Jolly LLB 3

When the invisible claws of censorship begin to throttle creativity, filmmakers either conform or subvert. This week, Subhash Kapoor, who has mastered the art of sugar coating the bitter pill with satire, rewinds to the farmer agitation against land acquisition in Greater Noida’s Bhatta Parsaul in 2011 that changed the course of discourse of politics of development to drive his Jolly LLB franchise forward. Kapoor relocates the source of the story from Uttar Pradesh to Rajasthan, but its soul echoes with the farmer’s distress across the region. Here is a film that puts the farmer at the centre of the narrative; here is a story that prioritises the spirit of the law over its letter, delivering a message that underscores the need for an equitable distribution of wealth.

Are two Jollys better than one? In Subhash Kapoor’s latest film Jolly LLB 3 the maker brings actors Arshad Warsi and Akshay Kumar together for a courtroom dramedy. Both Arjsad and Akshay have played Jolly LLB in the previous two films, and the fact that Kapoor has managed to bring the two together in the sequel is perhaps the biggest draw of this film. There are fans (like me) who loved Jolly LLB with Arshad Warsi in the lead. An honest, genuine issue-based film - it had surprised me pleasantly when it was released. Kumar’s take in the sequel was more commercial, featuring the actor’s usual theatrics and some dance numbers. It obviously had its fan base. So, to bring the two characters for the third part and tell a story effectively is a great feat for the makers.

The weak-spined rivalry between Jagdish Tyagi (Arshad Warsi) and “client-chor” Jagdishwar Mishra (Akshay Kumar) evokes barely a smile. The ‘you-take-her’ volleying between them when a penniless Janki Amma (Seema Biswas) comes to them to file a petition against land-grabbing industrialist Haribhai Khaitan (Gajraj Rao) has no humour. Mishra’s banter with wife Pushpa (Huma Qureshi) which had such a spark in 2017 has fizzled out in the intervening years. The gymming, the dating app antics and tearing his hair in the courtroom don’t make Judge Sunder Lal Tripathi (Saurav Shukla) endearing at any point. A Valentine’s Day outing with lady cop Chanchal Chautala (Shilpa Shukla) might’ve been funny if it had ended with Judge Tripathi getting a long bill. But writer-director Subhash Kapoor must stretch it and explain that the Jollys had ‘topi pehnaoed’ him.

Jolly LLB 3 has two Jollys, Jagdishwar Mishra (Akshay Kumar) and Jagdish Tyagi (Arshad Warsi), for the price of one, facing off in and out of a Delhi court. Their initial rivalry, spread over the first half, predictably rolls over into the two joining hands against the victims of a huge land fraud perpetrated by greedy land-grabbers, and their partners.