The hard-hitting Tamil courtroom drama ‘Jai Bhim’ (2021) was able to reinforce the common man’s trust in the country’s legal system, besides sending out the message that justice will be delivered finally if people resort to the legal route, Justice (Rtd.) K Chandru has said.
He expressed this view while in a conversation with advocate Thushara James at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL 2023).
Directed by T J Gnanavel, ‘Jai Bhim’ was based on a case fought by Shri Chandru, who became a lawyer post-retirement, for the couple named Rajakannu and Sengeni from the Irular Tribe in Tamil Nadu.
Highlighting that ‘Jai Bhim’ has unmistakably proved as to what extent a film can create its impact on society and power centres, he said there were massive interventions for Irular community post the release of the movie.
He said while going for a meeting in 1993, Rajakannu’s wife approached him with the missing complaint of her husband. “After my retirement, I had mentioned this sensational case that happened during my practice as a lawyer in many interviews. I had written about the incident in a magazine during that period itself but it failed to garner attention,” he recalled.
Later, during a car journey with Gnanavel, Shri Chandru discussed the incident with him and the former soon realised possibilities of a film’s plot in it.
Shri Chandru wanted a film that must be beneficial for someone and thus the problems of Irular community came to the fore in the flick. “The film showed justice to around 95 percent of the real-life incident. More importantly, everyone was able to understand more about the tribe and their real issues,” he said.
When the film was censored, as many as 46 cuts were suggested and ‘A’ certification was inevitable for the film. The makers were not ready to trim even a scene and thus it was streamed on Over the Top (OTT) platform.
The former Justice added that he had decided not to appear in the film even as it depicted his life and he was keen on supporting the team from behind.
MBIFL 2023 features an impressive line-up of Nobel and Booker Prize winners and Jnanpith awardees, among over 400 eminent names in creative fields.
