Many of us, consciously or subconsciously, are heavily influenced by popular media and film and legal court dramas are  no exception. They, in equal parts, entertain and educate. In this episode, we spoke to Anushka Shah, the founder of Civic Studios and Chaitanya Tamhane, the writer and director of the nationally and internationally lauded Marathi film, ‘Court’.

Anushka Shah strongly believes in the power of entertainment to bring change. Her organization, Civic Studios, notes that “a good story and set of characters can bring attention to ignored issues, create awareness of rights and duties, and model exemplary actions to help ‘fix-the-system’.” Chaitanya, on the other hand, has created an exceptional piece of art through his movie, “Court”, that exemplifies the type of art Anushka has been rooting for. The film follows the trial of a protest poet and singer who is accused of abetting the suicide of a manhole worker to reveal the systemic issues of bigotry and injustice in society and the judicial system. 

We chatted with Anushka and Chaitanya about the role of art in social change and the moral responsibility of artists, especially in the depiction of a courtroom drama. In the process, we explored the importance of empathy in building characters, realism in cinema and how conveying the fragility of the individual in a complex and unpredictable system transcends the courtroom. 

Reading list:

1. Court (2014), available on Netflix

2. Civic Studios, Crime and Punishment in Indian Entertainment, 2019 https://sway.office.com/CUIjI1M69CLiVxCN

3. Aishwarya Viswanathan, Roohi Bhatia and Anushka Shah, Crime, courtroom drama in Indian entertainment: How the genres sway popular opinion on law and judiciary, Firspost, 2020 https://www.firstpost.com/india/crime-courtroom-drama-in-indian-entertainment-how-the-genre-sways-popular-opinion-on-law-and-judiciary-7905631.html#aid_8087031

Host: Anindita Pattanayak

This is a Maed in India production.

Production Head & Editor: Joshua Thomas

Sound Mixing: Kartik Kulkarni

Project Supervisor: Shaun Fanthome