Introduction –
Amazon Prime’s new web series, thematically based on lawyers and law firms reflects some of the veins of similar genres such as The Practice & Boston Legal. Nonetheless, it fails to truly explore the intricacies of legal cases. Moreover, the episodes which are interwoven with personal and professional challenges cuts down the precious time even further. The result; courtroom hearings are like a sports car zipping across an empty road. At least the first episode seems to have little time for realistic legal battles.
Synopsis –
The Episodic Legal Series – Meri Tumhari
Mala ( Karishma Tanna ) is a star actress. An evening with some of her friends and colleagues in a pub ends up on a high note. Out of the blue she realizes that she was sexually exploited in the past and using hashtags such as #chanchalsawhney #timetospeakout #takescouragesuing she accuses Divendu Khurana, a popular director and her mentor of rape.
Thus begins the legal tussle. While Kashaf ( Shriya Pilgaonkar ), daughter of a supreme court judge and the owner of a small legal firm, along with her partner Vandana ( Sugandha Garg & a lesbian ) take over as Mala’s legal advisors, Divendu’s defense lawyer is none other than Deepak Rana (Varun Mitra). Deepak belongs to an elite legal firm, and behaves like a hotshot lawyer. On the other hand, Kashaf, an advocate of truth and equality is overwhelmed by Deepak’s highhandedness and his frequent philosophy that “nothing is black and white in the legal world, that there are grey areas too.”
Like Deepak’s philosophy, their relationship too appears to be stuck in the grey zone – between friendship and love.
Coming back to the case, the verdict is announced after just 3 / 4 hearings ( Sounds unbelievable, but it is the truth ). Watch the first episode of Guilty Minds to know if Director Divendu Khurana is set free or punished.
Web series these days have an amalgamation of lavish settings and some realistic locations. Guilty Minds also reflects some of these virtues. Lesbianism is yet another angle which is unnecessarily scripted into the story. We fail to understand why Sugandha Garg is shown as one. Maybe it will make sense in the subsequent episodes.
Analysis –
There is nothing great about the direction or cinematography although some of the shots did impress us. On the performance front, juniors seem to beat the lead characters by a mile. Sugandha Garg appears enthusiastic, thoughtful at times and Deepak’s buddy quite entertaining with his legal-centric, kick-ass wise words / dialogs. Shriya Pilgaonkar as usual seems subdued while Varun Mitra unusually eager. Go for it! It’s not crowded with legal jargon and therefore makes it a perfect option. Dress up your couch, invite friends and order loads of popcorn. Binge watching seems to be the common suggestion, but we prefer one at a time.
2022 Shefali Bhushan | Jayant Digambar Somalkar Shefali Bhushan 57 Minutes Amazon Prime Video