“Hum ajkal ke neta hai, illegal kaam bhi legal tareeke se karte hain,” a young politician whispers to the female lawyer he has just upstaged in the court of law, in a scene from Disney+Hotstar’s Patna Shuklla. Meant as a polite poke, it’s an exchange that perfectly mirrors the tepid and sporadically intriguing nature of the film. This is not the harsh, grating clash between a criminal and an activist, but a considerably dialled down coming together of potent self-interests.
At the heart of the film is a woman with a point to prove. On the periphery, however, Patna Shuklla also captures the birth of the soft-liner, the youthful, suave flagbearers of a savvy new form of political discourse. The kind that interprets youthfulness as virtue. Unfortunately, it’s an aspect the film teases but never quite investigates. Patna Shuklla isn’t edge-of-the-seat storytelling, but it is a decent low-stakes dispute stolen by one of late Satish Kaushik’s last memorable roles.
Raveena Tandon plays Tanvi, a lawyer, struggling to make an impression in the corridors of the Patna court. She multitasks between holding together a chaotic household, a dependent father, a child who looks less than impressed with her efforts and a courtroom that throws embarrassingly little rope her way. The only other case we hear her argue, focuses on a piece of cloth that may or may not have been stolen by the tailor it was assigned to. “Apka hunar bhindi, tinda, tori, daalon mein hain...daleelon mein nahi,” Jha ji, the colourful court judge played by the late Kaushik tells Tanvi in a moment that pins to canvas of this film, the collage of expectations our protagonist must work past to find a way out. A young student, wronged by institutional rot, becomes the guiding light of this outward journey.
On face value, Patna Shuklla is a straightforward story about a woman’s struggle to alleviate the suffering of a fellow victim. The crux of the case is a fraudulent examination system, the kind that rewards destinations as opposed to endeavour. While cheating carries the inky stench of thievery, manipulating mark-sheets behind walled rooms reeks of institutional decay or the prevalence of an amoral foundation. It takes a school to cheat, but it takes a system to normalise and maybe even incorporate injustice.
Unfortunately, the nature of the case – a swapping of examination sheets and marks – feels far too lightweight to propel a film that must pit a woman against the world. It doesn’t help that a polite, insufferably calm politician played by the adequate Jatin Goswami takes the shape of the oppressor. In the pantheon of manipulative politicians portrayed by cinema, he is eerily soft and cooperative. He answers court summons with his presence, rarely speaks in the language of violence and conducts himself with aplomb in front of adversaries. At least in cinematic terms, he seems curiously modern but ultimately forgettable.
Directed by Vivek Budakoti, the roughly two-hour Patna Shuklla sports a decent cast, has a promising premise but struggles to inject any energy into its courtroom proceedings. On the one hand, you appreciate its candour and neighbourly gaze. But on the other, the missing prickliness, the absence of daunting and rising odds feel strangely amiss. Tanvi’s husband, for example, played by the dependable Manav Vij supports her with urgency, without so much so a nervy conversation.
Mental and financial constitutions are shaken but immediately overcome with gobsmacking ease and tenderness. Nothing shatters, so to speak. It’s like watching spirited warriors band together in anticipation as opposed to dread. This startling lack of self-doubt, anxiety or even practical considerations prevents a perfectly watchable squabble from becoming truly moving. Even the resolution at the end is a bit of a self-deprecating flex. Bereft of conviction, emotion and that one element that most courtroom dramas ought to summon as a matter of function – a rousing monologue.
Tandon’s return to the fold of acting has been a mixed bag. Unlike Karmma Calling (Disney+Hotstar), where she ably plays the shrewd but fragile matriarch of an elite family, here she must dress down to play the woman next door. And though Tandon is capable, as the somewhat clueless bird chasing a twig in the twilight of day, there is precious little about her performance that feels compelling.
Comparatively, Kaushik even in a smaller role, is as charming as he is woefully underexplored as the emblem of a profession that seems to accord power without tangible privilege. There is a lovely scene where he is embarrassed after being caught buying vegetables at a local market. It’s a great sequence, as the man who once consigned a woman to life in the kitchen, feels exposed doing something similar. Unfortunately, it’s the kind of narrative ingenuity that is missing from the broader graph of a film far too comfortable within the lanes of idea and intent.
Patna Shuklla is now streaming on Disney+Hotstar.
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