Deepak Kingrani: There is rarely any ‘order, order’ in courtrooms

The courtroom-drama Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai quietly landed on OTT last month. If you watched it, you would agree that its engrossing narrative, its breakneck pace and an adrenaline-pumping performance by Manoj Bajpayee made it a perfect fit for the big screen experience. The makers saw the potential and the film was released in select theatres across the country on June 2. While Bajpayee’s desk-thumping act did make Bandaa…a thrilling and informative watch, the writing definitely stood out too. Written by Deepak Kingrani (Special Ops), the film took a constrained, balanced approach towards a legal drama. The courtroom scenes were not blotted with sermons and the film, for the majority of its time, stuck to arguments based on facts. We spoke to Kingrani about his approach to crafting engaging courtroom scenes, reading numerous legal documents for research, and Bajpayee’s contribution at the writer’s table.

How have the responses been for Bandaa…?            

Producer Ritesh Sidhwani gave a very sweet compliment. He said this kind of cinema is needed at the moment. Director Shekhar Kapur also tweeted and appreciated Manoj sir’s performance and said that he found the film very compelling. I felt extremely validated.

Generally courtroom dramas in Hindi cinema tend to turn preachy but Bandaa… doesn’t deter from its facts. How did you manage that?

We had a lot of references from Bollywood and Hollywood of courtroom dramas but we wanted to go for something different. We wanted the audience to have a novel viewing experience. There is a lot of legal jargon being thrown around in the courtroom scenes but we always kept the drama in the background so strong that the viewer doesn’t feel an overdose of information and is kept engaged. In the court, there are two people: the prosecutor and the defendant telling two sides of a story. What generally happens is that the lawyer defending the criminal is also portrayed as a criminal. We didn’t want to vilify him and treated him humanely. Vipin Sharma actually did a great job in portraying the character.

The film feels very dense, what went into the research?

Since this is about an extensively covered case, I started off with reading the legal documents which were widely available on the internet. When I read the judgments, which were written in Hindi, I came across particular, vernacular words I hadn’t heard before. I knew I had to use them. Moreover, if you have to present a courtroom on screen, it is imperative to sit in one. I frequented some courts and observed there is rarely any “Order, Order”. The witnesses don’t say ‘Main Geeta pe haath rakh kar kasam khaata hoon… (I swear by the Bhagavad Gita) ” in fact, when we visited a Jodhpur court the witnesses swore on “Ram Dharm.”

Recently, the film’s producer Suparn Varma said that Manoj Bajpayee is one of the best dialogue writers in the country, what did he bring to the writer’s room?

Manoj sir as an actor, after spending 30 years in the industry, can sense where the scene requires more impact. During reading sessions, he used to pick up on moments in a sequence and brainstormed with me on the ways they can be made more impactful. He improvised but he always asked us (Kingrani and director Apurv Singh Karki) to also shoot the scene how it was written, and ultimately decide on one at the edit table. There were some disagreements at times, but we always came to the conclusion that his improvisations were better.

After Bandaa… you are also writing The Great Indian Rescue starring Akshay Kumar...

In this film, which was earlier named Capsule Gill, Akshay plays an additional general manager of a mine (The film is based on the real-life story of a mining engineer who helped in rescuing people who were stuck in a coal mine in West Bengal’s Ranigunj in 1989). It is about how this character, without the help of any technology, ensures the safe return of many people stuck in a mine. When I was writing the film, I felt that the role was suited for Akshay. Thankfully, we got him.