Criminal Justice (Web Series)-2019

Introduction 

Based on the 2008 British television series of the same name, Criminal Justice is an Indian Hindi-language crime thriller legal drama web series on Hotstar Specials. The plot explores the lives of people as they endure heartbreaking journeys through the criminal justice system with Vashisht in the key parts.

On 5 April 2019, Criminal Justice was shown on Hotstar. Critics gave it a favourable review, praising Pankaj Tripathi, Vikrant Massey, and Jackie Shroff's portrayals of the three main characters. The second season of the series, Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, was released on 24 December 2020, while the third season, Criminal Justice: Adhura Sach, debuted on Disney+ Hotstar on 26 August 2022.

Table of contents

• Details

• Story

• Release Date and OTT Platform

• Reviews

• Cast

• Crew

• Behind the Scenes

• Awards

• Interesting facts

Details 

Story

Play

Criminal Justice is a web series that delves into the criminal justice system and the inner workings of the courts, prisons, and law enforcement agencies. The show follows the story of a young man, who is falsely accused of murder and must navigate the complex and often corrupt system in order to clear his name. Along the way, he is aided by a defence attorney, who is determined to uncover the truth and fight for her client's innocence. 

The series explores themes of injustice, corruption, and the human cost of the criminal justice system. Through its intense and emotional storytelling, Criminal Justice aims to shed light on the realities of the criminal justice system and its impact on the lives of those caught within it.

Release Date and OTT Platform

An Indian Hindi-language crime thriller legal drama web series called Criminal Justice is available on Hotstar Specials. On 5 April 2019, Criminal Justice was shown on Hotstar. Critics gave it a favourable review, praising Tripathi, Massey, and Shroff's portrayals of the three main characters.

The second season of Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, debuted on Disney+ Hotstar on December 24, 2020. The series was made available on Disney+ Hotstar in the following languages: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, and Marathi. The third season of Criminal Justice: Adhura Sach debuted on Disney+ Hotstar on August 26, 2022. The murder of a young celebrity is followed.

Reviews

Criminal Justice is a wonderful thriller that challenges your thinking and uncovers some incredibly complex psychological issues. Pankaj Tripathi is impressive and effortless. It's also fantastic to see Vikrant Massey play the innocent young man who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Last but not least, Jackey Shroff has also played the multi-layered character of Mustafa, the don of the jail, rather masterfully. The other actors have all done their parts justice.

Criminal Justice guides us through a succession of incidents that occurs during remand, judicial custody, and hearings, wrote Archika Khurana of The Times of India, awarding the film three and a half out of five stars. Criminal Justice works because of the tale and its two primary characters, according to Sanjukta Sharma of Scroll. in.

According to Sana Farzeen, who writes for The Indian Express, As a young lad who finds himself in an extremely dangerous circumstance out of the blue, Vikrant Massey stands out. Once again, Pankaj Tripathi excels at a character's dry humour, making you chuckle at his clever words. Reviewer Udita Jhunjhunwala of The Quint says Saraswat, Rucha Inamdar, and Gaurav Dwivedi in the supporting cast play Aditya's sister, brother-in-law, and deceased daughter.

Cast 

• Pankaj Tripathi as Madhav Mishra

• Jackie Shroff as Mustafa

• Anupriya Goenka as Nikhat Hussain

• Mita Vashisht as Mandira Mathur

• Rucha Inamdar as Avni Parashar

• Gaurang Dwivedi as Gautam Parashar

• Annapurna Vitthal Bhairi as Sujata Sharma

• Ninad Kamat as Sunil Bhandarkar

• Rituraj Singh as Dr. Naresh Lakhani

• Tuhinaa Vohra as Kanika Lakhani

• Madhurima Roy as Sanaya Rath

• Sanjay Gurbaxani as Rustom Barucha

• Gayatri Gauri as Ronjana

• Pankaj Saraswat as ACP Raghu Salian

• Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Layak Talukder

• Raaj Gopal Iyer as Constable Namdeo Jadhav

• Komal Chhabriya as Rukhsana Hussain

• Dhiraj Totlani as Jimmy D’souza

• Rukhsana Behruzi as Justice Smita Thakur

Crew

In order to translate The Office and Criminal Justice for Indian viewers, BBC Studios and Sameer Nair, CEO of Aditya Birla Group's entertainment firm Applause Entertainment, worked together in January 2018. Sameer and Shridhar Raghavan in collaboration wrote the screenplay and dialogue for the Hindi adaption. Pankaj Tripathi, Vikrant Massey, and Jackie Shroff were cast as the series' crucial characters, while Tigmanshu Dhulia was revealed as its director in April 2018. This was Dhulia's digital debut. Jackie Shroff made his debut on a digital platform at the same time. Filming for the series' main episodes took place largely in Mumbai from April 28 until January 2019. The co-directing credits go to Vishal Furia.

Character Analysis

Aditya Sharma

Aditya Sharma, portrayed by actor Vikrant Massey, is a complex character with a range of emotions and motivations. He is initially portrayed as a carefree and irresponsible college student, but as the series progresses, he is forced to confront the harsh realities of the criminal justice system and the impact it has on his life. Aditya's portrayal is realistic, and the audience can relate to the struggles he faces, making him a sympathetic character. He also changes a lot through the series, as he is more mature, responsible, and has a more clear sense of right and wrong.

Madhav Mishra 

A notoriously dishonest and self-serving attorney, Madhav Mishra (Pankaj Tripathi) is known in his group as someone who cannot be trusted. But by chance, he unintentionally becomes Aditya's defence council. As the savvy lawyer from the streets, Pankaj Tripathi excels. The eccentricities of his character provide some much-needed (comic) comfort in this otherwise tense drama set in a prison.

Nikhat

Together with Madhav, Mandira's tenacious aide Nikhat (Anupriya Goenka) attempts to prevent Aditya's case from disintegrating with some convincing evidence.

For Aditya, the prison is a completely different world. Along with struggling to comprehend the politics of jailhouse survival.

Behind the scenes

PlayRohan Sippy and Arjun Mukerjee discussed the process behind creating Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors. Continuing with Pankaj Tripathi's portrayal of Madhav Mishra,

I believe that the cast is fantastic, Rohan Sippy said. The decision to continue the character that Pankaj Tripathi is portraying, which was not the case in the original British programme, was one of the most creative choices ever made. But in this case, we chose to keep doing that, and I believe that having him at the show's centre is one of its strengths.

Speaking with real-life lawyers for research, A lawyer interview was conducted both before and after the writers of the show began working on it, according to Rohan Sippy. To ensure that the nuances are accurate and to study the legal side so we can enhance the drama in the show, lawyers also oversee dialogues. This was crucial since the original show's setting—the British legal system, which included a jury—had to be significantly altered because we don't have that system here. Apurva and the creative team handled that difficult portion of the process admirably.

The whole season was filmed in two months. Total shooting days for the season were somewhere between 60 and 70 days, Rohan Sippy continued. We filmed in three separate places: the women's prison, the police station, which is a staple of any crime drama, and Anu Chandra's home, where she lives with her family. However, when filming this series, our only goal was to portray how a woman from her wealthy and affluent world is suddenly thrust into a hostile and foreign prison. 

Awards 

Interesting Facts

• The series was later adapted into an American version, which premiered on HBO in 2019, and was titled The Night Of.

• The series has been praised for its realistic portrayal of the criminal justice system, including the intense psychological pressure on defendants, their families, and the lawyers and police officers involved in the case.

• The series has been critically acclaimed for its performances, particularly those of Ben Whishaw and Maxine Peake, who have both received BAFTA nominations for their roles in the series.

• The series has also been credited with raising public awareness about issues related to the criminal justice system such as wrongful convictions, and the treatment of defendants with mental health issues

• The show has won many awards, including the BAFTA Television Award for Best Mini-Series, it is widely considered to be one of the most powerful and thought-provoking crime dramas of recent years.