A potholed road to justice

Jolly LLB   ¬¬
Hindi (U/A)
Director: Subhash Kapoor
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla, Amrita Rao

Arshad Warsi, a small-time Meerut lawyer, packs his bags to Delhi to make it big. He soon realises the potential of PIL and files one in a hit-and-run case where a rich and drunk youth runs over six people on the footpath. (Did someone say BMW? Anyway, the car of contention here is a Land Cruiser.)

Warsi the rookie is pitted against Boman Irani, the high-profile lawyer self-avowedly in the Jethmalani league.

Jolly LLB’s heart is in the right court. The movie dissects India’s legal system where bribes amputate the long arm of the law. Warsi tries hard to deliver justice in time, but is distracted by love interest Amrita Rao, who keeps dancing away from the proceedings.

Order, order!

Boman Irani is a treat to watch as the money-minting lawyer (“give me what I deserve, don’t call me greedy”) who is capable of converting a shabby labourer into a Shah Rukh Khan using legal loopholes. Even the lower court judge (Saurabh Shukla, in superlative form) is amused to find the high-flying Irani — a Supreme Court shark — in their midst.
Subhash Kapoor, after his surprise grosser Phas Gaye Re Obama, settles for a slightly preachy baby this time. Highly predictable, the movie would have fared better had Kapoor cared to add some twists too.

Jolly LLB hammers home its message. But just like the judge who has trouble finding his gavel, the movie stumbles before its last legal hurrah.