© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
After Saurabh Khanna and Kunal Aneja, writers of Netflix’s Maamla Legal Hai, shared with showrunner Sameer Saxena the idea to tell humorous stories set in the chaotic and quirky world of a sessions court, they decided to zero in on the everyday life of those who are cogs in the legal machinery. The makers of this eight-part comedy series tried to look beyond the Hindi-cinema inspired image of a lawyer outraging over “tarikh pe tarikh (cases being adjourned)” or a gavel-slamming judge saying “tamam sabooton ko aur gawahon ko madde nazar rakhte hue…(after taking into consideration all the evidence and testimonials)”.
As Khanna and Aneja browsed through real cases and spent time on court premises, they believed “reality is stranger than fiction but ground reality is stranger than non-fiction”. That’s something they even make the character of the court manager (played by Anant Joshi) reiterate on the show. This unique world, featuring a mixed bunch of lawyers — from idealistic rookies to cynical veterans — is set in the fictional Patparganj district court in Delhi. The show does not spare much time in introducing the audience to the oddities one encounters in such a place as the first episode shows a man seeking divorce on the ground that his wife was not coy on their wedding night.
In the following episodes, there is a case filed against a foul-mouthed parrot; a female prisoner desires not only to tie the knot but also to consummate her marriage; and the lawyers coming up with ways, including veiled threats, when a groom’s father is adamant on getting his son’s marriage annulled. The series, however, is not about these legal matters alone. It is also about the people who exist in this world, their dreams and hustles.
At its centre is Ravi Kishan, who essays the character of VD Tyagi, the president of the Patparganj Bar Association, whose eyes are set on winning the Delhi Bar Association election. Kishan, who played a paan-chewing inspector in the recently-released Laapataa Ladies, shows his comic timing all over again in this show. “Ravi Kishan’s name was suggested by our casting director, Vaibhav Vishant. Kishan has that charm that makes the audience root for him even when he does something wrong. The audience can believe, ‘Yeh Banda shaitani karege par paap nehin karega (He might be up to some mischief but won’t do anything wrong)’,” says Saxena, who has directed Jaadugar (2022) and Kaala Paani (2023).
The cast also features several established actors such as Tanvi Azmi as a judge; Yashpal Sharma as Tyagi’s rival; and Brijendra Kala as a veteran lawyer. Nidhi Bisht plays a mid-career lawyer, who dreams of having her own chamber, and Naila Grewal is a Harvard-graduate who dreams of following in her grandfather’s footsteps and working as a ‘legal aid’. These female characters stand out with their individuality and agency. “We saw them as characters, not mere placeholders. As it should happen in comedies, they have to have those lines and plot points to make the audience laugh,” says Aneja, who has written shows like Dil Bekaraar (2021) and Flames (2018-19).
The challenge for the writers was to keep the storytelling crisp though the series aims to piece together a picture of the goings-on inside the courtroom and the activities outside of it. Aneja says, “It was difficult. As writers, we were eager to share all the fun stuff and dialogues. But you have to draw a line since you have to make the show engaging.” Since the idea was not to have lengthy episodes (the longest is 38 minutes), they had to edit quite a bit at the scripting level as well as later.
While making a comedy show, it can be tough to get the laughs without offending anyone. “For the sake of a joke, we didn’t want to hurt anyone’s sentiments. That’s something we decided during the writing stage. It was never our intention to make a statement about something that’s not right,” says Saxena. Their intention was also to show that the system might have flaws but people working there are trying to do their best and putting up a fight. The show is directed by Rahul Pandey, who had helmed Nirmal Pathak Ki Ghar Wapsi (2022).
“Even though comedy is the most difficult genre, it never gets its due credit. Jim Carrey and Govinda are called comic actors. The fact remains that they are great actors. In comedy, you depend on the comic timing of actors unlike crime shows or dramas,” says Saxena, who will be working on thriller and sci-fi shows next. Another big challenge while working on a comedy is to make it interesting from the start. “While the audience will give drama a chance, a comedy show is likely to be dismissed if people don’t like it in the first 10 minutes,” says Aneja.
Mamla Legal Hai’s first season ends on a high note even though Tyagi doesn’t win the elections. The final sequence was not easy to pull off and the writers reworked it multiple times. “The intention was to create a high as well as give Tyagi and other key characters an arc,” says Aneja. Even though the show has been well received, there have been criticisms about the slow pace in a few episodes while some did not find it quite hilarious. “We are open to criticism. We weren’t expecting such a warm response. We didn’t know whether this tone and treatment would work. However, all’s well that ends well. More importantly, a good ending leaves a nice aftertaste,” says Saxena.
