Bollywood vs World Cinema (or even Hollywood): How Jolly LLB 2 Left me Asking Some Questions

It's tragicomic in a sort of way that of all the wonderful Hollywood and world cinema I have been watching in loads in last three months, I am choosing to write about a Bollywood film here. Jolly L.L.B 2 is the subject here. It's a typical 'feel good' Bollywood film, no more, no less. Akahaye, Saurabh and Annu were up to the task and made everything work out to almost perfection. Dialogues were not over-the-top. Narrative though was certainly skewed to make audience empathize with Akshaye's gimmick. What disappointed me most was how over-the-top the court scenes were. They were unbearably unfathomable and made absolutely no sense. That Jammu Police let go of Fahim Butt and Jolly in the last scene simply because they won a famous trial in Lucknow was the part where I thought of terming this write-up tragicomic. This is where, I believe, Bollywood let go of its 'thinking' audience. Hollywood too doesn't care much when it churns out crowd pleasing summer blockbusters but as of late, certain directors like Nolan are changing the trend. And it's a foregone conclusion that Bollywood would ever match Hollywood's standards. Yesterday I finished Dr. Strange before jumping to J.L.L.B 2 and I could simply marvel at the imagination and skills set of those involved with it. It was simply an 'out of the world' work of Cinema and yet many critics and thousands of viewers didn't find it 'that charming and good'. That notion simply opens up the debate that one day, Audiences in India would own up to the superior servings of Hollywood and Co. and the tradition of producing well thought out and challenging films would be over on Bollywood. South India may survive given its directors are way more imaginative than their northern counterparts but only if multiplex owners who are shutting their shops with increased frenzy nowadays show promise to their product portfolio.

The finest courtroom drama that I stood witness to was Sidney Lumet's 'The Verdict' starring Paul Newman. It's a sad film where an ageing Paul struggles to land a proper case but when he gets one, he fails it. It ends tragically. You can almost feel Paul's agony. It's also one of those rare films where you can see Newman 'act' for he didn't ever need to because of his imperious natural acting talent. Then Lumet's direction has always been deemed path-breaking in Hollywood. He singlehandedly made a star out of Al Pacino. Hell, he even made Vin Diesel 'act' in one of his last films. The Verdict is a film with 'no gimmick' at all. It circumnavigates only 2 outdoor locations and the courtroom most of the times and yet it makes you engrossed and enchanted through its powerful narrative. I would be lying if I say I didn't enjoy Jolly LLB 2 but I would lie too when I say that I cringe Everytime it makes an effort to crowd-please everyone. For one more time, Bollywood tried to make me believe in itself only to shatter that notion couple of hrs later and Thank God, it was only couple of hrs.