Jolly LLB is a curious film. You come back with a feeling that wants to speak for it, but you find it hard to forget that it has a very weak middle. It is difficult to not think of Andha Kanoon and Damini, among other courtroom dramas, while watching it; yet you cannot possibly compare them for the distinctly ‘real’ arrangement of the courtroom demands for that much. Once again, the struggle is between melodramatic content and melodrama as a form, which reminded me of various recent films, particularly Vicky Donor. A range of contemporary films try to re-present an older thematic concern in a new form, and to that extent Jolly LLB makes a wonderful attempt. Saurabh Shukla is a class apart, he has mastered scenes in which he eats while he talks, they produce a peculiar sort of pleasure, the most when they are well written. When he says, ‘Kanoon andha hota hai, Judge nahin,’ he leaves a mark. But at the same time, the writing is very poor in parts, for example, the sequence in which Arshad Warsi tries to defend himself to Amrita Rao by saying, “Ye sab maine kiske liye kiya!?’ Now, that’s disappointing. Why would you use such a cliché when much of the film is so well written? But the film eventually does make up for it. And a lot of credit for that goes to Arshad Warsi: his casting and his performance both. Arshad Warsi’s case is no less interesting. He had the shades of a potential star but never took that line, yet retained his firm grip on a distinct persona. He never relented to roles in which he would become one of the many (Think Aftab, Riteish, Fardeen etc.). Here again, he walks that tightrope, not merely because the film also walks it right behind him. He has to deliver melodramatic punches without resorting to star-quotient; he must hold onto the inarticulate small-town man yet punch way above his weight and knock down a Stephanian type Irani. Warsi is a competent actor who can fit into many moulds, yet not one of the knockout star. He has a lovely comic timing, a delivery that makes impact but not one that can sweep the carpet off your feet. He makes sincere attempts that are touching, unlike Boman Irani who remains much the same person in all his roles. Ultimately, we have in Jolly LLB an endearing but edgy film. It is rather intelligently worked out, even the last dramatic punch where it suggests that eventual justice won’t go in Warsi’s favour, but this one moment is his, and Shukla’s. But before everything else, it is a brave film. A film that shows India’s rich for who they really are and makes a point against them. But even more so, the voices of the poor and the homeless come through. The manner in which the old pavement dweller asks Warsi to not piss where his family sleeps is worthy of genuine admiration for Subhash Kapoor. A film cannot deliver justice, sadly. The least it can do, then, is carry the dignity of emotions in the voices it comprises of. Jolly LLB is a heartwarming film because it is sincere and genuinely funny in parts.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:19:12 +0000
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