Trial and error

* Main Gita pe haath rakh ke kasam khata hoon ki jo kuch bhi kahoonga sach kahoonga aur sach ke siwa kuch nahin kahoonga

* Tamaam gawahon ke bayanaat ko mad-e-nazar rakhte hue yeh adalat iss nateeje par pahunchee hai ki mulzim...

WE have heard these lines in countless Hindi films, but often the persons delivering them give false testimonies or pronounce wrong verdicts. When the innocent are jailed and the guilty let off, the protagonist has to avenge the injustice, usually in a violent way.

That was the scenario from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, when Bollywood movies didn’t show much faith in the system of justice. Zeenat Aman shot dead her rapist Raj Babbar after she failed twice to get him convicted in B.R. Chopra’s Insaaf Ka Tarazu (1980). Amitabh Bachchan usurped the rights of the judge and the executioner in Shahenshah (1988) as he hanged villain Amrish Puri with a rope from the ceiling of the courtroom. In Meri Awaaz Suno (1978), a dismissed police officer (Jeetendra) killed the big shots whose misdeeds he tried to expose, loaded their bodies on to a van and drove defiantly into the court. His action spoke loud and clear — the judge didn’t do his job, so I had to do it.

Films that questioned or rejected the judiciary’s decisions became passe as the 1990s progressed, making way for glossy romances and paisa-vasool comedies. Things are no different today, with courtroom dramas being a rarity.

Although the most recent, memorable court scene is in Veer-Zara, we have to go back to the pre-1970 years, a period of idealism and optimism in post-Independence India, to look at outstanding films of this genre. In Awara (1951), a tramp named Raju (Raj Kapoor) is tried for murder in the court of his father (Prithviraj Kapoor), whom he bitterly hates for having thrown his mother out of the house. Defended by his childhood sweetheart (Nargis), Raju expresses his deep-seated anguish. He is sentenced to jail, but not before being reunited with his father and redeeming himself in the eyes of his beloved.

B.R. Chopra’s Kanoon (1960) is the pick of the lot. A petty thief goes on trial for murder, but the public prosecutor (Rajendra Kumar) is convinced that the judge (Ashok Kumar), who is also his father-in-law, has committed the crime. Emboldened by his conscience, he points the finger at the judge, who steps down from his chair to be cross-examined. Though its ending was contrived, the movie was both a gripping suspense yarn and a strong plea against capital punishment.

Ashok Kumar donned the lawyer’s black robe in Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke (1963) to defend an officer (Sunil Dutt) accused of murdering his wife’s paramour. This film was based on the sensational Nanavati case, considered to be India’s last trial by jury.

In Waqt (1965), it was Dutt who played a vakeel, and a well-heeled one at that. Unaware that they are brothers, he defends his rival-in-love Raaj Kumar, a murder accused. As if through divine providence, the third brother, Shashi Kapoor, gives crucial testimony that helps in Raaj’s acquittal. The entire family is reunited right in the adalat.

Flash forward to 2004 for another courtroom reunion. In Yash Chopra’s Veer-Zaara, an inexperienced Pakistani lawyer (Rani Mukherjee) fights for the release of an Indian prisoner (Shah Rukh Khan). She succeeds not only in winning the case, but also in bringing together the star-crossed lovers.

Veer-Zaara depicts a relationship of mutual trust between the accused and his lawyer, but things are not always so perfect. Lisa Ray was befooled and seduced by her client Aftab Shivdasani in Kasoor (2001), while Akshaye Khanna was deceived by Ajay Devgan’s sham of innocence in Deewangee (2002).

Young, upright lawyers have got the better of unscrupulous veterans in Meri Jung (Anil Kapoor vs Amrish Puri) and Damini (Sunny Deol against Amrish again). The versatile Naseeruddin Shah was ultra honest in Aakrosh (1980) but shamelessly dishonest in Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho! (1984).

It’s a pity that the vast potential of this genre has hardly been tapped in recent years. Swadesh Deepak’s hard-hitting play Court Martial, staged for the first time in 1991, is yet to be made into a film by Bollywood. Perhaps the Jessica Lall case, with its controversial verdict, will revive film-makers’ interest in the good old courtroom drama.

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