Court (2014) - Chaitanya Tamhane

 

Chaitanya Tamhane, born in 1987, is an Indian film maker and screen writer for his deeply observational and socially relevant cinema.  His court (2014) is a Marathi-lanuage courtroom drama that dissects the flaws and absurdities of the Indian Judicial system.  'Court' deals with the trial of Narayan Kamble a folk singer and activist, who is arrested on charges of abetment to suicide after one sewer's death in a water logged manhole due to the negligence of safety measures.  One of his performance was allegedly considered that as the cause forced the sewer committed suicide, though it was an accidental death.  Thus, the 'Court' high lights the tedious bureaucratic nature of the legal process and the quiet oppression faced by marginalized communities.

The film 'Court' begins with Narayan Kamble's taking tuition class and then singing a folk song in a function, where he is arrested by the police.  Then we see the use of realistic portrayal of the rigidity of the legal system.  The defence lawyer Vinay Vora's sincere attempt of fighting for the oppressed is also revealed in the meeting where he talks about the ideological biases and the bureaucratic nature of the legal procedure.  That is why the marginalized communities are getting arrested in an another case immediately after getting bail from the earlier one.  Narayan Kamble and Vasudev, the dead sewer worker don't know each other. Actually, Vasudev didn't use mask and other safety measures on his cleaning the sewer.  So, it was an accident. But purposefully as he is an activist, he is linked to the crime.

The Public Prosecutor, in the trial effectively connects Narayan Kamble's being the vice president of one M.F.S party in 1976 and his going underground in a case in her argument with his provoking songs that made Vasudev commit suicide.  But Vinay Vora proves the court through the words of Sharmila the wife of dead Vasudev that he used to drink alcohol while doing duty and never used any safety measures while cleaning the sewers. So, the judge Sadavarte grants him bail but on paying one lakh rupees as surety.  But Kamble is arrested again for arranging meeting with extremists, who threaten the national unity and integrity. The same judge denies bail as it is an UAPA case, a non-bailable one.  Though Vinay Vora mentions about the age and health issues of Kamble, the judge rejects them.  The personal lives of the public prosecutor and the judge highlight the deep-seated prejudices and institutional apathy prevalent in India's legal system.  Thus 'Court' identifies the flaws in the legal system, needs a reform in it and becomes a social and political critique of contemporary India.

---Thulasidharan V