Court Kacheri review: TVF takes Panchayat formula to small-town courtrooms; Pavan Malhotra is as watchable as ever

It goes without saying that Pavan Malhotra is always watchable. In Court Kacheri, the five episode series now streaming on Sony Liv, Ashish Verma joins in as an equal attention grabber, who feels suffocated by everything around him in (fictional) Sarjanpur: the looming years of being a respectful son to a demanding father, and stepping around the saying, ‘doctor ke safed coat aur vakil ke kaale coat se bach ke rehna chahiye’ (we hear this as a voice-over during the set-up, just the kind of folksy ‘kahawat’ which sets the tone for TVF ventures), while trying to figure out just who he is, and who he wants to be.

An array of acting talent (the gavel banging in the title is smart) surrounds Malhotra and Verma. Puneet Batra, also credited with the story and screenplay, is Harish’s obedient junior, dreaming of starting his own practice. Priyasha Bharadwaj as a newbie lawyer, gives as good as she gets. A pro-bono case involving a man who wants a divorce from his estranged wife becomes the hook on which the show hangs a few scenes showing lawyers and cops at each other’s throats– the former jumping into a scrum of flying fists more than once– and pointing fingers at the snail pace of justice, if it ever comes.

But the whole thing stays within the ‘wholesome family entertainment’ range, keeping the sharp satirical edges more gentle jabs than stabs: this is, by now, something of a patent in TVF productions, which take ‘relatability’ so seriously that nothing from the stable will upset or provoke you too much, even though the way the ‘free ka case’ is resolved may surprise you. Also, in the let’s-make-them-laugh vein, there are scenes toplining a seedy, foul-mouthed ‘vakeel’ which seem to be there not to advance the story, but as comic relief.

Watch Court Kacheri trailer here:

Malhotra makes his Harish walk the thin line between the smugness of his professional worth and the vulnerability of his personal limitations: being a good advocate with a wholesale fan-club (aap toh bhagwaan ho na papa, says his son, and you can see it dawning upon the father why his own beta doesn’t see him as one) doesn’t automatically make you an attentive father. It’s also good to see the excellent Ashish Verma getting a sizeable role in which he can show his acting chops: from wanting to flee, to joining the thin ranks of the kind of change-makers we need in today’s India, his is a solid coming-of-age arc, even if it ties in to the flavour of the show: we don’t need no rebellious sons, only agyakaari baalaks.

Court Kacheri cast: Pavan Malhotra, Ashish Verma, Puneet Batra, Anandeshwar Dwivedi, Priyasha Bharadwaj, Sumali Khaniwale, Ayushi Nema, Kiran Khoje
Court Kacheri director: Ruchir Arun
Court Kacheri rating: 2.5 stars