From B.R Chopra’s ‘Kanoon’ (1960) to Subhash Kapoor’s ‘Jolly LLB’ (2013), the Hindi film industry has churned out a few well-made courtroom dramas. However, the volume of such films have been rather low. When a courtroom drama is made properly, it not only engages the viewer but also educates them several different aspects related to law. What makes one look forward to the Manoj Bajpayee starrer ‘Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai’, which has just dropped on Zee5, is the fact that it is a courtroom drama that has been inspired from real-life incidents.
As the film starts, the viewer is transported to the year 2013 when a 16-year-old girl named Nu Singh (Adrija Sinha), accompanied by her parents, visits a police station in Delhi to lodge a complaint. Nu states that she has been sexually assaulted by an influential godman (referred to in the film simply as ‘Baba’) at his ashram in Jodhpur. The Jodhpur police is informed about this incident and they immediately arrest Baba. Determined to get Baba punished for this heinous crime, Nu’s father (Jai Hind Kumar) hires a lawyer. However, he feels dejected when he learns that the lawyer has joined hands with Baba’s men and is willing to lose the case in exchange of money. When he informs the police about it, they advise him to get in touch with Poonam Chand Solanki/P C Solanki (Manoj Bajpayee), a righteous lawyer who is an expert on cases like these.
The film leaves the maximum impact when you see PC Solanki in the courtroom fighting for justice. Writer Deepak Kingrani and story researcher Vijay Chaturvedi have done a lot of research on the case on which the film is based on and it shows. The dialogues, written by Deepak Kingrani, deliver a punch and one of the highlights of the film.
The film is a little over two hours and one of its biggest strengths is that it keeps you consistently engaged throughout its duration. While there are no dull moments as such, the narrative does gets predictable at times. Many of the non-courtroom scenes, in fact, do not leave much of an impact. Unlike many other courtroom dramas that show characters as black and white, the film offers a refreshing take on the kind of equation two opposing lawyers share. Despite resorting to clichéd plot points at times, the film manages to stay rooted in reality.
One runs out of adjectives trying to describe Manoj Bajpayee’s performance. The actor has never been out of form and his performance in this film is one of the best one has witnessed in recent times. Adrija Singh performs very well. As advocate Pramod Sharma, Vipin Sharma gets the opportunity to flex his acting muscles and the actor doesn’t disappoint at all. Jai Hind Kumar leaves an impact as Nu’s father. Despite making a brief appearance, Abhijit Lahiri delivers a memorable performance as Ram Chandvani. The same can be said about Archana Dani.
‘Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai’ is one of the better courtroom dramas to have come out of the Hindi film industry in the recent past. Despite some issues, the film manages to engage and enlighten in equal measures. If not for anything, watch it for an incredible performance delivered by one of the finest talents we have today.