420 IPC Movie Reviews

Introduction

The courtroom drama has been an integral part of Indian cinema over the years as it reflects the reality of life. Beyond the big screen now, OTT is the new mode of entertainment, especially after COVID-19 hence we can watch this movie on Zee 5. Till now, we have witnessed several courtroom dramas with different storylines and nuances. One more courtroom drama is ready to join this league: "420 IPC," directed by Manish Gupta with a star cast of Rohan Vinod Mehra, Vinay Pathak, Gul Panag, Ranvir Shorey, and Arif Zakaria. It is one of the scripts with a different screenplay or a different film when narrated via diverse filmmaking schools. This film has a bunch of actors coming together to create intense magic with their performance and bring a lot of substance to the screen. of actors coming together to create intense magic with their performance and bring a lot of substance to the screen.

Story

The story starts with Bansi M Keshwani, played by Vinay Pathak, a middle-aged, seemingly charted accountant (CA) who has been raided by CBI in a scam case. He has a top bureaucrat and a veteran builder as his clients. The situation becomes critical when he gets arrested for forgery, theft, and bank fraud. His wife Pooja (Gul Panag) and son Amit (Sush Kalra) have to survive all this with him and deal with the situation, and he hires a lawyer named Birbal Chaudhary (Rohan Mehra). The lawyer fought this case with a vision that there is more in this case beyond eyes can see.

Analysis and Review

The first screen Bansi visiting his client Deputy Director, Sandesh Bhosale (Mahesh Pillai) at MMRDA ( Mumbai Metropolitan Road Development Authority) to discuss ITR filing for him and his family. After returning home, his wife Pooja showed him the bank's eviction notice for failing to pay the last EMIs of the home loan. They were trying to figure out the crisis, and suddenly, CBI officers knocked on the door. They came to search his house and take him along to their office. Bansi was confused with their move and become aware of the Bhonsale arrest for Rs 1200 crore scam in the Airoli Flyover Scam. After the trial, Bansi got a clean chit in the case, but a drastic turn came to his story when he got arrested in a bank fraud and forgery case. He was accused of attempting to extract Rs 1.5 crore from a builder Neeraj Sinha (the character played by Arif Zakaria). Neeraj Sinha is another client of Bansi Keshwani who found his three cheques missing 50 lacks each, so he accused Keshwani of stealing and forging cheques and turning his life upside down.

Although all the evidence is stacked against Bansi, he tries to convenience everyone about his innocence and asks his lawyer to bail him out. The rest of the story is a battle of finding an answer to whether he is guilty. A battle inside the courtroom where a simple court case turns into an economic offense further reveals a crooked game expected by none. This movie is not a super exciting thriller or mystery due to the limits of money scams, but it still stays on a level.

After the arrest, CA Keshwani and his wife hired a lawyer named Birbal to prove him innocent. Birbal is a passionate lawyer who took the case seriously and dug out the entire thing to the core. As we go deep into the case, unexpected things happen, roots of this case leads to corruption and black money scams, and thrills begin in the story.

Defendant's lawyer came up with clever tricks to prove Bansi's innocence. Lots of legalities are thrown in the entire tale but barely any heated, quick-witted argument between the two lawyers. Significant action occurs in the courtroom, but we can't witness much drama.

The cast of 420 IPC

420 IPC frame has got a talented cast who are not superstars but have superb acting skills than them, such as:

1. Vinay Pathak: A standard and straightforward working middle-class man with a family. Once again, he has proven that he's also an unconventional actor. His character is similar to its moves like Ramprasad ki Tehrvi, Aaja Nachle, Bheja Fry, and Chappad Phaad ke.
2. Gul Panag: An actor with well-defined acting skills who is honest with every moment she spends on screen.
3. Ranvir Shorey: Ranvir Shorey: Act as Savak Jamshedji, public prosecutor lawyer, and successfully portray this role efficiently.
4. Rohan Mehra: Act as Birbal Choudhary, an inexperienced but bright lawyer appointed by Vinay Pathak to prove his innocence. He acts as a charming, bright, and sincere lawyer with a decent screen presence but hardly makes any impact on the screen.

About Director

Director Manish Gupta does an impactful job, but before this, he directed 'Rahasya' and wrote 'Section 375'. With 420 IPC, he devised an exciting courtroom drama with a story of bank fraud, forgery, and economic offense hardly happening in Hindi cinema. He cleverly narrated the story with exciting twists until white, black, and grey were separated.

To make this story accurate and effective, director Manish researches this kind of case and delves into forensic and handwriting analysis to make it authentic and extensive. He details every proceeding inside or outside the court to keep the viewer engaged, and this screenplay is relatively taut and keeps the public intrigued till the end.

Some negative reviews

Some viewers have negative reviews about 420 IPC movies that it has some unimpressive performances, like Gul Panag's character is compared with a mere piece of furniture. Being a defined actor, Shorey disappoints viewers as his style is compared or copied to Irani's style in Jolly LLB. In the film, Mehra is a chocolate boy, whereas Pathak infuses a compelling aura as a man avenged and wronged. The courtroom scene appears virtually lifeless compared with Jolly LLB, which was mischievously witty.

Technical aspect

The makers avoid adding unnecessary songs to the narrative. In editing, to movie drags several points in the first half. Dramatic intensity is hardly added to the movie by the background score, especially in the initial portion, but the technical aspects are up to mark. Gobinda Baidya does the production design, which looks nuanced and organic. Arvind Kannabrian and Raaj Chakravarti do cinematography that adds the next level of essence to the movie.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the film is a full-on entertainer but needs all your attention while watching. The film wrapped up in the last 15 minutes very quickly, and a severe or tense but enjoyable atmosphere was created that surprised viewers with the turn of events. This short film is an excellent follow-up to Scam 1992 (Harshad Mehta Story) and a packed courtroom exciting drama to watch out for.