Patna Shuklla movie review: Patna Shuklla is no Jolly LLB, where you break into fits of laughter every now and then upon hearing the arguments presented by the lawyers, and the judge with hilarious one-liners being the funny guy. Yet, this Raveena Tandon-starrer succeeds in putting forth a strong case and makes for a compelling watch. The story isn’t devoid of flaws, and starts to meander after a point; but it’s the earnest and powerful performance by Raveena, and an endearing act by late Satish Kaushik, that elevate the narrative and keep you engaged.
Plot and cast of Patna Shuklla
The premise surrounds Tanvi Shukla (Raveena), a lawyer in Patna’s lower court, who is living her childhood dream of becoming a lawyer. Back home, she is a loving wife to her husband Siddharth (Manav Vij)-who works in the water board as a senior engineer – and a doting mother to their school-going son, Sonu. She refers to herself as ‘papa ki laadli (Father’s favourite)’, but isn’t really dependent on her father (Raju Kher) for daily chores.
Tanvi’s happy family life turns upside down, when one day she decides to fight the case of Rinki Kumari (Anushka Kaushik), and sets out to expose a big scam in the education system involving youth icon Raghubir Singh (Jatin Goswami).
In her quest to get Rinki the justice she deserves, Tanvi ends up rubbing feathers with influential, privileged and connected people, and ends up encountering a dark secret about her own past. As the case gains steam and makes headlines on news channels, Tanvi gets the title Patna Shuklla, with one section lauding her courage, while other trying hard to pull her down.
What works
As a courtroom drama, Vivek Budakoti’s directorial, Patna Shuklla, has its high and low points, and off track moments, but the consistent pace of its screenplay keeps it going. Somewhat different from the recent courtroom dramas that try to go overboard with the humour quotient in the court scenes, this one opts for a more restrained approach – and a fairly serious undertone – yet you can notice subtle attempts at making things lighter, not frivolous, though.
