'The Court' and its Reflection of Urban India

Debutant director Chaitanya Tamhane’s 2014 drama ‘Court’ essentially portrays the malaise of a modernizing urban India and its professional class. Set amidst the sprawling city of Mumbai, the movie revolves around the trial of Dalit activist Narayan Kamble. His case is fought by Vinay Vora, a young, affluent lawyer, and human rights champion, against the middle-aged public prosecutor Nutan. The hearing takes place in the court of veteran Judge Sadavarte, in the Sessions Court of Mumbai. As the case drags on, the movie takes us inside the personal lives of the two lawyers, and we play fly-on-the-wall while witnessing the functioning of professionals in an urban-middle-class society of a modernizing India.