Jolly LLB

Well, if you have felt frustrated with the Indian judiciary system that depends largely on evidence and long trials, Jolly LLB will definitely make you feel happy. It is a movie that has drawbacks but still manages to get a place in our heart for its down to earth and emotional approach towards the subject. With a fun filled treatment and a screenplay that never really gets dragged by any dramatic content, Jolly LLB is a pleasing comedy entertainer.

The plot revolves around the unsuccessful lawyer from Meerut, Jagdish Tyagi aka Jolly.  In chase of success, Jolly decides to shift to Delhi to get more exposure. Out of desperation to make something happen for his career, Jolly decides to put public interest litigation (PIL) against the judgment of a famous hit and run case. Jolly was only looking for publicity as the accused in the case was a member of a political family and their lawyer Tejinder Rajpal was a highly reputed one. The games played by Rajpal makes Jolly realize that he has been insulted for being a looser advocate. With his well wishers and supporters turning against him, Jolly decides to fight for real justice. The sensible fight of Jolly to provide justice to the poor is what basically Jolly LLB all about.

The movie is a satirical thriller with social commitment. A good thing about the movie is that it shows the court room in a fresh style. Indian films always visualize a court room as a place where verbal war happens in a very formal language. This movie shows a new court room with some practical rendering, at some points they even made remarks that courts are not like the ones you see in films. The climax of the movie is another pleasing thing that never really goes to an over the top level. It just shows the small yet big victory of justice over those powers that most often purchases judiciary.

On screen, Arshad Warsi fits into the role of Jolly smoothly. His natural style suits the desperate and greedy young lawyer. Star of the show was once again Boman Irani who just transformed into Tejinder Rajpal with that deadly crookedness. Amrita Rao as Sandhya was sweet on screen, but the character wasn’t that influential in Jolly’s fight. Another excellent performance was from Saurabh Shukla as the main judge.

The writing of Subhash Kapoor is good with very less dragging points. When he tried to treat things commercially, some add-ons came in and spoiled the rhythm. Te songs involving Arshad and Amrita never really had any scope and it was difficult for the audience to sync with those songs. Even in some of the facts regarding the case, there were a few places that question our logic. But with the heart in its right place, Subhash Kapoor manages to engage us. Pleasant color tone has been given to the screen. The BGM is a bit outdated at occasions. Music is satisfactory.

Overall, Jolly LLB manages to hide its errors and gets that smile from the audience. I am giving 3/5 and a warm hug to Subhash Kapoor for this clean entertainer. In a time where most of us are upset with the slow paced and evidence oriented judicial system (Ajmal Kasab, Delhi gang rape), Jolly’s small victory will surely make us happy.