2.5 Stars (out of 4)
A lawyer from a wealthy family learns that justice has a price in the courtroom drama System. The film’s politics are in the right place, but tonal incongruities hamper the storytelling.
System opens with a prisoner lamenting that he can’t afford the cost to appeal his unfair sentence, only to hang himself in the next shot. It’s a grim opening that sets the stage for a critique of the Indian justice system.
Then the action shifts to the main character: public prosecutor Neha Rajvansh (Sonakshi Sinha). She’s dropped off at court in an expensive Range Rover. She awkwardly gets ready for court in the stuffy public bathroom, accompanied by a goofy soundtrack of what I described as “Italian gondola” music in my notes. It’s an abrupt tonal shift coming on the heels of a man’s suicide.
Neha is a new prosecutor, and she’s outmatched in her case against a club owner suspected of dealing drugs. Her salvation comes via a run-in with the court’s stenographer, Sarkia (Jyothika). During litigation, we see Sarika mouthing the judge’s decisions before he announces them, so clearly she understands the law better than what her credentials imply. She gives Neha a hint about the case that helps the government secure a conviction, giving Neha her first courtroom victory.
This is important, because Neha’s father Ravi (director Ashutosh Gowariker) has promised her a spot at his prestigious law firm if she wins ten cases in a row. Neha’s brother Alok (Adinath Kothare) already works for their dad, and so does her boyfriend Akshay (Gaurav Pandey).
To get an edge, Neha hires Sarika for a secret side gig helping evaluate cases. Since Sarika is the main breadwinner for family, the conflict of interest is a risk, but she is desperate for money. Unlike Neha’s chauffeur-driven Range Rover, Sarika takes the train to work and walks home to the tiny apartment she shares with her teenage daughter and husband, who is paralyzed.
The partnership between the women opens Neha’s eyes to economic realities outside the posh mansion where she lives with her parents and brother. She’s never questioned how her father made his money or considered those within her social circle particularly cutthroat. She only realizes how ruthless well-funded defense lawyers can be when she has to face off against her father in court.
Neha’s naivete is somewhat surprising, but that may be a matter of casting. Sinha is nearly forty, which, if Neha is approximately the same age, is too old to not understand the biases within the legal system.
Neha’s character development and increasing social awareness are treated with a light tone that feels at odds with the dark nature of the crimes she’s prosecuting. Her busy pseudo-Venetian theme music doesn’t fit alongside cases of rape and murder. A scene of Neha and Sarika dancing at a club is out of place.
That said, Sinha nicely depicts Neha’s evolution into a lawyer who realizes the biases within the system. She and Alok have a moving conversation about the ways living in their father’s shadow warped their growth. Kothare is particularly good in that scene.
Sarika is the more complicated character of the two lead women. She’s a low-paid worker who understands the law as well as judges and lawyers. She’s a devoted wife who’s having an extramarital affair. Jyothika’s performance balances the different sides of her character and makes her sympathetic.
It’s admirable what director Ashwini Iyer Tiwari and her writing team set out to do in terms of messaging in System. They make a compelling case that many people are priced out of affording adequate legal representation, so, sometimes, they must turn to unsavory methods to receive a measure of fairness from an unfair system. The question it poses to its main character is this: is Neha brave enough to turn class traitor for the sake of justice?
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