Court (film)

Last updated

Court
Court (film) POSTER.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Chaitanya Tamhane
Written byChaitanya Tamhane
Produced by Vivek Gomber
Starring
CinematographyMrinal Desai
Edited byRikhav Desai
Music bySambhaji Bhagat
Production
company
Zoo Entertainment Pvt Ltd
Distributed byZeitgeist Films
Artscope
Memento Films
Release dates
Running time
116 minutes
CountryIndia
Languages
  • Marathi
  • Hindi
  • Gujarati
  • English
Budget₹3.5 crore [1] [2]

Court is a 2014 Indian legal drama film, written and directed by Chaitanya Tamhane in his directorial debut. The film examines the Indian legal system through the Mumbai Sessions Court trial of an aging protest singer, Narayan Kamble (Vira Sathidar), who is accused of encouraging a manhole worker to commit suicide through one of his folk songs. It also stars Geetanjali Kulkarni, Pradeep Joshi and Shirish Pawar.

Contents

The film's music was composed by Sambhaji Bhagat while Mrinal Desai and Rikhav Desai served as its cinematographer and editor, respectively. Tamhane was curious to see the difference between the real courtrooms and the way they were depicted in films. He wanted to explore the "judicial nightmare" in an Indian setting after coming across several real-life cases. His friend Vivek Gomber agreed to produce the film and also acted in it. The crew consisted of newcomers and the actors were non-professionals. There are four languages spoken in the film: Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and English. Most of the dialogue is in Marathi as it is set in Maharashtra. Laws are read out in English. The defense lawyer is a Gujarati and speaks Gujarati language.

Court premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014, where it won the Best Film in the Horizons category and the Luigi De Laurentiis award for Tamhane. The film went on to win 18 other awards at several film festivals. It premiered in India at the International competition section of the 2014 Mumbai Film Festival and was released theatrically on 17 April 2015. Upon release, the film received critical acclaim and went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film at the 62nd National Film Awards.

Plot

Narayan Kamble is a teacher, social activist and protest singer. He is arrested on the charge of prompting Vasudev Pawar, a manhole worker, to commit suicide. He allegedly committed suicide after being influenced by one of Kamble's protest songs. Lawyer Vinay Vora defends Kamble, who is tried in court and granted bail. Kamble admits to have sung several songs about suicide, but cannot remember if he sang any on the day of the suicide. He also denies any intention to provoke someone to commit suicide. A witness testifies that he saw the manhole worker singing Kamble's song.

In the next hearing of the case, the investigating officer links Kamble with an incarcerated man, Ashwin Bhagat, through a letter, accusing them of planning illegal activity in the city. Vora explains to the court that Bhagat was requesting Kamble to take care of his ailing mother while he was in jail. Nutan, the public prosecutor, informs the court that Kamble possessed two banned books. Vora replies that one book is on Yoga and the other one is a critique of certain rituals of the Goyamari sect. Vora is later beaten by some Goyamaris.

Pawar's widow confesses in court that her husband used to clean the manholes without any safety equipment and had lost one eye from exposure to poisonous sewer gases. She further confesses that he was also an alcoholic, but never talked about committing suicide. She denies his intentions of suicide or having heard Kamble's name before. Vora reads the autopsy report which indicates Pawar died as a result of respiratory failure due to inhalation of hydrogen sulphide, with no sign of self-harm. He also says that the witness who testified against Kamble is a stock witness who has been testifying in several other cases.

Considering Kamble's deteriorating health and the lack of evidence, Kamble is granted bail in the amount of ₹100,000 (US$1,200), which Vora pays on his behalf. Kamble is then subsequently arrested on charges of conducting seditious camps under the cover of folk-artist workshops, and is remanded to police custody. Kamble claims the charge and the evidence against him are fabricated and Vora pleads to reconsider the arrest as it will pose a severe risk to Kamble's health; the judge tells Kamble to appeal to the High Court. Later, the judge is shown enjoying a holiday with his family. Some children mischievously shout and wake him from his afternoon slumber, he slaps one of the kids as the rest run away.

Cast

Production

Development

Director Chaitanya Tamhane made a short film called Six Strands at the age of twenty three, which was well received at several international film festivals. The project left him "broke and jobless" and under pressure to earn money, but he did not want to assist another director. [3] Tamhane was watching a "typical" conventional courtroom drama on Doordarshan one day when he thought of making a real courtroom drama and started developing the idea for Court. [4]

Tamhane wanted to explore the "judicial nightmare" in an Indian setting after coming across the case of Jiten Marandi, a cultural activist from Jharkhand. Marandi was arrested as a suspect in the Chilkari massacre, which occurred on 26 October 2007, where nineteen people were killed by Naxalites at a public function. Marandi became a suspect because his name was similar to the actual suspect whom the police could not find. He was arrested and tried, but was released in 2016 after proven not guilty. [5] The action against activist singers of the cultural organisation, Kabir Kala Manch on allegations of links with the left wing also inspired the film's narrative. [6] Tamhane was curious by the idea of a realistic court trial unfolding in a lower court of Mumbai after attending some of them, recalling:

It felt like the complete opposite of what I, as an audience, would expect from a courtroom film; the lawyers were not good orators, the documents were misplaced, the arguments were technical and redundant. I was amused by this setting, and decided to probe further.

— Chaitanya Tamhane in 2014. [7]

Tamhane found the incidents that occur in a lower court to be "bizarre" and saw the potential for drama and humour. [8] Another incident which prompted Tamhane to make the film was when a friend had gone to a police station for document submission and had to wait two hours for a printout because the constable did not know how to connect the cable of the printer. [4]

In 2011, Tamhane met with his friend Vivek Gomber, who he had directed in a theatrical play called Grey Elephants in Denmark in 2009. [7] Tamhane told Gomber that he wanted to write a courtroom drama but did not have the money to finance his project. Gomber then expressed his interest in producing the film and offered to pay him ₹15,000 (US$180) a month to write the script. [9] [3] Tamhane wrote the script in a year after interviewing several lawyers, academics and activists, reading books and newspaper clippings, and discovering "the world of protest music and the legal world". [3] Gomber found the script "very funny", he also mentioned that visiting courts for the film was "quite sad and disheartening". [10]

While Tamhane was writing the script, the character of the public prosecutor was male for a long time and he felt the film was "too male", with all main characters being men. Later, he changed that character to a woman. [11] Tamhane saw Anand Patwardhan's documentary Jai Bhim Comrade (2011), when he was about to finish writing the script and cited it as an "invaluable resource" for the reference of the film.[ citation needed ] Tamhane had written all the scenes outside the courtroom but lacked the main case until he read about the condition of manhole workers in a Tehelka book, which he incorporated into the script. [11] He also read books of Fali Sam Nariman, V. R. Krishna Iyer and watched Krzysztof Kieślowski's 1966 short film The Office for reference. [4] Tamhane wrote scenes about the domestic lives of the lawyers in the film as he was interested in depicting the kind of life they lived outside the courtroom while also juxtaposing their professional lives with their personal one. [4]

In 2012, Tamhane submitted the script of Court to the National Film Development Corporation of India for financing, but it was rejected. [12] He applied for the Hubert Bals Fund in 2012, given by the International Film Festival Rotterdam where his short film Six Strands was screened in 2011. [12] He received a sum of ₹670,000 (US$8,000) for script and project development. Gomber invested his own money for the remainder of the budget. [12]

Casting

Court took three years to complete. [13] The film's planning and pre-production was done in a year. The crew had to build court sets as shooting inside a real court is not allowed. Tamhane and casting director Sachit Puranik would sneak into the Bombay High Court and stay there for almost three hours a day. They researched and observed the real protest singers and activists, and made notes for references on the surroundings and costumes. [10]

Tamhane did not want to make the film in a "conventional manner" and hence opted to have newcomers for the cast and crew. It was the first film for much of its crew, including the production designers, editor and casting director. The film's cinematographer, Mrinal Desai, had a documentary background. Tamhane had previously worked with the film's production designers, Pooja Talreja and Somnath Pal, on his play Grey Elephants in Denmark. Tamhane chose to work with mostly newcomers as he did not wish to have anybody from a Bollywood background: "we wanted people with hunger and passion who would go out of their way to get things done." [3] The film also features first time actors like Pradeep Joshi, Usha Bane and Shirish Pawar. [14]

Vira Sathidar, the editor of Marathi magazine Vidrohi, was cast in role of Narayan Kamble just three weeks before the shoot. [15] [16] Gomber played the role of a defence lawyer and was selected after auditioning for the part. The rest of the cast were also selected after auditions including Geetanjali Kulkarni, who is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. The auditions were conducted over the course of nine months with nearly 1,800 people auditioning for several roles. Tamhane borrowed the idea of using non-professional actors from the Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami. [16] According to him, 80 percent of the cast were non-professional actors who had not been filmed before. Tamhane and his crew members went to banks, railway offices, schools, tea sellers, snack vendors, auto and taxi drivers, and asked people if they would like to act in the film. [3]

Filming

Court was shot in 45 days and recorded in sync sound. [3] [11] The entire film was shot without camera movements and background score for a realistic feel. [9] Tamhane and Desai chose real locations in Mumbai for shooting the film based on their look and feel and decided not to tamper with them. [10] He decided to shoot long takes with no cuts and scripted lines in a controlled manner. [3] Scenes involving the non-professional actors were shot in 30–35 takes on an average and some scenes even took 60 takes to shoot because of the actors inexperience. [11] Only one scene per day was shot due to the long takes that were done without any cuts or improvisations. [17]

Kulkarni followed a real prosecutor's body language, mannerism and manner of speaking. [10] A scene in the film showed a public prosecutor cross-examining the accused, which is not allowed in real trials. Tamhane said that this was a deliberate decision as he had taken "creative liberty" to avoid "hampering the narrative of the film".[ citation needed ] He also expressed his interest towards the essence of a scene instead of its technical detail.[ citation needed ]

During production, members of the Anti-Terrorism Squad came on the sets claiming that there was a Naxalite from Nagpur in the film and searched for him. Sathidar was from Nagpur and, like his character, was a human rights activist thereby making him, according to Tamhane, "politically involved". The crew hid him as he had not finished shooting the film's main sequences, and they were worried that his arrest would prevent the film's completion. The ATS had mistaken Sathidar for a Naxalite. [18]

Themes

When asked about whether Court is an actual depiction of the Indian judiciary or an exaggerated one, Tamhane said: "[the film] actually talks about the people who comprise the system; the people who run the system and the structural and human failings in not just the Indian judiciary but any institution, or any kind of a place with power dynamics." [18] According to him, the film also highlights the aspect of immigrants snatching the jobs of locals in Mumbai. [4] Court also has elements of black comedy, like a scene where one of Vora's speeches is interrupted by a man putting a pedestal fan. [19] A critic from The New Republic called the film a welcome addition to critiques of the judiciary and favorably compared it to the novels Bleak House (1853) and The Trial (1925). He elaborated that the absurdity of the case is similar to The Trial. [20]

Baradwaj Rangan stated in his review that the film is about "teeming metropolis". He also noted the contrasting lives of Vora and Nutan, where one lives alone, speaks fluent English and drives a car; the other has a family, does not speak fluent English and uses public transport. Through this analysis, Rangan says that the film shows how people despite being from different genders, classes and ethnicities "converge in court." [21]

The film is multilingual, with four languages spoken in it: English, Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi. Most of the dialogues are in Marathi as it is set in Maharashtra and the laws are read out in English. The defence lawyer is a Gujarati and speaks Gujarati language. The Marathi lawyers for the prosecution speak in Marathi and English. Since the Gujarati lawyer does not understand Marathi, they speak with him in Hindi. [3] Tamhane said: "Court is set in Mumbai where people speak all four languages, so it was natural to keep that in the film." [22]

Premiere and release

Gomber, Kulkarni, and Tamhane at the film's trailer launch, 2015 Vivek Gomber, Chaitanya Tamhane, and Geetanjali Kulkarni at the trailer launch of Court.jpg
Gomber, Kulkarni, and Tamhane at the film's trailer launch, 2015

Both Tamhane and Gomber had been applying to film festivals from March 2014 and were rejected by the Cannes Film Festival, Locarno International Film Festival and San Sebastián International Film Festival. [12] Court later had its world premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. [23] The film was screened at several festivals after its premiere including the Auteur Film Festival Serbia, [8] the Washington DC South Asian Film Festival, [24] Kyiv International Film Festival "Molodist", [25] Minsk International Film Festival, [26] Singapore International Film Festival, [27] International Antalya Film Festival, [11] BFI London Film Festival, [25] Vienna International Film Festival, [11] Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, [28] FICUNAM International Film Festival and 2morrow Film Festival. [24] [25] [26]

Court was acquired by Artscope Films of French producer-distributor-sales agent Memento Films in late August 2014, after producer Alexa Rivero saw the film. [12] [29] In December 2014, they sold the film in four countries: Canada, Greece, the Middle East, and Hong Kong. [7] On 3 February 2015, American independent film distributor Zeitgeist Films announced that they had acquired the film for exhibition in the United States. [30] It had its US premiere at the 44th edition of the New Directors/New Films Festival at New York City on 18 March 2015. [31] [32] Ron Mann, a Canadian documentary filmmaker, who was one of the jury members at the Venice Film Festival, acquired the Canadian distribution rights for the film. [12]

The film premiered in India at the international competition section of the 2014 Mumbai Film Festival. [33] It was released independently by Gomber's Zoo Entertainment Pvt Ltd, with the assistance of Long Live Cinema. [9] A 33-second teaser of the film was launched on 13 March 2015. [34] It was followed by the launch of its theatrical trailer on 23 March 2015. [35] The Central Board of Film Certification gave Tamhane a choice to cut or mute a dialogue from the film, which he decided to mute. [6] The film was released theatrically in India on 17 April 2015, across 150 screens in Maharashtra and select metro cities. [12] [36] It was made on a budget of ₹35 million (US$420,000) and collected an estimate of $22,898 domestically and $57,416 overseas. [2] [37] [38] Court was released on DVD on 16 December 2015. [39] The film was selected as India's official submission for the 88th Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category, but was not nominated. [40]

Reception

India

Court received mostly positive response from critics upon release. Mayank Shekhar described it as an "anti-genre film" and a "deeply humanistic account" of those who "comprise the system". He also listed it as his favourite Indian film of the year. [41] Firstpost's Deepanjana Pal called the film "ludicrous, hilarious, and heartbreaking." [42] Meenakshi Shedde reviewing for Mid-Day , wrote: "Apart from highlighting our antiquated laws, Tamhane's strength lies in his even-handedness: he humanises and empathises with his protagonists, even as he lampoons them." [43] Shubhra Gupta, writing for The Indian Express , gave the film four stars out of five, calling it an "unmissable film" and "the best you will see this year". [44] Rajeev Masand praised the "Kafkaesque absurdity", the dark humour and realism of the film: "Compelling and all-too relevant, Court punches you hard in the gut. No rating can do this film justice." [45] Anupama Chopra, in her positive review, wrote: "It's a lot to say in one film but Tamhane, who also wrote the film, does it with impressive economy and elegance." [46]

Suhani Singh of India Today called it the "finest film of 2015 so far", further writing: "Assuredly directed and intelligently written by debutant Chaitanya Tamhane, Court is a riveting watch." [47] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV cited the film as an "exceptional cinematic achievement". [48] Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India , mentioned in her review: "[Court ] breaks the stereotypes in the most understated manner to give you the biting reality of our country's flawed judicial system". [49] Writing for Reuters, Shilpa Jamkhandikar termed it as a rare film "that creates drama out of the humdrum lives of ordinary people, whose limited world view and biases affect the lives of others in more ways than they can imagine." [50] A review carried by Suparna Sharma of Deccan Chronicle wrote: "Court doesn't caricature our reality, nor does it harangue us with prescriptive chalk talk. It simply trains its lens on real-life parody as it plays out and shows us our world as is, without exaggeration or artifice." [2] Anuj Kumar of The Hindu found the film to be "an accomplished piece of work". [51] Surabhi Redkar of Koimoi called it the "best representation of a court room drama so far in India". [52]

Contrary to the positive responses, some critics were concerned with the non-professional actors and the western treatment of the film. Raja Sen felt that the film was "better in parts than as a whole". He also pointed out the problem with the non-professional extras: "A constant problem with Court, however, lies in just how ghastly the film's extras are, with almost every person in a non-speaking role doing a jarringly bad job." [53] Baradwaj Rangan felt that the "western eye" was evident in the filmmaking, with its wide shots: "In the absence of camera movement, we rely on other things to enliven the frames – people crossing roads and walking past doors, traffic on streets, the fluttering of paper flags above a stage, a boy practicing on Roman Rings." [21]

Overseas

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 98% of 61 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10.The website's consensus reads: "Court takes a penetrating, timely look at issues facing Indian society while serving as an excellent calling card for debuting writer-director Chaitanya Tamhane." [54] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [55]

Jay Weissberg of Variety wrote: "Managing to be both extremely rational and extremely humane, the film works so well thanks to an intelligent, superbly understated script and a feel for naturalism that extends beyond mere performance." [14] Neil Young of The Hollywood Reporter stated that the film was a "compellingly clear-eyed indictment of modern-day India's institutional dysfunction". [56] Reviewing for Le Monde , Jacques Mandelbaum called it "a major movie on the worrying state of freedom of speech in the Indian democracy" and praised the "intelligence and sensitivity" of Tamhane. [57] In his positive review of the film, Mike McCahill of The Guardian complimented Tamhane: "Here's a film-maker training a sharp, prosecutorial eye on those harsh homefront realities Bollywood has traditionally permitted audiences to escape." [58]

Stephen Holden, writing for The New York Times , gave a positive review to the film and wrote: "The wheels of justice grind slowly and mercilessly in Court, Chaitanya Tamhane's quiet, devastating critique of the antiquated Indian legal system." [59] Laya Maheshwari of RogerEbert.com called it a "masterpiece" and "one of the best films of the year". She also noted that it offered none of the tropes of a courtroom drama. [60] Tara Brady of The Irish Times deemed the film to be a "magnificent, maddening drama" and said that the film reminded her of Satyajit Ray. [13] Ken Guidry of IndieWire mentioned in his review that Court "borders on brilliance" at times, adding: "Often, it's not about what's happening in the scene, but the implications behind it." [61]

Accolades

Court won 18 awards in its screening at several film festivals. [62] At the 62nd National Film Awards, the film won Best Feature Film Award. [63] It received the Orizzonti Award and the Luigi De Laurentiis (English: Lion of the Future) award at its premiere at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. [23] At its Indian premiere at the 16th Mumbai Film Festival, Court was awarded the Golden Gateway of India for Best Film in the International Competition section and a Special Jury Mention for the cast. [33] It won the Siyad International Feature Film Award at the 51st International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, [24] the FIPRESCI Award at the 52nd Vienna International Film Festival, [64] the New Talent Award at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, [24] The Best Picture and Best Screenplay Award at the 2morrow Film Festival, Best Film at Listapad, [26] and the FIPRESCI Prize and Best Actor for Gomber at the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema. [24] [28] It also went on to win the Best Film Award and Best Director Award for Tamhane at the Singapore International Film Festival, [27] the Grand Prix and FIPRESCI Prize at the Auteur Film Festival, [24] and special mentions at the Kyiv International Film Festival "Molodist" and FICUNAM International Film Festival. [24] Geetanjali Kulkarni Won Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Marathi.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonali Kulkarni</span> Indian actress (born 1974)

Sonali Kulkarni is an Indian actress, producer, and writer who primarily appears in Marathi and Hindi films. Kulkarni is considered as one of the highest-paid actresses in Marathi cinema, and is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, four Filmfare Marathi Awards and four Maharashtra State Film Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rohini Hattangadi</span> Indian actress

Rohini Hattangadi is an Indian actress, known for her work in Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Gujarati films, and Marathi soap operas and theatre. She has won two Filmfare Awards, one National Film Award, and is the only Indian actress to win the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Kasturba Gandhi in Gandhi (1982).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raqesh Bapat</span> Indian film and television actor (born 1978)

Raqesh Bapat is an Indian actor and model. He is known for his work in films like Tum Bin (2001), Koi Mere Dil Mein Hai (2005), Vrundavan (2016) and Savita Damodar Paranjape (2018) and television shows like Saat Phere – Saloni Ka Safar (2005–2008), Maryada: Lekin Kab Tak? (2010–2012) and Qubool Hai (2014). He was ranked 16th in The Times of India's Top 20 Most Desirable Men of Maharashtra in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anant Mahadevan</span> Indian screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker (born 1950)

Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, also credited as Anant Mahadevan, is an Indian screenwriter, actor, and film director of Hindi and Marathi as well as Tamil Films and television shows. Having been an integral part of the Indian television serials and Hindi films since the 1980s, he is also involved in the professional English and Hindi theatre. He is the recipient of Maharashtra State Film Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debaki Bose</span> Indian actor (1898–1971)

Debaki Bose (1898–1971), also known as Debaki Kumar Bose, was an Indian director, writer, and actor who is recognized for his contribution in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. He was born on 25 November 1898 in Akalposh,, Burdwan, Bengal Presidency, British India. He died on 17 November 1971 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. He is known for his innovative use of sound and music in Indian Cinema. He worked first under the banner of British Dominion Films of Dhiren Ganguly and later with Pramathesh Barua's Barua Pictures and finally he joined New Theatres banner in 1932. He started his own production company, Debaki Productions, in 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naga Chaitanya</span> Indian actor

Akkineni Naga Chaitanya is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He has received one Filmfare Award South and one Nandi Award for his work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paresh Mokashi</span> Indian film director (born 1969)

Paresh Mokashi is an Indian filmmaker, producer, actor and Theatre director-producer; working predominantly in Marathi cinema and Marathi theatre. He started working as a backstage worker for theatre and did few minor roles for plays as well as films. Mokashi made his directorial debut for theatre with the Marathi play, Sangeet Debuchya Mulee in 1999. He continued to work for theatre and made his directorial debut for cinema with the 2009 Marathi feature film, Harishchandrachi Factory. The film depicts the making of India's first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra (1913), made by Dadasaheb Phalke. The film was acclaimed critically and won several awards. It was also selected as India's official entry to 82nd Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

<i>Shahid</i> (film) 2012 film by Hansal Mehta

Shahid is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language biographical drama film directed by Hansal Mehta, written by Sameer Gautam Singh and jointly produced by Anurag Kashyap and Sunil Bohra in association with Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur under the UTV Spotboy banner. Based on the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, who was assassinated in 2010, the film stars Rajkummar Rao as Azmi; Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Prabhleen Sandhu and Baljinder Kaur appear in supporting roles.

<i>Fandry</i> 2013 Marathi film

Fandry (Pig) is a 2013 Indian Marathi-language film, written and directed by Nagraj Manjule in his directorial debut. It stars Somnath Awghade and Rajeshwari Kharat. The story focuses on a young boy's love amidst caste-based discrimination. The film, set in Akolner, a village near Ahmednagar, revolves around the issue of discrimination in India's caste system and narrates the story of a teenager from a Dalit family who lives at the village fringe, and falls in love with an upper-caste girl.

<i>Elizabeth Ekadashi</i> 2014 Indian film

Elizabeth Ekadashi is a 2014 Marathi movie directed by Paresh Mokashi. and written by Madhugandha Kulkarni. The movie, which tells the tale of a child and his set of friends living in Pandharpur, has been selected as the opening film of the Indian Panorama section at the International Film Festival of India, 2014. The film had national release on 14 November 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaitanya Tamhane</span> Indian filmmaker (born 1987)

Chaitanya Tamhane is an Indian filmmaker, known for the 2014 Marathi courtroom drama Court. It was announced as India's official submission for the 88th Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The film examines the Indian legal system through the trial of an aging folk singer in a lower court in Mumbai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film Critics Circle of India</span>

Film Critics Circle of India (FCCI) is a society comprising notable film critics from all the major film producing states of India.

Ringan is a 2015 Marathi Drama, directed by Makarand Mane. Has won Best Marathi Film at the 63rd National Film Awards, it also received six awards at the 53rd Maharashtra state level in the categories of Best Film, Best Director, Best Debut (Director), Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Child Actor, and was shown at international film festivals in Cannes, Stuttgart, London, and Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sumitra Bhave–Sunil Sukthankar</span> Indian filmmaker duo

Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar were an Indian filmmaker duo working predominantly in Marathi cinema and Marathi theatre. Bhave and Sukthankar had made seventeen feature films, more than fifty short films, and four TV serials; all of which had been written by Bhave. Sunil Sukthankar, a Film and Television Institute of India graduate (1989) is also an actor and a lyricist. He has written more than 90 songs for their own films as well as various other Marathi and Hindi films. The duo had won various national and international accolades for the films Doghi (1995), Dahavi Fa (2002), Vastupurush (2002), Devrai (2004), Astu (2016) and Kaasav (2017). At the 64th National Film Awards, their feature film Kaasav won the prestigious President Golden Lotus National Award.

<i>The Disciple</i> (2020 film) 2020 Indian Marathi drama film

The Disciple is a 2020 Indian Marathi-language drama film written, directed and edited by Chaitanya Tamhane. It stars Aditya Modak, Arun Dravid, Sumitra Bhave, Deepika Bhide Bhagwat, and Kiran Yadnyopavit. Alfonso Cuarón serves as an executive producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aditya Modak</span> Indian classical singer and film actor (born 1988)

Aditya Modak is a Hindustani classical music artiste and the lead actor of Chaitanya Tamhane's The Disciple, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and was later picked up by Netflix. Modak was entrusted with the role of the protagonist because Chaitanya preferred an experienced musician rather than a trainer actor. Critics of The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor named Modak as one of their top choices for an Oscar nomination.

<i>Dhappa</i> 2019 Indian film

Dhappa is a 2019 Indian Marathi-language drama film directed by Nipun Dharmadhikari in his directorial debut. The film features several debutante child actors and was inspired by a true incident. The film was shown at various film festivals including Jio MAMI 20th Mumbai Film Festival.

<i>Soyrik</i> 2022 Indian film

Soyrik is a 2022 Indian Marathi-language romantic drama film written and directed by Makarand Mane, starring Nitish Chavan, Manasi Bhawalkar and Shashank Shende in the leading roles. The film is produced by 99 Productions and Bahuroopi Productions. It was theatrically released on 11 February 2022.

Vivek Gomber is an Indian actor and producer who has made significant contributions to Indian, British, and American cinema. He is a recipient of a National Film Award along with multiple international awards.

References

  1. ↑ Rao, Sushil; Phadke, Mithila (24 September 2015). "Small-budget Marathi film 'Court' India's Oscar entry". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Sharma, Suparna (18 April 2015). "Movie review 'Court': In delightful contempt of court". Deccan Chronicle . Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 N, Patcy (23 September 2015). "'I won't make a typical Bollywood film'". Rediff.com . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Naidu, Rajesh (20 April 2015). "Interview with Marathi and multi-lingual film Court's director Chaitanya". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  5. ↑ Nagpaul, Dipti (10 January 2016). "Fight for what's left: The story of Jiten Marandi, the Jharkhand activist". The Indian Express . Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  6. 1 2 "'Court' had to undergo censor trial, says Director Chaitanya Tamhane". Daily News and Analysis . 12 April 2015. Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 Shackleton, Liz (11 December 2014). "Chaitanya Tamhane, Court". Screen International . Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  8. 1 2 Gupta, Nidhi (17 April 2015). "They called him the next Satyajit Ray". GQ . Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 Chatterjee, Suprateek. "'Court' Exists Because of This Guy: Meet Vivek Gomber, India's Bravest Producer". HuffPost . Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 4 The Making of Court: Inspiration: Court (2015): Releasing April 17. YouTube. Zoo Entertainment India. 6 April 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Maheshwari, Laya (14 July 2015). "Why 'Court' Writer and Director Chaitanya Tamhane Doesn't Think You Can Judge His Intentions". IndieWire . Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bhatia, Uday (10 April 2015). "Made in India, courted abroad". Mint . Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  13. 1 2 Brady, Tara (24 March 2016). "Court review: magnificent, maddening drama from first-time director Chaitanya Tamhane". The Irish Times . Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  14. 1 2 Weissberg, Jay (6 September 2014). "Venice Film Review: 'Court'". Variety . Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  15. ↑ The Making of Court: Casting: Court (2015): Now In Cinemas. YouTube. Zoo Entertainment India. 25 April 2015.
  16. 1 2 Chaudhuri, Mohini (24 April 2015). "The Verdict". OPEN. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  17. ↑ Giudice, Rachel Del (25 March 2015). "Meet the (New) Director: Chaitanya Tamhane, 'Court'". Film Society of Lincoln Center. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  18. 1 2 Chandarana, Nittal (18 April 2015). "Judgement Day For Court". Verve . Archived from the original on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  19. ↑ Joshi, Namrata (13 April 2015). "Court, Fort & Impediment". Outlook . Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  20. ↑ Thorndike Nicholson, Malcolm (17 July 2015). "The Black Comedy of India's Justice System". The New Republic . Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  21. 1 2 Rangan, Baradwaj (30 April 2015). ""Court"... An impressive achievement". Baradwaj Rangan Wordpress. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  22. ↑ Upadhyay, Karishma (17 April 2015). "The court is in session". The Telegraph . Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  23. 1 2 Bhaskaran, Gautaman (1 August 2016). "India's Chaitanya Tamhane on Venice film fest jury". Hindustan Times . Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Court". Washington DC South Asian Film Festival. 9 September 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  25. 1 2 3 Ghosh, Sankhayan (31 October 2014). "Courting magic on screen". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 3 June 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  26. 1 2 3 ""The Wonders", "Court" and "Next to Her" are Among the Winners of the 2morrow/Zavtra Festival". Listapad. 26 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  27. 1 2 Noh, Jean. "Court wins at Singapore film festival". Screen International. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  28. 1 2 "'Court' gets triple win at Buenos Aires film fest". The Indian Express. 27 April 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  29. ↑ Hopewell, John (28 August 2014). "Artscope Goes to 'Court' With Chaitanya Tamhane's Venice Player (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  30. ↑ Canfield, David (3 February 2015). "Venice Champ 'Court' Acquired by Zeitgeist Films". Indiewire. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  31. ↑ Cox, Gordon (21 January 2015). "Four Sundance Titles slated for New York's New Directors/New Films festival". Variety. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  32. ↑ "New Directors/New Films 2015". Museum of Modern Art. Archived from the original on 7 August 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  33. 1 2 "'Court', 'Chauranga' and 'Killa' bag top honors at 16th Mumbai Film Festival". The Free Press Journal . 22 October 2014. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  34. ↑ Court (2015): Exclusive Teaser: Chaitanya Tamhane. YouTube. India: Zoo Entertainment India. 13 March 2015.
  35. ↑ "Court: Trailer Launch". The Times of India. 24 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  36. ↑ Rathore, Reena (17 December 2015). "Festival Favorite 'Court' Vying for Best Foreign Film at Oscars". India-West. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  37. ↑ "Court". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  38. ↑ "Court (2014)". IMDB.
  39. ↑ "Court". Amazon. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  40. ↑ "India out of Oscars race: 'Court', 'Jalam', 'RangiTaranga', 'Nachom-ia Kumpasar' fail to make it to nominations' list". Firstpost. 14 January 2016. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  41. ↑ Shekhar, Mayank (9 January 2015). "Court Chalu Aahe". OPEN. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  42. ↑ Pal, Deepanjana (27 October 2014). "Court review: Venice Film Festival's favourite shows how Mumbai's lower courts are a black comedy". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  43. ↑ Shedde, Meenakshi (23 November 2014). "Justice-A luxury for the rich". Mid-Day . Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  44. ↑ Gupta, Shubhra (17 April 2015). "Court movie review: It is a searing, unmissable film, the best you will see this year". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  45. ↑ Masand, Rajeev. "Order, order!". RajeevMasand.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  46. ↑ Chopra, Anupama (15 November 2014). "Anupama Chopra's review: Court room drama". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  47. ↑ Singh, Suhani (17 April 2015). "Court review: The compelling drama is the finest film of 2015 so far". India Today . Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  48. ↑ Chatterjee, Saibal (26 February 2016). "Court Movie Review". NDTV. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  49. ↑ Vyavahare, Renuka (18 April 2016). "Court Movie Review". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  50. ↑ Jamkhandikar, Shilpa (17 April 2015). "Movie Review: Court". Reuters. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  51. ↑ Kumar, Anuj (17 April 2015). "Court: Examining the enemy". The Hindu . Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  52. ↑ "Court Review". Koimoi. 16 April 2015. Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  53. ↑ Sen, Raja (17 April 2015). "Review: Court: Better in parts, than as a whole". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  54. ↑ "Court". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 19 August 2022. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  55. ↑ "Court". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc.
  56. ↑ Young, Neil (24 October 2014). "'Court': Antalya Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  57. ↑ Jacques, Mandelbaum (29 November 2014). "A Belfort, trois joyaux de cinéma". Le Monde . Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  58. ↑ McCahill, Mike (24 March 2016). "Court review: India on trial in sharp courtroom drama". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  59. ↑ Holden, Stephen (14 July 2015). "Review: 'Court' Is Chaitanya Tamhane's Unsparing Look at Justice in India". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  60. ↑ Maheshwari, Laya (15 July 2015). "Court". EbertDigital LLC. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  61. ↑ Guidry, Ken (15 July 2015). "Review: Legal Drama 'Court' Borders On Brilliance". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  62. ↑ Singh, Suhani (9 April 2015). "Not everyone wins 18 global and national awards for their debut film. Chaitanya Tamhane, 28, has taken the festival circuit by storm with his gripping Court". India Today. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  63. ↑ "62nd National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. 24 March 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  64. ↑ "52nd Vienna International Film Festival". International Federation of Film Critics. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.