real life and court life of different characters and their views of personal and court life.... the climax is the big slap on citizen's face... the last 15 seconds tells the story with superb impact.... Must watch...

Chaitanya Tamhane's Court approaches many fascinating and bitingly topical subjects for a constantly changing India. When those to the west think of India, we often imagine the hustle and bustle depicted in Slumdog Millionaire coupled with the energy and glittery elegance of Bollywood movies. Court is a slower burn with incredible wide cinematography that captures a disquieting stillness. It's almost like a political thriller where no-one can be trusted, but it's not a film that relies on tension or conclusions. It studies the westernisation of Indian culture through its network of characters, darting between the folk singer Sharmila Pawar and his 'Americanised' defence lawyer Vinay Voya, but without peeling back their layers. It's not interested in the characters as people but what they represent in the situation, wherein Pawar is being tried for inciting a man to suicide through his songs.

Instead, it contrasts the old with the new, with Indian traditions and the updates of the youths, aesthetically and with their behaviour. The courtroom drama prods at this aspect with old laws being questioned for being outdated and how they should be reconsidered. It seems a lack of compromise is also part of tradition and is something that contemporary Indians wants to implement. The film also studies the effect of art, questioning whether folk music can really change a government and if it does influence bad things incidentally, can it be held accountable? The power of poetry is a strange thing in a world drenched in culture. What counts as a performance when art is so fluid? Where do we draw the line between coincidence and crime? Court is a very dry but very thought-provoking and highly intelligent film that raises important questions about the world we live in, albeit it could've been improved by a bit more character work and a concise ending.

8/10

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