Cast: Pavan Raj Malhotra, Ashish Verma, Puneet Batra, Anandeshwar Dwivedi, Priyasha Bhardwaj
Creator: Arunabh Kumar
Advertisement
Streaming On: Sony Liv
Language: Hindi
Runtime: 5 episodes of 30 minutes each
“Ye kaala coat rang chhodta hai mere bhai. Agar yahaan se jaldi nahi nikla to ek din main bhi rang jaaunga,” says Param Mathur to himself, because he hates the profession of his father. Harish Mathur is the biggest lawyer in the district court of Sarjanpur, and like we say, Doctor ka beta doctor and engineer ka beta engineer, everyone, including his class teacher, feels he will become a lawyer, just like his father! Court Kacheri aims to address the same dilemma of choosing a professional life for yourself or letting your parents decide it for you!
TVF has always aimed to bring stories from small towns and make their issues worth listening to. While it is a middle-class family struggling to save and buy the pleasures of life in Gullak, or be it a CAT Aspirant stuck with a government job in a small village in Panchayat. Kota Factory had small-town children studying in Kota to crack the examinations for some of the biggest colleges in the country, especially IIT.
So, when TVF decided to bring another small-town story with a father-son duo in Sarjanpur, I was totally invested and hopeful about it. But did the story of Court Kacheri manage to strike a chord? Did I feel relatable? Well, not exactly and entirely, but definitely at some points, it struggled but succeeded in connecting!
Court Kacheri is personal to me, since my father was a lawyer and had the same dream for me, just like Param Mathur’s father, Harish Mathur. But I never surrendered to my dreams, like Param did, nor did I cook stories in my head about the profession like Param did! In one of the episodes, his character, played by Ashish Verma, says, “Abhimanyu ki tarah main bhi chakravyuh mein phas gaya, bus yahan se nikalne ki trick nahi pata hai mujhe. Hum dono mein bus ye antar hai ki wo apni marzi se ghusa tha aur mujhe yahan dhakel diya gaya hai.”
Helmed by Ruchir Arun, the web series is a heartfelt but very, very quiet exploration of a father-son relationship set against the backdrop of a dusty district court in Sarjanpur. TVF hits the right chord with the small town setting – the courtrooms are functional, the chambers are cramped, and the chaos of the district court feels authentic. Even though the central theme is strong, the show often fumbles with its execution.
The entire conflict of the the show is connected with a single case, when Param joins his father as an assistant. While Harish Mathur is already assisted by another lawyer Beria, a man who has been assisting him since 8 years and respects him as his father, waiting to lead that one case. He gets the case – a divorce case and Mathur senior treats it sub-par being a criminal lawyer. But things go crazy when the case gets complicated because of Param!
As the case intensifies, so does Param’s relationship with his father, his hatred towards the profession, and his angst against his father. But none of it makes much sense because of the writing, which focuses on a much-laced writing that talks only in Gulzar and Akhtar’s kind of phrases instead of deep diving into the emotions and conflicts.
Advertisement
Pavan Raj Malhotra as Advocate Harish Mathur plays a man whose confidence and razor-sharp arguments can rip apart any opponent. But his quiet moments and vulnerability as a single father should have been the major highlight, but they do not really shine. He should have carried the heartbreak along with the weight of a professional legacy brilliantly, but since the character and the dilemma are half-baked in the writing, it never really translates on-screen.
Then there’s Ashish Verma, who is, without a doubt, the soul of this show. He plays Param, the reluctant son, with an understated awkwardness that’s incredibly relatable. His exasperation is our exasperation. But Ashish’s dilemma became confusing when we see his outburst against his emotionally unavailable father. I still am confused, if he did not like the profession because of the good vs evil dilemma, or because his father did not give him time enough.
His monologue about being ‘Harish Mathur’s son’ should have been a standout moment that every millennial with a successful parent could feel in their bones, but despite decorative writing, this one moment, which needed the most of the writing, falls apart!
Puneet Batra’s loyal apprentice, Suraj Beriya, as Harish Mathur’s junior needed a much better resolve, but this was the best character arc of the show! He’s the perfect foil to Param – loyal, respectful, and eager to please. He’s caught between the father and son’s conflict but remains a supportive friend to Param.
Advertisement
Court Kacheri gets preachy at times with its writing, which loses momentum in most of the parts of its five-episode series. The central father-son conflict, which drives the entire plot, is resolved a little too easily without any conversation. It’s a sweet moment, for sure, but it feels like a soft landing after a conflict that needed more weight.
Gire huye ko kaun uthaaye sab gire huye hain yahan pe, kahe kaagzaat apna kaam kariye sab chidchide hain yahan pe! Did not understand anything? The show took such random turns in between. This is not the drama I would want from a TVF show, which has always delivered wholesome family content we always need.
2.5 stars.
For more such reviews of web shows, stay tuned to Koimoi.
Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Google News
Advertisement
