'Court - State Vs. A Nobody' Movie Review: Priyadarshi and Sivaji Anchor an Impressive Courtroom Showdown

Director: Ram Jagadeesh
Writers: Ram Jagadeesh, Vamsidhar Sirigiri, Karthikeya Sreenivass
Cast: Priyadarshi Pulikonda, Sivaji, Harshavardhan, Harsh Roshan, Sri Devi, Rohini, Subhalekha Sudhakar, Sai Kumar
Language: Telugu

Ram Jagadeesh’s Court - State Vs. A Nobody runs on multiple objectives. The very first, as the title suggests, is the legal scenario in which a nobody or an underdog must clash with a mighty, potentially corrupt entity. A courtroom battle would also mean lawyers and the film includes another important narrative thread that sees the Defendant lawyer Surya Teja (Priyadarshi Pulikonda) come of age during the proceedings. There’s also a behind-the-scenes love story involving the alleged upper-class victim and her lower-class perpetrator and a case of sexual offence that brings the very sensitive POCSO Act to the fore. Jagadeesh attempts to straddle many intents at once and his ambition is admirable. But just as one fears, he manages to fully succeed in about half of all that he takes on, letting the same ambition get the better of him at other times.

What he does a great job with is tracing Teja’s endearing journey. The idea of casting Priyadarshi in the role of an advocate isn’t novel, yet it feels shrewd here, given the actor’s skill to effortlessly lend his dry humour a punch line-like quality. Teja is a bumbling, gifted young lawyer who has somehow remained on the sidelines despite many valiant attempts to score a case from his boss Mohan Rao (Sai Kumar, with a supremely 'comforting' performance). The former’s wide-eyedness often quickly makes way for hastiness because he is that desperate to make a mark so when a case of grave delicacy knocks on his door, he is compelled to rise to the occasion.

Jagadeesh infuses this portion with subtlety while also ensuring that Teja’s growth dramatically bolsters the story at large. Every time we see the novice lawyer in action, dispensing facts and drawing gasps from his opposition, we feel a surge of pride. This is largely due to the character's remarkable evolution over time (also how effectively Priyadarshi charts this course). Court - State Vs. A Nobody doesn’t shy away from incorporating theatrics that are a default to the courtroom drama, but the decision to let Teja’s arc remain a subplot and not the primary conflict helps a great deal in not losing focus.

A still from the film.

A dependable antagonist takes any story a long way and Sivaji's portrayal of Mangapathi is exactly what this film needed. Mangapathi is crude, unempathetic and menacing and has forced his patriarchy over his family. He is also the kind of a character that one might have encountered a few too many times in Telugu cinema - the kind of guy whose ill-temper has no bounds and whose wardrobe has more gold than most could ever afford. Sivaji, though, makes him recognisable and instantly detestable, so as Mangapathi goes about spitting venom and finding scapegoats for his misguided masculinity, his ultimate fall and suffering becomes our insatiable, collective desire. Sure, the writing could have helped the performance be a little more reined in, but a crowd-pleaser perhaps requires the villain to be a little shrill nevertheless?

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The other half of the narrative is concerned with the love story between the 17-year-old Jaabili (Sri Devi) and the 19-year-old Chandu (Harsh Roshan), and Jagadeesh exudes good control here as well. His version of swishy teenage romance is cinematic, with montages, slow-motion shots and whatnot, although still rooted in realism. Both Chandu and Jaabili refreshingly look their age (unlike in most other films, where older actors are annoyingly youth-ified) and their world, too, carries relatability brimming with candid banters, escapades and confessions. Their relationship, without giving away much, obviously becomes the root of the POCSO Act and the class politics that surface in the story, but the essence of Court - State Vs. A Nobody lies in the innocent yet sincere love that they share for one another.

Where the film gets it wrong is in seamlessly tying these many threads together and realising a singular goal. The inclusion of a significant law like POCSO, which crucially protects children below 18 years of age from any sexual exploitation, is employed to slightly perplexing results in Court - State Vs. A Nobody. On the one hand, the Act emerges as a tool to highlight how class struggles in India always allow for the heftier sides to manipulate laws and lawmakers to their benefit, often causing its gross, irreparable misuse. On the other, it is vapidly referred to in key scenarios such as the finale monologue where its significance is undermined and consequently, the film, too, starts to feel incomprehensible. 

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Court - State Vs. A Nobody, among many other things, wonders whether there is any fundamental difference in autonomy and rights between an individual aged 17 years and 364 days and one who has fully turned 18, but the writers of the film forget the fact that it isn’t in their purview to question without a clear intent. As much as the opinions shared stem from genuine curiosities, the entire proposal feels empty and misplaced, which doesn’t necessarily work in the film’s favour. 

Yet, it comes together because of how well it caters to the genre conventions. Court - State Vs. A Nobody knowingly plays to the gallery wherever needed and is mindful of how to use its 150-minute runtime. The performances are solid (Harshavardhan in yet another dependable show) and the emotional highs strike the right chord with us, and even the familiarity of the genre doesn’t restrict the film from bringing in a few personal touches. Some of the elements in the writing required a stronger sense of purpose, but the inconsistencies can be easily overlooked because of the finesse behind the execution.