An adaptation of American series The Good Wife, Suparn Verma's eight-episode legal drama, The Trial, is currently streaming on Disney+Hotstar, with each episode running for a duration of 35-40 minutes each. The show stars Kajol as lawyer Noyonika Sengupta who returns to the courtroom after her high profile lawyer husband Rajiv (Jisshu Sengupta) goes behind the bars for demanding sexual favours.
She sets out to tackle life at its worst which involves facing the society’s backlash alongside rebuilding her career and taking care of her kids. The storyline is aptly summed by the three words in the show's tagline— 'Pyaar, Kanoon, Dhoka' [love, law betrayal].
With her husband's sex tapes going viral, the family is forced to bid goodbye to their big home and lavish lifestyle. Unable to join several law firms due to the controversy, Noyonika is forced to join as an intern under her former lover Vishal (Alyy Khan) at his law firm and start her career from scratch. While paving her way through the mess created by her husband, she also has to try and outperform her companion lawyer Dheeraj (Gaurav Pandey) for a permanent position in the firm.
With a rather mundane storyline and script, The Trial does not bring anything exceptional to the viewer. The only engaging points of the show are clearly the ones that portray family and work dynamics.
The actors playing Noyonika's teenage daughters delivered an exceptional performance where they conveyed the vision of two girls deeply affected by their father’s illegal affairs. Having to grow up way sooner than the rest of their companions, their reaction while witnessing scandalous posts involving their family was something that made the viewers emotionally invested in the show. Kajol, too, does justice to her character who balances family and work and delivers a consistent performance. Kubbra Sait who is also a lawyer working at the same firm managed to play a calm and composed character who was an earnest companion to Noyonika throughout the show.
The story has been portrayed strictly through a female gaze making Noyonika the centre of influence in the show. The show is based around her point of view and approach towards the turmoil around her. The Trial manages to become a decently engaging watch and ends on a cliffhanger making the audience hope for a season 2.
Series: The Trial
Directed by: Suparn Verma
Cast: Kajol, Jisshu Sengupta, Kubbra Sait, Alyy Khan, Sheeba Chaddha
Language: Hindi
Streaming on: Disney plus Hotstar
