Court

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
I was surprised by my urge to explore the Indian judiciary. After all, so much has been done and said in the genre of courtroom dramas. But when I attended a nondescript lower court in suburban Mumbai, the sheer lack of drama, and the casualness with which life and death decisions were being made, was what sparked my imagination.

Every face has a story of its own; the stenographer who disinterestedly types away all day, the peon who runs errands for a small bribe, the inarticulate lawyers reading out long, technical passages from outdated law books, the appellants who have probably spent years waiting for their case number to be called out. Amidst all this theatre, are the hopes and fears of ordinary people, who cling on to every word they can understand, as their fates are decided.

Although the film is set in very peculiar sub-cultures of Mumbai, the attempt is to explore the invisible fabric of a collective. The characters are constantly acting upon the invisible triggers of caste and class politics, patriarchy, and feudalism. The challenge for me was to lend dignity and humanity to these people, despite their flaws.

CAST
Narayan Kamble Vira Sathidar
Vinay Vora Vivek Gomber
Public Prosecutor Nutan Geetanjali Kulkarni
Judge Sadavarte Pradeep Joshi
Sharmila Pawar Usha Bane
Subodh Shirish Pawar

CREW
Writer & Director Chaitanya Tamhane
Producer Vivek Gomber
Cinematography Mrinal Desai
Editing Rikhav Desai
Music Sambhaji Bhagat
Production Design Pooja Talreja and Somnath Pal
Costume Design Sachin Lovalekar
Sound Design Anita Kushwaha and Amrit Pritam