Jolly LLB 2

When you compare Jolly LLB 2 and Jolly LLB (2013 film), you can see that the highs and lows and even the structure of the screenplay is quite similar. Emotions having a key role in judgment and the witty courtroom conversations and dramas where key factors in making the 2013 Jolly LLB a pleasing film and the sequel also capitalize on the same factors in a slightly wider canvas. With a terrific Saurabh Shukla giving us some really good moments of laughter, Jolly LLB 2 is never a regretful watch.

Jagdishwar Mishra is the new Jolly. He is in Lucknow and is working as an assistant under a prominent advocate named Rizvi. A foul play by Jolly to get some money for establishing a chamber for himself in the court ends up in an unfortunate death of woman who was seeking justice in a case of fake encounter. The event affects Jolly very badly and thus he sets out alone to fight against the system. What happens in that journey and what all hurdles he had to jump across is what Jolly LLB 2 narrating.

The journey is quite similar to the first part. Much like the prequel, this one also has a struggling wannabe Jolly. A mistake out of greed puts him in a state where he is hated by people who trusted him as a genuine person and that becomes an eye opener for him; the same way Delhi wala Jolly decided to go after the culprits. The similarity in plot elements continues with the kind of arguments we see in court room and even some of the twists are similar. Where the movie sort of succeeds is in being lively throughout all these things. Jolly LLB was never a clinically perfect legal thriller as the case in the limelight never looks that hard to solve. In the case of Jolly LLB 2 also there is no tough feel to the case and evidences.

Akshay Kumar as the married, struggling advocate was fine. Much like Amrita Rao in the first part, Huma Qureshi also doesn’t have much of a role in the film. Annu Kapoor was really good as the senior advocate Pramod Mathur. Kumud Mishra gets a relatively calm antagonist role. Even within a few scenes Sayani Gupta manages to create a solid impact. Saurabh Shukla reprises the same role he did in the first part and I must say that he is the best thing about this Subhash Kapoor film. The effortless, natural reactions of him as a judge are so damn hilarious and genuine.

Much like the first part, Subhash Kapoor manages to bring in that natural feel in court room procedures. The casual dialogues which have so many real life references makes the scenes look natural. Where the movie gets flawed considerably is in complicating the case. They are trying to pitch this as a very difficult case to solve and we aren’t getting that feel due to the lack of complexity in the investigation done by Jolly. Also the usual song and dance package doesn’t suit a movie like this. Most of the conversations inside the courtroom look genuinely refreshing because of the natural flair. I loved the outrageously funny scene where Annu Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla sort of protests inside the courtroom. Songs weren’t that catchy and significant.

Jolly LLB 2 works in the same way Jolly LLB worked. It has good humor, it has Saurabh Shukla, it has an emotionally compelling climax, a not so convincing case and an okay story. Humor and performances covers up a lot of glitches in Jolly LLB 2.

Rating: 3/5