What Is the Story About?
Disney Plus Hotstar’s latest Indian original show ‘The Trial’ is the official Indian remake of US show, The Good Wife.
Ace lawyer turned homemaker Noyonika Sengupta (Kajol) is compelled to take up the job of a junior lawyer in her college friend Vishal Choubey’s (Alyy Khan) legal firm, after her judge husband Rajeev (Jisshu Sengupta) is incarcerated in a sex scandal. As she returns to law after a gap of 13 years, she must stave off the firm’s cynical co-owner Malini Khanna (Sheeba Chaddha), her competitor at work, Dhiraj Paswan (Gaurav Pandey), and other pressing issues, to make a success of her renewed law career.
The Trial is written by Hussain Dalal, Abbas Dalal and Siddharth Kumar; and directed by Suparn Verma.
Performances?
Kajol is good in her role of a mother, compelled to return to work for the sake of her children. The Trial is not her best work by any means, but her screen presence sails her through. It’s a joy to watch Alyy Khan back on Indian screens after a long time, and the actor does ample justice to his comeback role. He’s easily the best of the lot in the series.
Sheeba Chadha is curiously insipid in her role, through no fault of hers, though. She’s saddled with a one-note character that lacks nuance and personality. The versatile actress is utterly wasted in the poorly-etched out role. Kubbra Sait has delivered a decent turn as the law firm’s principal trouble-shooter cum fixer. Jisshu Sengupta is average, as are Gaurav Pandey and Aamir Ali. Kiran Kumar is miscast in a downright caricaturish character.
Analysis
The core premise of The Trial is solid, which is a given, considering that it’s a remake of a well-loved American show. But it begins to falter, the minute it brings its own plot elements into the narrative — which is right from the first episode, and the first case that Noyonika Sengupta handles. The writers of The Trial have tried to be creative and written new legal cases for the series, which are quite different from the original. Unfortunately, they are so mediocre and simplistic that one wonders at the writers’ lack of ingenuity and imagination.
The series starts off on a shaky note, with a less than interesting first episode. The pilot episode sets up the characters and their traits in a boring and contrived manner. Each character seems to have been created to tick off a checklist of pre-conceived personality traits – orthodox interfering mother-in-law (Beena); angsty cop (Aamir Ali); chain-smoking, prejudiced legal eagle (Sheeba Chadha); slimy corporator (Rituraj Singh); sly fixer for the rich and famous (Aseem Hattangady); badass hustler (Kubbra Sait), and so on.
Yet, the makers invest no effort or time to endear these characters to the audience – not even Kajol’s. Not once do we root for or feel anything for them or their concerns. Also, there’s zero thrill or suspense in the story to keep the viewer engaged or hooked to the narrative. Cases come up, only to be solved quickly, with minimum effort. The supporting cast is outright bad. The actors chosen for the protagonists in each case are pathetic – the school kid accused of murder; the cricketer’s lover, the nurse – poor actors, all of them.
The writing of The Trial is also a problem – it is laughably amateurish, with yawn-inducing predictability and run-of-the-mill plot devices. Added to that is the unremarkable storytelling. It lacks chutzpah and panache, leading to a series that is utterly devoid of sizzle and spark. The dialogues are clunky and cringey, and seem as if they’ve been lifted from cheesy WhatsApp forwards sent on ladies’ kitty party groups.
To sum it up, The Trial is a shoddy remake of the original, one that is only interested in stitching together a jarringly inorganic narrative that is barely any fun to watch. Watch it for Kajol, or skip it altogether.
Music and Other Departments?
Siddharth and Sangeet Haldipur’s background music is too loud, obnoxious and in-your-face. A little bit of subtlety is the need of the day, guys. Ninad Khanolkar’s editing just about passes muster. Manoj Soni’s cinematography is pedestrian and unimaginative.
Highlights?
None
Drawbacks?
Shoddy writing
Mediocre storytelling
Bad supporting cast
Lacks suspense or thrill
Did I Enjoy It?
No
Will You Recommend It?
No
The Trial Series Review by Binged Bureau
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
