Thrilling Courtroom dramas

Movies often take inspiration from the real world and the current happenings around the world. The genre of thriller movies would be incomplete without including some thrilling courtroom dramas. 

• Section 375 – Directed by Ajay Bahl and produced by Kumar Mangat Pathank and Abhishek Pathak and SCIPL, the movie is written by Manish Gupta and it stars Richa Chadha and Akshaye Khanna in the lead roles. This 2019 thriller revolves, as its name suggests, around Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 which dictates the term ‘rape’. The movie is set around the life of a woman who is a junior costume designer for a famous film maker, and she accuses him of rape. The man is taken into custody and as the trial for rape begins, it unfolds numerous secrets. The movie deals with a very sensitive issue, that is false rape accusation, and it unfurls the doom that can be brought upon someone when a false rape accusation is alleged against them.
• Pink – Directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Rashmi Sharma in 2016, Pink revolves around the trial of a Miss Arora, played by Taapsee Pannu who is booked for attempt to murder of the son of a famous politician and is defended by her lawyer, played by Amitabh Bachhan. The film also stars Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang and Angad Bedi in lead roles. The movie also touches upon sensitive issues like moral policing, molestation and self defence. Pink has been hailed as a great courtroom drama and it stands high on the story.
• Mulk – Written and directed by Anubhav Sinha and produced by Deepak Mukut in 2018, Mulk stars Taapsee Pannu and Rishi Kapoor in lead roles. The cast includes Manoj Pahwa, Prateik Babbar, Rajat Kapoor and Ashutosh Rana. Shot in Varanasi and Lucknow, Mulk is based on a real life story about a Muslim family trying to reclaim their honour after a family member is accused of being involved in terrorism. The movie deals with the stigma against Muslims as it is shown in the movie that after the trial begins and the family is accused of being involved in terrorism, the neighbours begin avoiding them and show hostile behaviour.
• No One Killed Jessica – This 2011 movie is written and directed by Raj Kumar Gupta and produced by Ronnie Screwvala. The movie stars Vidya Balan and Rani Mukharjee in lead roles. The movie is based on the real life story of two sisters, one of whom is killed in a bar by the son of a politician on New Year’s eve after she refused to make him a drink; the other sister, played by Vidya Balan, strives to get justice for her late younger sister. The otherwise open-and-shut case is left hostage to greed and political influence when the dozens of witnesses are either conveniently forgetful or have sold their testimony to the highest bidder. Rani Mukharjee plays the role of a lead journalist in a top media house and she uses the power of media to get people to notice the injustice happening in the case of Jessica Lal. The movie portrays the trial and the courtroom drama with almost accuracy and how the case drags on for 7 years.
• Jolly LLB – Written and directed by Subhash Kapoor and produced by Fox Star Studios, Jolly LLB is a 2013 legal comedy film. The film stars Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani and Saurabh Shukla in lead roles. The film revolves around Jagdish Tyagi also known as Jolly played by Arshad Warsi and his attempt to get justice for six innocent wage earners for their rights after they were involved in a road accident. The accident was caused by a rich boy Rahul Dewan who is represented by Tejinder Rajpal played by Boman Irani. To earn his two seconds of fame Jolly files a PIL in the court against Rahul Dewan and later even accepts the money from the defending lawyer to compromise on the case but a change of heart happens and Jolly decides to challenge the monopolistic behaviour of the rich and judicial corruption. He goes on to find a survivor and uncovers the truth. The film is inspired by the infamous 1999 hit and run case of Sanjeev Nanda.
• The State vs. Jolly LL.B 2/ Jolly LLB 2 – Written and directed by Subhash Kapoor and produced by Mahesh Korade, Gaurav Nanda and Naren Kumar, Jolly LLB 2 released in 2017 as an instalment to the first part, Jolly LLB. The film stars Akshay Kumar (Jolly), Annu Kapoor (Sachin Kantilal Pramod Mathur) and Saurabh Shukla (Judge) in lead roles, the film also stars Huma Qureshi as Jolly’s wife. The movie revolves around Jolly and his attempts to start his own practice. To earn money for starting his practice Jolly lies to a widow, Hina Qasim and asks her to bring Rs.2,00,000 as fees for arguing her case. When Hina Qasim finds out that Jolly bluffed her she commits suicide. When Jolly finds out that she committed suicide because of this and that her husband had been killed in fake encounter by Inspector Suryaveer Singh, he decides to get his act straight and get justice for them by filing a PIL. Jolly tries to gather evidence against the actual culprit but his plan backfires as the opposing counsel tampers with the evidence. After a lot of struggle Jolly finally finds substantial evidence and the trial happens at midnight wherein Jolly proves who the real culprit is.