Jolly LLB 3 movie review:

Since its beginning in 2013, the Jolly LLB series has framed a structure of its own. It’s always a David vs Goliath tale that unfolds goofily and absurdly in a courtroom. The simpleton lawyer is actually a stand-in for the common man who takes on the system. But remove the funny glasses and you observe the films’ critical lens towards how power plays in the Indian democracy. The first one was headlined by Arshad Warsi, a temperamental lawyer from Meerut, who battles the elitist advocate, played by Boman Irani, in a hit-and-run case. Jolly LLB 2 (2017) seemed to venture more into money-green pastures, with a big star like Akshay Kumar carrying the movie. It, however, didn’t dilute its politics and tried to put a question mark on the practice of fake encounters. With Jolly LLB 3, we have the common-man relatability of Arshad joining forces with the star-marketability of Akshay to deliver a film which imparts an important message but through a shaky medium.

Written and directed by: Subhash Kapoor

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi, Saurabh Shukla, Amrita Rao and Huma Qureshi

Jagdish Tyagi (Arshad) and Jagdishwar Mishra (Akshay) are now working in the same Delhi court. Because of their same nicknames (Jolly), the former is always nicking off clients from the latter. This often leads to heated confrontations between the two which gives an avenue for slapstick comedy and hilarious comebacks. When Tyagi is approached by Janki Rajaram Solanki (Seema Biswas), a farmer’s widow trying to save her land from being taken for a housing project by a big conglomerate, headed by serpentine businessman Haribhai Khaitan (Gajraj Rao), he brushes her away. So does Akshay's mammonish Jagdishwar. But when conscience strikes (courtesy: character relevance of their wives, played by Amrita Rao and Huma Qureshi), they both decide to team up to head on with Khaitan.

The third outing in the franchise might be the most urgent and also questioning amidst a sea of either neutral or prostrating mainstream films. We hear about protesting farmers “reaching Delhi” and a certain “VM” hiding in London. Words like “superpower”, “fastest-growing economy” and “vikas (development)” slip into dialogues. The film is inspired by the 2011 farmers’ uprising in Uttar Pradesh against the corporates trying to take over land chiefly in the villages of Bhatta and Parsaul. The location, however, is questionably shifted to Rajasthan. The film also touches upon how protests are tainted by vested interests, the nexus between money and power and tries to poke holes in the whole development debate.

But it forgets to do it with a satirical tinge. Scenes in Jolly LLB 3 can be clearly categorised as “serious” and “funny”. The preaching is not punctured by humour, the comedy doesn’t lead to commentary, they operate in insulated silos. Arshad and Akshay’s buffoonery is entertaining and fan-favourite judge Saurabh Shukla’s journey of finding love and fitness induces chuckles, but the politics and punchlines don’t seamlessly blend together to deliver a pasquinade. There is some mirth in perceiving Akshay’s Tiwari stealing clients from Arshad’s Tyagi as a stand-in for the more sellable star taking the reins of a film franchise from a solid actor. But for all its promises of equal footing, Arshad seems to have gotten the shorter end of the stick. Akshay does most of the heavy lifting and also gets the funnier lines. He also gets to play on his ‘saviour’ image with a scene of him crying over the injured post a police crackdown. It’s a scenario that seems to have been airlifted from other entries in Akshay’s Manoj Kumar brand of cinema.

Although Akshay and Arshad serve the basics, Gajraj Rao’s egoistic enterpriser act is a fresh dish. The actor mixes a delicious complexity into his self-made, development-loving capitalist. When his character is introduced, he gives a speech to a full auditorium about how businessmen never make it onto the list of great men. How in films they are always portrayed as villains and the poor farmer or rickshaw-puller is always the hero. That we should stop celebrating poverty and should always be ready to sacrifice for the country. Later, when Arshad’s Jolly confronts him about not letting go of his bungalow for a government project, he clenches his jaw in anger. Seems like patriotism is reserved only for the poor.