2.5 Stars (out of 4)
The earnest legal drama Patna Shuklla is elevated by an unexpected climax.
Raveena Tandon stars as Tanvi Shuklla, a lawyer who is more renowned for her homemade ladoos than her prowess as a litigator. She’s happily married to government worker Siddharth (Manav Vij), and they have a cute young son, Sonu (Arijeet Kaurav). The biggest crisis in her life is when Sonu forgets his lunch and she has to chase down the school bus on her scooter.
Then a challenging case falls into Tanvi’s lap. College student Rinki (Anushka Kaushik) asks Tanvi to represent her in a case against Rinki’s university. The young woman is sure she passed her final exams, but the university says she failed. Rinki believes the school is lying, and that it has something to do with the fact that she and her father are poor. She wants the court to compel the university to investigate.
It’s a shock when superstar lawyer Neelkanth Mishra (Chandan Roy Sanyal) shows up in court to represent the university for a seemingly small administrative matter. His presence alone seems to confirm Rinki’s suspicions that there’s something fishy going on.
Soon enough, Tanvi is pressured by political scion Raghubir Singh (Jatin Goswami), who was part of Rinki’s graduating class and is about to run for office himself. But threats only steel the resolve of the two women fighting for justice.
The tone of the film, especially at the start, is very light — almost sitcom-esque. There’s a goofy vibe as neighbors demand Tanvi’s attention while she’s trying to get Sonu ready for school, hence her having to chase the bus with his lunch. Characters directly address their feelings, and there’s little subtext in the film. The story’s conclusion is unexpected, but the film’s straight-forward delivery never changes. What you see is what you get.
One of the most interesting aspects of the story is the assumption that corruption is present in every part of society. That even people of humble means find it more expedient to bribe someone to solve a problem of their own making than to wait and try again on the up-and-up. Tanvi rightly points out that admitting her own transgressions doesn’t absolve others of theirs, but it’s a curious thought experiment as to what constitutes fairness when everyone cheats.
Raveena Tandon and Anushka Kaushik carry the film and do a competent job doing so. It would have been fun if Chandan Roy Sanyal’s rival lawyer character had a bit more to do.
The late Satish Kaushik plays the judge overseeing the trial. He’s a man of peculiar mannerisms — he only walks in straight lines, for example. His quirks feel overwritten at first, but they add weight to his conduct during closing arguments and the delivery of his final verdict. After the trial is over, a shot from Tanvi’s point of view watches him as he turns his back and walks away. It’s a bittersweet, meaningful farewell from co-directors Vivek Budakoti & Rajendra Tiwari and editor Vini N Raj.
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