Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors is an Indian Hindi Crime Thriller series directed by Rohan Sippy. It stars Kirti Kulhari, Pankaj Tripathi, Anupriya Goenka, Mita Vashisht, Adrija Sinha, Deepti Naval, Jisshu Sengupta, and Pankaj Saraswat in main roles. It has a total of 8 episodes and was released on 24th December 2020 on Disney+ Hotstar.
Bikram Chandra (Jisshu Sengupta) is a well-known and successful lawyer of Bombay High Court. At home, he has his wife Anuradha Chandra (Kirti Kulhari) and 12-year-old daughter Rhea (Adrija Sinha), who studies in school. Anuradha is a little lost and is suffering from clinical depression and anxiety, which is being treated by Dr. Moksha Singhvi (Ayaz Hussain Khan). Singhvi's daughter Riddhi is Rhea's friend. The two families know each other well.
Bikram and Anuradha's life seems complete, but one night, Anuradha tries to kill Bikram with a knife. Vikram is seriously injured. Everyone is surprised by this step of Anuradha. Bikram's clean image and affable nature make Anuradha not sympathetic to anyone. Even daughter Rhea starts hating her mother. Anuradha confesses the crime in front of the police. Senior police officer Raghu Salian (Pankaj Saraswat) calls lawyer Madhav Mishra (Pankaj Tripathi) to tell him to fight for Anuradha as no other lawyer is ready to contest her case.
Madhav convinces her to plead not guilty in court. But Anuradha, who suffers from guilt, confesses her crime in court too. Despite Madhav's explanation and trying to make her understand, her silence does not break. Meanwhile, Bikram dies in the hospital, and Anuradha is charged with murder, instead of attempting murder. To save Anuradha, the only way in front of Madhav is to investigate himself and find the right and wrong. But Anu Chandra's silence remains the biggest obstacle on his way. During Madhav's Investigation and Trial, many shocking things come to the fore and such secrets are revealed, which even today, question the rights of women.
This series is based on the original series Criminal Justice written by Peter Moffat. For this second season, the story adaptation, screenplay, and dialogues are by Apurva Asrani. Before discussing any other aspect of this series, it is necessary to mention its writer Apoorva, who has been working as a film editor for years, did the first feature film 'Aligarh' as a writer, directed by Hansal Mehta. Those who have seen 'Aligarh' will be able to easily understand the significance and imperative of the uniquely written 'Criminal Justice - Behind Closed Doors'. Apoorva, who outlined the pain and consternation of the gay community through 'Aligarh', has worked through this web series to bring the issues related to women from behind closed doors to the front, which is often not considered an issue. This series furthers proves to be successful of Apoorva's mission of portraying human sensibilities with being a court drama simultaneously.
The story starts to be quite simple and with linear screenplay but as the drama progresses the story becomes much more complex than what we are seeing on the screen and with the next episodes, it gradually comes to its crystal state. The focus of this thriller has been more on the relevant issues and with short twists and turns that come often. The layers of Bikram Chandra's character begin to unravel as the series begins.
'Criminal Justice - Behind Closed Doors' holds the audiences and their curiosity. Much of the credit goes to the emotions in the story and the cast of the series. It effectively brings up the big issue of domestic abuse in married life through the main character, while the other female characters are also been used to highlight those tortures and harassments they have to face in their marriages.
The series also underlines the parallel media trial, which carries on at the same time as the court trials, and how they shamelessly assassinate one character and tries to mold the mindset of the common people for the cases. Directed by Rohan Sippy and Arjun Mukherjee this series does not disintegrate and the sensitive fragments of the story have been preserved by the directors without going overboard. The prison scenes are also a plus point of this series, unlike its first part.
Kirti Kulhari is consistently terrific as Anu. She is convincing and believable in every frame in bringing out the complex emotions of Anuradha. Jisshu Sengupta as Bikram is good but sadly has nothing more to do. Pankaj Tripathi is yet again a scene-stealer, with his absolute witty dialogues he's hard to dislike and his scenes with Anupriya Goenka brings some reliefs from the heavy drama and she's in great form. Playing Nikkhat we truly get to see what's her actual potential is as an actress. She's all over the OTT platforms now and she deserves it. Mita Vashisht is solid in her small role. Adrija Sinha as Rhea is also impressive, especially in the courtroom scenes. Deepti Naval as Vijji Ji, Kalyanee Mulay as Gauri, Ajeet Singh Palawat as Harsh, and Pankaj Saraswat as Raghu Salian and Khushboo Atre as Ratna did their best.
The cinematography by Tribhuvan Babu Sadineni is good and captures everything quite effortlessly. The production design by Sunil Nigvekar is perfect and has a realistic feel to it. Music by Sameer Phaterpekar is quite impressive and unnerving and fits the drama. The editing by Abhijeet Deshpande and Saurabh Prabhudesai is also good even the series may seem slow but it's the strength of the series and that's why many scenes will hit you hard.
Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors is a very impactful series and I'm highly recommending you to watch it. The series never tries to be a murder-mystery and there are some things and issues related to women here, which are still talked about in whispers. The story covers every topic from depression to anxiety, from abuse to domestic violence to marital rape. This story which started from the bedroom can make you restless for some time, but it is important and this show works as a reminder and an awareness. Apart from getting entertained just see what it tries to convey and holds inside in its core. This is a slow burn hard-hitting and gut-wrenching drama but if you're looking for a suspense thriller then this might not prove to be a great pick. Otherwise it's a great series.
Rating:- 4/5
Now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
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