Ashdoc's very short review---Court ( marathi film )

by ashdoc Sun May 03, 2015 10:28 pm

Its is a well acted superbly directed film . but it paints upper caste maharashtrians as anti immigrants ( up bihar ) ,as anti muslim and above all as as anti dalit . there is a scene where the defence lawyer describes how a muslim guy was repeatedly rearrested by police after being being released by courts . there is a scene of marathis applauding a anti bhaiyya play where a bhaiyya guy is kicked out by a marathi father from his house for daring to romance his daughter . of course , the dalit hero of the film is harassed by court because he is dalit and has dared to challenge the upper caste system . so according to the director upper caste marathis are the villains . this is not openly said but very subtly brought out in the film . so inspite of all the quotas and reservations given to dalits we ( upper caste maharashtrians ) still are supposed to be bad . but the scene of the lawyer describing how the muslim guy was rearrested really sucked . does the director know how hindus are treated in pakistan , and how much better are muslims treated here ?? and even though maharashtrians have now decisively rejected raj thackeray and voted for BJP in maharashtra assembly elections , the director keeps on harping that marathis are still in the raj thackeray anti bhaiyya mindset---that this mindset is permanent . and no maharashtrian comes out to defend the dalit hero . the lawyer who defends the dalit hero is a gujarati who comes from a rich family but has devoted his life to helping the underclass . again , does the director want to say that only immigrants to mumbai like gujaratis are good while marathis are heartless ?? however i agree that dalits still face some prejudice because of their caste . but this film reeks of political correctness---it follows the well worn path of putting blame of all evil on upper caste hindus . that path has already been trodden many times by the hindi film industry .

Having said this , let me say that the film has many points worth praise . acting is most natural , and for the first time we get to see how a court functions , devoid of the drama created by mainstream films . the mindset of those who are trying the dalit activist in court ( he has been arrested for inciting suicide of a lower caste person by his inspirational songs ) is brought out by showing scenes from their normal out of courtroom lives. the dalit activist comes out as a heroic tragic figure stoically bearing all the injustices inflicted by upper caste society without losing hope . the judge and the prosecution lawyer are shown to have really small minds compared to this large hearted dalit activist . but this kind of targeting of upper caste hindus by the film industry has become all too regular---seen even in PK and HAIDER and countless bollywood films .

VERDICT---GOOD

3.5 stars