Law & behold, an unusual case study

Mona

With Bollywood stars descending on OTT, it’s a viewers’ party! The latest to join this revelry is Kajol headlining the Suparn S Verma directed ‘The Trial: Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha’. Based on American series ‘The Good Wife’, this series charts the life of a homemaker, Noyonika Sengupta (Kajol), who is forced to get work as a junior lawyer to take care of her two daughters as her husband, Rajeev Sengupta (Jisshu Sengupta), an additional judge, is imprisoned after being embroiled in a sex scam.

Full credit to the writers — Hussain Dalal, Abbas Dalal and Siddharth Kumar — for trying. They have written an interesting script, taking from real, rather recent, incidents. Pushed to a corner, Noyonika joins ex-boyfriend Vishal Chaubey’s (Alyy Khan) law firm to support her family, restarting her career after a gap of 10 years. Her first case takes inspiration from Sushant Singh Rajput’s murder case and the witch-hunting that Rhea Chakraborty went through. Noyonika’s first trial here is a famous cricketer’s murder/suicide case. She represents Juhi Bhatia (Manasvi Mamgai), the cricketer’s girlfriend, who has been charged with the murder/suicide. Another case has a ‘Bigg Boss’ reference, while one more case profiles a media trial. As Noyonika hops from one case to another, earning laurels for her inventiveness, the plot details the inner workings of a law firm.

Apart from an engaging story, the acting too works in favour of ‘The Trial’. Kajol’s acting prowess is well established. As a jilted wife, responsible mom and an empathetic lawyer, she shines. In her life’s second innings, she is vulnerable and strong at the same time, taking things in her stride. It’s refreshing to see Sheeba Chaddha as Malini Khanna, a commanding law firm partner. She gets a strong character to play and gives a robust performance. Kubbra Sait as Sana Sheikh joins this powerful women’s world and delivers well. The beauty of ‘The Trial’ is strong women holding each other’s hands through tough times.

The male characters, however, aren’t as strong as the women in the series. Alyy Khan as a firm partner and Noyonika’s ex gives a remarkable performance. He’s in sync with his character — understated and genuine. Jisshu Sengupta as Rajeev performs well as a man who can rarely think beyond self. Aseem Hattangady as politician Illyas, Rajeev’s best friend, is a friend we all can use, adding the political angle to this legal, family drama mix.

The main cast is aided by some fine performances with Gaurav Pandey as competitive junior lawyer Dhiraj Paswan; Kiran Kumar as law firm partner Kabir and Flora Saini as an astute lawyer.

Suparn Verma steers this ship reasonably well. While the background score supports the narrative, the cinematography is dark and glum throughout. It sure suits the mood but strangely, there aren’t many sunny-day scenes, neither at the court nor the law firm (where most of the drama takes place).

On the downside, one wishes they had added some clever injectors rather than cases being solved just by a simple stroke of chance. Eight episodes, almost as many cases, each resolved, one wishes if judiciary worked in this manner in real life too!

The story isn’t over, and we can’t wait to watch Noyonika’s next move, and also have Sana Sheikh’s backstory and what makes her emotionally detached.

If we don’t compare it to the remarkable original, ‘The Good Wife’, ‘The Trial’ makes for an easy-paced, decent watch.

The rating for the series is

16+ on account of drug use, sexual scenes and coarse language.