Star Cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Surveen Chawla, Khushi Bhardwaj, Asha Negi
Web Series Review: Criminal Justice: A Family Matter (Season 4) is an engrossing ‘affair’
Director: Rohan Sippy
Synopsis:
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: A FAMILY MATTER, which is the fourth season of the series, is a murder mystery cum courtroom drama. Dr Raj Nagpal (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) is a renowned surgeon in Mumbai. He is separated from his wife Anju (Surveen Chawla) for more than a year but not divorced. She stays in the house next door as she wants to be there for their daughter Ira (Khushi Bhardwaj), who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Anju is a lawyer but she gave up her practice 10 years ago to look after Ira. Raj has also kept a nurse Roshni (Asha Negi) for Ira’s needs. With time, Raj and Roshni come close and fall in love. Anju has no issues with this. During Ira’s birthday party, a conflict takes place between Raj and Roshni. The latter leaves the house in a hush. Early next morning, the Nagpals’ house help Kamala (Amrut Sant) enters the house to find Roshni dead and lying in a pool of blood with Raj holding her body. The police believe Raj is the murderer and take him into custody as prime suspect. Anju approaches Madhav Mishra (Pankaj Tripathi) to be Raj’s lawyer, to which he agrees. Madhav is no longer a dark horse. He has become quite renowned. His team includes Shivani Mathur (Barkha Singh), his brother-in-law Deep (Aatm Prakash Mishra) and his wife Ratna (Khushboo Atre). Will Madhav be able to provide justice once again forms the rest of the story.
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Story Review:
The show is adapted from the British show of the same name. Harman Wadala, Rahul Ved Prakash, Varsha Ramachandran and Riya Poojary’s story is a mixture of new and old. The novel factor is the unusual family where a man and his wife, although separated, are neighbours while the former’s mistress is also a part of family. But at the end of the day, the show is a whodunit and this becomes the main focus later on. Hence, the whole format appears repetitive as there has already been previous three seasons on the same theme. Another issue is the high length of the last three episodes. Thankfully, the final moments turn out to be a saving grace as the final twist is not only surprising but also moving.
Another saving grace is the screenplay by Harman Wadala, Sandeep Hain and Sameer Mishra. Except for a few unwanted moments, it keeps you engrossed throughout. This time, there are no scenes focusing on the terrible life inside jails for under trials, which is good as this aspect has been explored before in detail in previous seasons. Harman Wadala, Sandeep Hain and Sameer Mishra’s dialogues (with additional lines by Anurag Pandey) are conversational but at the same time witty, especially the ones given to Madhav Mishra’s character.
Rohan Sippy’s direction is pretty good, just like the previous two seasons. He has succeeded in keeping things under control.
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Performances
The performances clearly fall in the positive. Pankaj Tripathi once again succeeds in making his iconic character of Madhav Mishra interesting and entertaining. The way he switches between being serious and sarcastic deserves mention. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub justifies his talent yet again while playing a complex character. He portrays various emotions effortlessly and, at times, speaks through expressions. Surveen Chawla also leaves behind a solid impact in a difficult character. Asha Negi fits the character of Roshni to the T and delivers a convincing act.
Khushi Bhardwaj is the surprise package. She is simply brilliant in the role of a teenager suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome. Shweta Basu Prasad again does well as the cunning opposition lawyer Lekha Agastya. This time her character is less mean. Mita Vashisht as the senior lawyer Mandira Mathur is effortlessly good. Amruta Sant (Kamala) is memorable despite limited screen time. From Madhav’s team, Barkha Singh, Aatm Prakash Mishra and Khushboo Atre chip in with good supporting acts. From the rest of the recurring cast, Kalyanee Mulay (police officer Gauri Karmarkar) and Ajeet Singh Palawat (inspector Harsh Pradhan) continue their good work.
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter music and other technical aspects:
Sameer Phaterpekar’s music adds the right amount of thrill and becomes loud only when needed. Murzy Pagdiwala’s camerawork is simple, which goes with the theme. Gaurav Aggarwal’s editing is slick but he could have used his scissors more in the last three episodes. Sunil Nigvekar’s production design and Sujata Rajain’s costumes are more into the realistic zone, going well with the theme.
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Conclusion:
On the whole, CRIMINAL JUSTICE: A FAMILY MATTER is an engrossing ‘affair’ with fine performances. However, with four seasons following the same format, the show is now becoming repetitive.
Rating: 3 stars
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