Court
Director: Chaitanya Tamhane Starring: Vivek Gomber, Vira Sathidar, Geetanjali Kulkarni. Run time: 116 mins | Recommended Certificate: 12A Language: Marathi with English subtitles | Year: 2014 | Country: India
Chaitanya Tamhane’s tightly scripted and confidently directed second feature is set around a single court case in a Maharashtran town. Within this seemingly simple courtroom drama, a subtle and fascinating exploration of state of the nation India, westernised versus revisionist traditionalist values is uncovered. The outcome is increasingly unsettling, even dangerous, as the seeming stability and order of the British Raj based court system, is pitted against a changing India. Tamhane’s fixed camera framing of tableaux-like scenes of the court and city streets, cleverly creates a sense of increasing unease in the viewer. An ageing, activist, folk singer is charged with inciting a sewerage worker to commit suicide by one of his ‘inflammatory’ songs. His defence lawyer, a westernised man defends the right’s of the artist, while the female Prosecutor states the singer, as the police have described him, is a threat to national security.
Director
Chaitanya Tamhane
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