More thrills in the court

Jolly LLB 2
Hindi (U/A) ¬¬
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Huma Qureshi, Saurabh Shukla, Annu Kapoor
Director: Subhash Kapoor

The franchise returns bigger and better. Akshay Kumar picks up where Arshad Warsi left off, and gives a superior finish to the underdog act in this courtroom drama.

Jagdishwar Mishra aka Jolly is an unpolished Kanpur lawyer trying to gain a foothold in Lucknow. Now the 15th assistant to a legal shark, Jolly dreams of having his own chamber. Along the way, he has several run-ins with the haughty and mighty of the court.
“Smile, you are in Lucknow,” advises rival Annu Kapoor. Akshay walks away, grinding his teeth.

The only one he keeps in good humour is wife Huma Qureshi. The man serves her chapati and whisky in the same earnestness.

Now, that’s a beautifully tapped territory for heroes who rarely venture into the kitchen.
Easily, a few songs could have been lopped off to squeeze in more of those stereotype-killer scenes.

Coming to the courtroom, Jolly is fighting a fake encounter case this time.
While Kumud Mishra is terrific as the inspector in the dock, the one who is in superlative form is Saurabh Shukla (ever seen a judge who practises dance steps in court for daughter’s wedding!)

With a gavel and some black humour to match, it’s a jolly good show by Shukla.
As the proceedings hot up, the focus shifts to terrorism, corruption and also the hurdles in judiciary (“see you in court”, but where are the judges?)
On the whole, a decent watch.