Off late Hindi films showcasing court cases or court rooms have become too sanitized for lovers of commercial potboilers. Some of the recent films based on court cases or law like Shahid, Court (Marathi / Hindi language) and No One Killed Jessica, are narrated more like a procedural. They are bereft of any drama and they sometimes focus on mundane. No doubt these films are engaging in their own way. But this post is not about films that fall under the genre of courtroom procedural. This post is to share with you some of my favorite moments from the courtroom DRAMAS that have been every Indian cinema lover's staple diet growing up.
Dialogues
There are some time-worn dialogues and phrases used in Indian courtroom dramas. Sample few -
Objection Milord! Your Honour! (British - Colonial Hangover)
Mere Kaabil Muakil! (means 'my worthy client' in Urdu / Arabic; Urdu is used liberally in Hindi films by lawyers)
Tazirat-e-Hind, Dafaa 302 ke tahet sazaa-e-maut di jaati hai (If not for this dialogue I would have never learned about Section 302 in the Indian Penal Code and death sentence)
But the most iconic dialogue from a courtroom drama in Indian cinema ever is from a film called Damini. Spouted by none other than Sunny Deol this dialogue is famously known as 'Taareekh pe Taareekh' ( Taareekh means a calendar date!) In this scene, a key witness has not reached the court at prescribed time, as some goons are trying to kill her on the way. As the honorable judge at the behest of the opposition lawyer is about to adjourn the case to the next available date, Sunny Deol, breaks into this diatribe against the flaws of justice system.
After watching this scene anyone would like to enroll for public speaking and dramatics courses to practice law.
Bravado
There are lawyers who argue in court to prove their point. And then there are lawyers who take strong actions in the court to prove their point. Actions that sometimes blur the line between stupidity and bravado. In the film Waqt, the lead lawyer Sunil Dutt, to establish a chain of events, uses a dummy dead body and then also drags a heavy body bag, with leaking fluid (substitute for blood) in multiple ways. I found it fascinating, that courts actually are like labs and lawyers are physicists. Later in life, I discovered that actually this is the job of forensics department and not of lawyers who excel in physics.
There are many such scenes in many such films, where courts are like playgrounds, and lawyers are like athletes. But one scene that really left an impression on me was from the movie 'Meri Jung.' The hero of the film, Anil Kapoor, is a defence lawyer who is trying to save a doctor accused of killing a patient by poisoning him. The patient had actually died of poisoning. But someone had replaced the medicine bottle with a poison bottle. So doctor was innocent. So how did the defence lawyer prove his client's innocence in the film? In front of a packed courtroom, he picks the same bottle of poison from the items of evidence on display and consumes it. The poison is supposed to act after few minutes. The judge immediately pronounces his judgement and declares the doctor innocent. No Taareekh pe Taarekh here! Soon after Anil Kapoor runs out of the court and is attended to by a doctor waiting for him. Watch the first few minutes of the video below.
After watching this scene it is very clear that our courts are capable of speedy justice, but we don't have enough daredevil lawyers.
Vigilantism
Shahenshah is a vigilante film in which Amrish Puri, the bad guy, is hanged to death during the climax scene from the roof of the courtroom by Amitabh Bachchan. Why wait for a judge to lord over the case! The cliche here is not the vigilantism, but the fact that courtrooms in Hindi films are so big, with high ceilings. Almost like banquet halls. The real courtrooms are nothing like them. Also I just realized, that Amrish Puri was the bad guy in Damini, Meri Jung and Shahenshah. Some body of work!
Comedy is another courtroom cliche often used to diffuse the tension in Hindi films. Either the judge saying Order! Order! with no one paying heed to him or a witness would often turn out to be a buffoon.
Many a time, when evidence, argument or bravado is not enough, the leading lawyer will do a rapid fire Q&A session and the criminal will often have a slip of tongue and that would be treated as an admissible and irrevocable evidence. Clearly villain's lawyers always miss the trick in Hindi films. Watch the scene from Waqt, below to know what I mean.
Lastly the spectators sitting in the gallery of the courtrooms would always applaud for the hero at the end. And judge will keep shouting, "Order! Order!" with no one paying heed to him.
Is it some kind of meta cue for the film audience to clap as well during that scene? Clever! Really clever! May be this is also a cue for you to appreciate my efforts in the comments section.
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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read the theme reveal post here.
2017 Challenge Post from Letter C: Chat rooms - It was about a practical joke we played on someone. Click here to read.
2018 Challenge Post from Letter C: Conversations that influenced me - It was a reflective post in which I cited some conversations that I remember till date. Click here to read.
