Movie Review of Punjabi Movie Judge Singh LLB starring Ravinder Grewal, B.N. Sharma and Sardar Sohi. Directed by Athrav Baluja.
Judge Singh LLB is a satire on modern day advocacy. The film revolves around Judge Singh, who is an LLB, but not practicing. Having turned 33 years old, he has been refused 7 times for marriage. Eventually the 8th time they speak a lie and present Judge Singh as a murder specialist lawyer. For what the destiny has for him, his in laws’ nephew, Sonu is shown fabricated in a murder case of MLA’s daughter and Judge Singh is asked to represent him in the court. An amateur Judge Singh defends him against the top lawyer of Punjab, TS Brar. Brar plants false evidence against Sonu, but a determined Judge Singh overcomes all his malpractices. For when he thinks he is near the victory, a twist in tale turns the table around.
The story of Judge Singh LLB can be classified as old wine in a new bottle. We have already seen such stories. This Atharv Baluja story can be summed up as, Bollywood film Jolly LLB plus a little twist in the tale equals Judge Singh LLB. However when you think it’s all over, you’re actually wrong. The director has managed to save the suspense till the very end. The story is engrossing in the second half but the first half seems a little monotonous. For example the very first scene of the film where two villagers attending to their morning call find the body of the girl is overstretched. For a person who is an LLB and is up all night reading law books to find a way to get bail or judicial custody, it is hard to believe that he won’t realise the difference between anticipatory bail and a normal bail. You find scenes away from reality which are forced to just to bring out the humour element.
This is second film for Ravinder Grewal after Aiven Raula Pai Gaya. He has done a decent job in acting. He and BN Sharma share nice father-son chemistry in the movie. Sardar Sohi is shown in a negative role. He has played his character well, especially in the scenes of aggression. Chandan Prabhakar who has also written the dialogues of the movie has also done an appreciable work in acting. However you find the likes of Harpal Singh and Anita Devgan not used to their potential in the movie.
Atharv Baluja too is directing his second movie. He had earlier worked with Ravinder Grewal only in Aiven Raula Pai Gaya. He has done an average job in the direction. There are certain bloopers in the movie which could have been certainly avoided but were not eventually. For example Judge Singh is shown sitting in Chamber number 4 in the movie. But a closer look on a Judge Singh’s Folder (File) mentions his Chamber as number 9.
When the film stars a singer who has turned actor, one expects high class music for the film. But here it’s not that great. Like Aiven Raula Pai Gaya, there are some peppy tracks and a sad song in the movie. The background score of the movie is also out of sync. You actually find it disturbing at times. At times it has been too loud.
Overall, Judge Singh LLB is an average movie. You might not like the first half much but as the movie progresses, the suspense in the second half will captivate your interest to sit through the end. The film is a one-time watch, if you don’t have anything else planned for the weekend.
