Release Date: 10 February 2017
Producer: Fox Star Studios
Director: Subhash Kapoor
Cast: Saurabh Shukla, Annu Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Huma
Qureshi
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Jolly LLB 2 is a good movie with an inspiring tale, using
star power to fulfill commercial needs.
This sequel of Jolly LLB, noticeably superior to the first,
brings back the joys of watching a movie with a better plot, a strong sense of
time and place and rhythm, and a confidence in itself that has been missing
from the Hindi Film Industry. Yes, there are a few pros and cons, but in general,
this Akshay Kumar-starrer is a winner.
There is an actual world outside film courtrooms where a
common man can’t distinguish between a corrupt judicial system and a dishonest
police administration. And this world comes charging at you before you can look
away. Add a few bullets and some dark humour and you get Jolly LLB 2, the
second movie in the Jolly LLB (2013) franchise.
Kanpur’s Jagdishwar Mishra aka Jolly (Akshay Kumar)
practices in the “Lucknow high court” and wants to own a chamber. His father
has been a stenographer for a top lawyer for years, and that makes Jolly his
natural successor. However, this is how he gets treated at work. His boss sends
him to buy vegetables and he is also supposed to help arrange a domestic party.
He is whatever but a self-respecting lawyer.
He isn’t the only odd character around though. Justice
Sunderlal Tripathi (Saurabh Shukla) has undergone a bypass surgery, and he has
to dance at his daughter’s marriage. Guess what? He practices his steps inside
the court.
Time has hardened Pramod Mathur (Annu Kapoor), Jolly’s archrival
and a prolific lawyer in the city. He isn’t scared of even fighting the judge an
interesting departure from the original where nobody risked to insult justice
Tripathi at the Delhi high court.
Jolly could have avoided falling prey to such a system, but
he has taken the onus of getting the justice delivered in a fake encounter case
in which inspector Suryaveer Singh (Kumud Mishra) is the prime suspect.
But you also know that this Jolly will see the path of truth
sooner vs later, and set out to slap the bad guys into submission. Not with the
kind of kicks and slaps that we’ve got used to from Akshay’s actioners, but the
sort of colourful oral sparring that lawyers engage in, dotted with some funny
throwaway lines which the star generously shares with his terrific co-stars, particularly
Saurabh Shukla and Annu Kapoor.
Numerous scenes of the film remind the spectator of those
legal satire shows where the judicial system looks like a big, dark joke.
Mostly the joke is on Jolly, and sometimes it’s on us. We somehow know that
there’s no escaping the wrath of overworked judges and a broken system. But
Jolly needs to find loopholes in the system to keep his hopes afloat.
This is where the screenplay decides to do away with the good
research done by the film’s team. It starts to appear like a mix of many movies.
If the judge looks inspired from And Justice For All’s John Forsythe, Jolly
himself seems to be taking a cue from Arshad Warsi’s much-loved act in the
first movie.
Also, the film appears confused between a satire and a
thriller. The most effective scenes are cut short to pave way for action
scenes. This way the pace is maintained, but the theme is overlooked.
It’s only in the second half that Jolly LLB 2 comes back to
a lengthy courtroom battle and gives its actors a chance to rise and shine.
Here, Annu Kapoor gives Akshay Kumar a solid run for his money. Over-emphasis
on melodrama hampers a well thought-out central idea.
It’s the great support cast of Jolly LLB 2 that sustains the
momentum. If Saurabh Shukla is remarkably adorable as the tired judge then Huma
Qureshi effortlessly fits in the role of a Gucci-loving, wine-swigging
housewife. Kumud Mishra as the thoroughly bad cop is a nice change of image for
this amiable actor.
The friendly sarcasm between a Kanpur migrant and a Lucknow
lawyer are entertaining to watch. The difficulties faced by a Delhi judge in
Lucknow are tragically funny, particularly when lawyers call their friends and
local criminals to fist-fight on their behalf, inside the courtroom.
The use of local dialect sometimes looks forced and the movie
does away with the innocence of Jolly LLB (2013), in order to become a tearjerker.
The strategy doesn’t work.
But what works perfectly is the focus on real issues like
corruption, terrorism and under-pressure judges. Kapoor has tackled all these problems
with a great control. He has induced small, hilarious moments at crucial
junctures that work as perfect breathers. Thanks to his understanding of court
procedures, his characters look human and vulnerable unlike usual Bollywood movies
where the hero plays the victim and the judge.
Akshay Kumar guarantees that you keep smiling at regular
intervals. He makes you remember Warsi, but also adds his touch to Jolly.
Overlook some of the negligible flaws, it is a great entertainer.
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