Tag Archives: Umesh Shukla

Best Court room drama films (10+1list)

Best Court room drama films.

written by Souranath Banerjee

Back in 1928 director Carl Theodor Dreyer made an epic film The Passion of Joan of Arc and although the movie was unique in many other aspects but it was also probably the first ever cinema to showcase the dramatization inside a court room.

And since then, there has been several brilliant contributions made to the ‘courtroom drama’ genre.

The Judge, the jury, the lawyer, the accused and the witnesses. Guilty or Not guilty?

Sometimes the primary focus is on the lawyer’s intellect and determination while other films deal more with the accused or the suspense of the final verdict. 

The list below consists of some of the best Courtroom drama films ever made.

So, Order! Order!

10. 12 Angry Men (1957)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7CBKT0PWFA

12-angry-men-posterWhen you say ‘courtroom drama’, the first film that comes to your mind is this one, and why not?

An epic film directed by Sidney Lumet featuring a murder trail where 12 jury members have to come to a decision unanimously.

Almost shot inside a single room, 12 characters and their unique approach to the case. Henry Fonda‘s best role.

Another brilliant film by the same director on this genre is The Verdict (1982). A must watch.

9. The Paradine Case (1947)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGt4VvcSfjU

pardine-case-posterNot one of his best suspense thrillers, but nevertheless Alfred Hitchcock‘s contribution to the courtroom drama genre.

A lawyer risks his own marriage and reputation as he falls for the beautiful female client accused of murdering her own husband!

Gregory PeckAnn ToddCharles Laughton and Oscar nominated Ethel Barrymore all at their best.

8. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsVN1hv9D5c

witness-prosecution-posterThis time it’s director Billy Wilder who joins the courtroom drama.

Brilliant performances by Tyrone PowerMarlene DietrichCharles Laughton

The film’s suspense is so vital that the audience before entering the hall had to sign, cards that read, ‘I solemnly swear I will not reveal the ending of Witness for the Prosecution.’! 

7. Primal Fear (1996)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnmTi7hSjrA

primal-fear-posterA priest murdered and an alter boy is accused for killing him. But the real truth is not what it seems to be.

Directed by Gregory Hoblit, this one is a superb drama with some pretty unexpected twists.

Richard Gere and Laura Linney give awesome performances but the one to look for in the film is Edward Norton, a star was born.

Another cool film by the same director on this genre is Fracture (2007). A good watch.

6. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfOgZXIQ6fo

Judgment-Nuremberg-posterFour Nazi judges are to be judged for their war crimes, but before the cold-war people are willing to forget the past very easily.

Director Stanley Kramer creates this terrific American courtroom in occupied Germany of 1948 and tells the intense tale of judgement. 

Probably the film of most historical significance in this list.

Another awesome film by the same director on this genre is Inherit the Wind (1960)

5. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAVLvGP25uQ

Anatomy-Murder-posterCan temporary insanity be the reason for committing murder?

My favorite actor James Stewart gives a great performance along with Lee Remick and Ben Gazzara.

Directed by Otto Preminger, there was controversy because the film uses words like ‘bitch’, ‘contraceptive’, ‘panties’, ‘penetration’, ‘rape, ‘slut’ and ‘sperm’ for the first time on screen!

4. Philadelphia (1993)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4B9AU45P4

philadelphia-posterTom HanksDenzel WashingtonRoberta Maxwell all together in this superb drama.

A lawyer takes the case of a man who press charges on his employee on the ground that he was fired just because he had AIDS.

Directed by Jonathan Demme, this is one remarkable film based on a true incident.

3. …And Justice for All. (1979)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQzYNoLANrg

And-Justice-All-poster‘You’re out of order! The whole trial is out of order! They’re out of order!’

One of Al Pacino‘s classics, a film that is intense and indeed makes you doubt the true meaning of justice.

A lawyer is forced to defend a judge who seems to be guilty.

Directed by Norman Jewison, one of the best court drama ever made. 

2. The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFwE3UgCMIk

Lincoln-Lawyer-posterA wealthy client, a talented defense lawyer with a conscience and then there is a full proof plan to beat the system!

Matthew McConaughey at his best as usual along with Marisa Tomei and Ryan Phillippe.

Directed by Brad Furman this one is one of the best court dramas of recent times.

  1. A Few Good Men (1992)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePo91pMcu94

few-good-men-posterDirected by master director Rob Reiner, this film has one thrilling court drama.

A Navy lawyer determined to defend two Marines who have been accused of murdering a colleague. But things doesn’t look as simple as they are.

Great performances by Tom CruiseJack NicholsonDemi MooreKevin Bacon – you can’t miss this one.

and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most unique one. A must watch).

+1. OMG: Oh My God! (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nUwpoTrWFk

OMG-Oh-My-God-PosterAn earthquake destroys an atheist shopkeeper’s shop and so he takes God to the courtroom.

Directed by Umesh Shukla, a film that is so innovative and probably the only film that so aptly deals with commercialization of religion in our current social scenario.

Akshay KumarParesh Rawal and Mithun Chakraborty – couldn’t have been better on the performance basis. 

Poster courtesy: www.impawards.comhttp://www.koimoi.com and www.bollywoodmdb.com.

PK or Boycott PK – that is the question?

PK or Boycott PK – is that really a question?

written by Souranath Banerjee.

I originally planned to write a review on PK (the latest Aamir Khan, Rajkumar Hirani blockbuster), a light-hearted comedy with an important social message; though i felt the same message was conveyed in a much better way in Umesh Shukla‘s OMG: Oh My God! a couple of years back.

Then again i liked PK and especially Amir Khan’s exceptional performance.

But to my surprise i stumbled upon the fact that some people recently took the social media with the sole intention to convince others to boycott the film!

On Twitter and Facebook, the hashtag, #BoycottPK is used for such propaganda. They are the so called ‘Hindu fundamentalists‘ who are crying foul about the “portrayal of Hindus” in the film; some of them even accused PK of promoting ‘love-jihad’!

According to these religious guardians of our society the film PK insults Hindus and Hinduism. They also claim that just because the other communities – the Muslims and Christians are generally more aggressive in their forms of protest – the Hindus are repeatedly made the soft target of such religious slanders.

It is also blamed that Lord Shiva is specifically being insulted in the film as referring to the comic sequence where a man dressed as Lord Shiva is worshipped and also being chased by the character PK as he mistook this man to be the real God himself.

Then again some others point out that a blooming love story between an Indian girl and a Pakistani boy (as shown in the film) is spreading a wrong message and probably even encouraging Love Jihad!

FIR has been launched against the team of ‘PK’, against the lead actor, director and the producers. A plea to ban PK on the grounds of religious sentiments being hurt and picturing nudity was also being made which was very recently rejected by the Supreme Court.

Wow! Is this really happening?

Though such accusations and allegations are both surprising and irritating but still one should listen to their perspective as well (or else down the line we will be called the next fanatics). After all, in our free, secular, democratic country everyone is entitled to state their own opinion and are allowed to voice their grudges and views no matter how doltish they may sound.

For me a film should firstly be treated only as a form of entertainment. And the huge box office collection (more than 50 crore in the first weekend) simply proves that PK is VERY much entertaining.

Then again as many good films often does, PK highlights some social issues, especially the corrupted ‘business-side’ of all the religions, and attempts to unmask the con God-men or ‘dongibabas’ (unfortunately to be found in every religion) who exploit innocent people both financially and emotionally. PK emphasizes that we should love and protect our one and only creator, our God and not our individual religions.

And the good thing about PK is that it’s not at all preachy, the film offers a comical take on these serious issues of our society and still has a huge impact on the audience.

It is such an irony that a film like PK with a strong message against religious biasses should fall prey to such bigoted religious controversies.

As a sensibly religious guy who also likes to watch films, I humbly request the people (with accusation lists) to please watch the film again but this time with a broader mindset.

I am sure these accusers, at least many of them are not really ‘religious fanatics’ as many newspapers and news articles tag them to be. I think they are simply sensitive people who are soft in their hearts as well as in their heads.

In the style of Rajkumar Hirani‘s earlier films they all need ‘jaddu-ki-jhappis’ and ‘thank you’ cards tagged with colorful flowers.

Let us all remember that God is above all religions and all we can ever do is pray for peace and harmony; and keep watching films of course.

P.S. – Did you guys take into account the free additional publicity PK is getting from these ‘BoycottPK’ groups ?! (just a thought).

 

A few articles which consist of the various tweets that both accuses and supports the film and the supreme court verdict:

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/aamir-khan-pk-anti-hindu-rajkumar-hirani-twitter-boycottpk-wesupportpk/1/408199.html

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/supreme-court-rejects-plea-to-ban-aamir-s-pk-says-just-don-t-watch-it-575874

Best of Bollywood 2012 and 2013 (10+1 list)

Best of Bollywood 2012 and 2013

written by Souranath Banerjee

Best of Bollywood 2012 and 2013 is the list of some of my most favorite Hindi films (in Hindi language) in the recent times.

Kind of a flashback of the last two years and if you have missed any of these films (though i very much doubt it) no need to feel guilty. Watch them as soon as possible and you will be forgiven.

This list is especially for my friends who are foreign based or foreign to Bollywood films and many a times ask me to suggest some meaningful Bollywood cinema … well, this list is all you need.

10. Kai po che! (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdXD5YIEhuA

Kai Po Che poster

Very rarely it happens that a film turns out to be better than the book it’s based on.

Rajkummar Rao, Sushant Singh Rajput and Amit Sadh have given their best performances – after ‘Rock on’ this is again a great film by director Abhishek Kapoor.

A story of friends and friendship beautifully told.

9. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3PZbL8JGYQ

gangs of wasseypur poster

Anurag Kashyap at his best, Gangs of Wassypur is an epic story of violence between two families.

A raw desi masala tale of revenge and betrayal that takes three generations to come to a resolution.

Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Piyush Mishra … entertainment unlimited.

8. Paan Singh Tomar (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT–NbNqiHE

paan singh tomar poster

A biographical drama on the life of the famous Indian athlete Paan Singh Tomar who turned into a decoit in his later days.

The film won that years’s National Award in the ‘Best Feature Film’ category and Irfan khan won the National Award for the ‘Best Actor’.

Tigmanshu Dhulia gives us probably the most unique and brilliant film of the year 2012.

7. Shanghai (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNbGmjD2_qQ

shanghai posterThe best political thriller of Bollywood till date.

A remake of the Greek director Costa-Gavras’s political drama ‘Z’ or rather adopted from the same novel written by Vasilis Vasilikos Shanghai keeps up to it’s promise.

Yet another feather on Dibakar Banerjee’s cap – superb performances by Abhay Deol and Emraan Hashmi.

6. Kahaani (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1wEeuAosNM

kahaani poster

Kahaani which literally means ‘story’ is indeed one of the best mystery stories of that year told by director Sujoy Ghosh.

Vidya Balan, the helpless pregnant lady desperately searching for her husband in Kolkata – a search that gets too dangerous and ends with a twist to remember.

If you haven’t seen this film yet you are missing something.

5. The Lunchbox (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK3R0rvnlPs

The LunchBox poster

Arguably the perfect choice for the Oscars from India last year (though the Gujarati film Good Road was sent instead).

A terrific film – simple yet crisp and full of soul.

Top rated performances by Irfan khan, Nawazuddin Sidiqui and Nimrat Kaur – what an extraordinary debut film by Ritesh Batra!

4. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u71swQ4ksgI

bhag milkha bhag poster

Another biographical film adds to this list – Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s take on one of India’s all time legend athlete Milkha Singh.

A brilliant film that received the national award for ‘Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment’.

Farhan Akhtar bagged almost all the popular awards as the Best Actor – splendid performance.

3. Barfi! (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ijur-W6vW8

Barfi poster

Barfi! was the film India sent to the Oscars in 2012.

Salute to the director Anurag Basu for such wonderful concept and direction.

Ranbir Kappor and Priyanka Chopra have given their performances till date.

A fun filled film that will make you laugh and cry at the same time.

2. OMG: Oh My God! (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nUwpoTrWFk

Oh My God Poster

In such a religiously frantic country like India you have to give credit to the film that raises its voice against religious corruption and that too in such an entertaining manner.

A common man who dares to take God to the court room!

Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar’s superb performance and Umesh Shukla’s direction – a real OMG film in a good way.

1. Shahid (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p8LyAte-M8

shahid poster

You can guess a film’s worth when that film has won National Awards in both ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Actor’ category.

Very recently saw the film and i was a spellbound.

Hansal Mehta has evolved into a fine director and Rajkummar Rao – what natural acting man!

Watch it. You won’t regret.

and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most innovative one. A must watch).

+1. Ship of Theseus (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5JW92zk32s

ship of theseus poster

Won the National Award for Best Feature Film – this film is truly an unique experience.

Three different stories brilliantly woven into one, arty and matured, intelligent and honest.

Anand Gandhi has paved a new path to sophisticated cinema and raised the bars for the other film-makers.

The success of this particular film proved that the so called Bollywood-audience only craving for hard-core commercial masala films is only a myth. Lets hope and wish for a better future of Bollywood in the coming years!

Poster courtesy: www.imdb.com.