The set up of ‘Court- State VS A Nobody has certain elements from the Jolly LLB movies. Much like Arshad Warsi and Akshay Kumar Priyadarshi also plays an underdog lawyer waiting to prove his mettle. The movie does suffer from logical drawbacks particularly in the second half still the performances coupled with the emotional core make it sail through
Starcast: Priyadarshi, Harsh Rohan, Sridevi Appala, Sivaji, Saikumar and others
Director and writer: Ram Jagadeesh
Genre: Legal drama
Additional writers: Karthikeya Srinivas and Vamsidhar Srigiri
Music: Shravan Bhardwaj
Producer: Prashanti Tripirneni
Banner: Wall Poster Cinema
Running time: 2 hours and 29 minutes
Before dissecting ‘Court- State Vs A Nobody it is necessary to applaud Nani for backing a social issue like this through his production house Wall Poster Cinema. While it is debatable on why back a movie showcasing the negative side of POCSO instead of a positive one at the same time though a subject showcasing the misuse of POCSO is also necessary to make people more aware about the law. In the age of pan India cinema where there is an increase of macho heroes stories of underdogs standing up for the marginalized sections is very important.
Nani should be applauded for backing a social issue like the misuse of POSCO in the age of Pan India cinema
The core plot of ‘Court- State VS A Nobody revolves around the false imprisonment of a 19 year old boy Chandrasekhar (Harsh Rohan). Chandrasekhar hails from a poor family, he isn’t into studies much, instead he juggles between multiple part time jobs. On the other hand you have Jabilli (Sridevi Appala). Jabilli come from a rich family. Mangapathi (a terrifying Sivaji) plays the powerful uncle. Mangapathi is a despicable bigot with regressive views. Jabilli and Chandrsekhar slowly fall in love, the situation takes a very dark turn for Chandrasekhar when Mangapathi with his influence and connections falsely implicates Chandrasekhar under the POCSO which is actually meant to punish sexual preparators. The rest of the story focuses on how Priyadarshi’s Surya Tej gets involved with Chandrasekhar eventually delivering justice.
The first half alternates between a budding love story and Surya Teja’s attempts to establish himself as a solid lawyer. Both these segments have their high points at the same time a certain repetitiveness also creeps in the portrayal of teenage love. The initial conversations between Chandrasekhar and Jabilli on the phone feel like a series of verbal abuses but things start getting better when they actually fall in love. The tender moments between them in particular leave a strong mark. The audiences feel very sorry for Chandrasekhar when he is falsely accused and root for him to come out safe.
The complexities involved in a legal case like this and how this makes the situation very difficult for Chandrasekhar has come out well in both the writing and direction. The director also does a very good job in exploring the psyche of Mangapathi. The way he behaves likes a self appointed custodian is representative of the numerous bigot male family members that we do read and also come across in real life. By its very nature Mangapathi character is loud, Sivaji delivers a terrific performance fully embodying the class and caste fanaticism of Mangapathi. The senior actor is truly having a fantastic second innings. First the role of a strict yet lovable father in the web series ’90’s a middle class biopic and now this.
The characterization of Surya Tej coupled with Priyadarshi solid act is another plus for the movie. Surya Tej is an underdog with major ambitions of making it as big an independent lawyer. There is a crucial point in the movie where Surya Tej feels cheated due to an important CCTV footage. There is a palpable pain in the way Surya Tej expresses his anger to Chandrasekhar’s friends.
Through the character of Surya Tej the focal point of the movie which is the misuse of POCSO has come out very well. There are important dialogues where Surya Tej talks about the judicial system needing to follow a certain discretion by understanding the difference between an act of rape and a supposed sexual act. He also breaks the societal stereotypes by talking about how a boy and a girl being in one room doesn’t always mean sexual intimacy. In the same scene valid points are also made on making the citizens more aware about the laws of our country. This aspect comes out in the dialogue where Surya Tej talks about the one mistake which Chandrasekhar did by going into the room with Jabilli.
Talking about the courtroom drama some parts in the screenplay suffer on discrepancies. For example allegations on Chandrasekhar are accepted without any medical examination along with the fact that it takes so long for Jabilli to make an appearance in the court.
Given the nature of the movie there isn’t much scope for the cinematography department still the courtroom setting has an authentic feel. There is only one song in the movie which is a love ballad called Premalo. It’s quite a tuneful number capturing the teenage love perfectly.
Premalo song perfectly captures the teenage romance
As far as the young leads go both Harsh Rohan and Sridevi Appaalla do a very fine job in making the viewers emphasize with the characters. Harsh Rohan though has the tougher role given the background of Chandrasekhar. He gets the more emotionally demanding scenes and the young actor makes full use of it. Mention must also be made of Sai Kumar as a top lawyer and the boss of Surya Tej. There’s a very crucial scene where his character gives an advice to Surya on the importance of bouncing back and how a lawyer should properly perceive the case scenarios before coming to the conclusion of who is right and who is wrong. Rohini as Jabilli’s mother lends a quiet strength in the scenes where she finally understands her daughter and gives it back to Mangapathi. Harshvardhan as the cunning lawyer does a fairly impressive job although his character arc could have been better designed.
‘Court- State VS A Nobody is an admirable attempt at portraying an important social issue. In spite of the logical lapses the movie benefits from a strong emotional core.
