Jai Bhim is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language legal drama directed by T. J. Gnanavel and produced by Jyothika and Suriya. This courtroom drama digs deep into the police brutality, caste discrimination and power plays in the legal systems of India. Although this film has a hero to make things right and make sure justice is served on a silver platter, it also reminds you how terribly unfortunate your life in India probably is going to be if you happen to be an economically backward lower caste individual. You might get lucky, sure, but chances are no righteous lawyer with a hunger to right the wrongs of the social problems birthed by the society and that too absolutely free of charge is going to roll right into your life.
The film stars Lijomol Jose and K. Manikandan as Sengenni and Rajkannu, a couple who work their ass off to provide for their kids and themselves. Despite being honest and hard-working, they also happen to be from a snake-catching tribe, which is essentially the reason for the family’s awful ruination. The story follows Rajkannu who goes to a wealthy and important man’s house in the village to get rid of the snake which enters their house. Later a robbery takes place in the house and Rajkannu, courtesy of his social status becomes the prime suspect. The village police, at first as they’re unable to find him decide to drag his family members to jail and beat them to a pulp. Sengenni, who at the time is pregnant is no exception to this assault. Finally, when they do find Rajkannu he’s taken in and tortured in an attempt to get a confession out of him for something he never did. And then surprise surprise, they actually bludgeon him to death. And to save them their jobs and of course their precious image, they come up with a mighty plan to frame his death as roadkill. Chandru, a people’s hero and a virtuous lawyer comes to Sengenni’s rescue and helps unfold the real story in front of the court. The clever advocate, as you might have guessed wins Sengenni the case. As the film moves on forward you can slowly feel the rage and fear build up inside you, rage for the unbelievably cruel bigotry and fear as you realise that this still happens, probably is happening somewhere right now.
The screenplay is quite apt to the story. The story of a hero who takes a stand for the weak. And it’s very direct too, especially the scene where Chandru is protesting amongst the lawyers and jumps up over the barricade, his suit flying behind him, or when he strides through the halls of the court in a proud I’m-the-protector-of-justice-and-better-than-all-you-losers way. There is a lot of display of communism throughout the film, and although Ambedkar was strongly against it, Chandru with a clear leaning towards communism mentions Ambedkar in support. Though most courtroom dramas seem to have a bunch of punchlines, this one is fairly realistic.
The cinematography is quite unique, with camera angles that are similar to that of CCTV cameras. The social hierarchy is so painfully evident, so much so that by just looking at the shots it’s almost as if the cameraman is lying on the ground. The point of view shot during the police brutality make you feel empathy rather than sympathy. The colours are the prettiest during the rainy scene with blues and greys. There also seems to be some red present around Chandru. Clearly, the drama is anything but subtle and does seem to take away the focus from the issue. But then again people do adore a good hero film.
Dramatic or not, this film definitely changes the way you look at law enforcement officers.
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