Janaki V vs State of Kerala

Nothing enlivens courtroom dramas than fiery arguments, which open new pathways into our understanding of a case. In Janaki V Vs State of Kerala, celebrated advocate David Abel Donovan (Suresh Gopi)‘s arguments are full of fire. Still, a significant portion of them are so irrelevant that they would fit more in a loud television debate than in a courtroom. He is the kind of person who would talk about cheese when he is supposed to argue about chalk. So, it is no wonder that he would go on a long diatribe against the State’s developmental projects when he is arguing in court in a case related to sexual assault, or that he would ask a rape victim whether she watches porn and how often. The opening credit sequences of the film hint at this behaviour with news clippings of his various press statements on a host of issues, all of which reveal a lawyer who is more active outside the court than inside. Janaki V Vs State of Kerala, which arrives in theatres with an extra ‘V’ thanks to the diktats of the censors, is caught between the need to tell a sensitive story and projecting the superhero aura of the actor playing the advocate. Debutant director Praveen Narayanan, who has also written the film, struggles on both counts.