Be it drinking secretly within the walls of home or dressing daringly in the husband's company, away from the neighbourhood in the anonymity of Hazratganj. It's about knocking at conservatism from within. Women may not have much of a role in the film but it's interesting how they are still shown negotiating their own space within the larger male mindset. Religion after all, is also all about money honey. And there was something amusing (even if unintended by the filmmaker) in seeing the hero dive into the Ganges with a Dollar Big Boss banian on. The brands seem to have come into the picture after the scene was conceived rather than being written for the convenience of product placements. In one shot it captures yet subverts an ethos so effortlessly that I easily forgave the atta and oil brand placements in there. Then in a little gem of a scene Kumar makes rotis for his family.
The strategic if trifle stretched jokiness in calling Jolly’s (as in Rajesh Khanna’s real life son-in-law) wife Pushpa elicits giggles. The judge editing his daughter’s wedding card in the court is a priceless moment. And where a munshi’s son dreams of having a lawyer's chamber of his own even if he has to pay a bribe Rs 12 lakh for it. It’s also where professions are inherited but also broken into and away from by more ambitious youngsters. It’s a world where surnames are more defining than the first names, where cheating in exams is a legitimate business, where class divides rise above religious ones, where a 15th assistant is treated like house help by the senior lawyer. In the world of Jolly LLB the landscape and local flavour, language and culture-of Lucknow, Kanpur and Jhansi-the lines and enunciation get as much attention as the cheap sneakers and terricot/terrylene pants and shirts that Jolly sports. And then towering above them all, side by side to Kumar are Saurabh Shukla and Annu Kapoor who put an added zing to the clever lines, wordplay and give and take reserved for them as the judge and the defence lawyer respectively. But these small roles do add in offering a bigger social picture, each of the pieces is eventually knit well to make for a compelling weft and weave. That could make you mad, you might be left asking for more of them. From veterans like Ram Gopal Bajaj to Vinod Nagpal, Manav Kaul to Sanjay Mishra, Brijendra Kala to Sudhanva Deshpande. A world peopled with interesting oddball characters played by some terrific actors.
On the other hand is the small world he inhabits-the pan stained walls and the seedy environs of Zila Evam Satr Nyayalaya (District and Sessions court). Then there is the committed big star (Akshay Kumar in the titular role), sincerely shedding the trappings of stardom, at times deliberately restrained yet delivering filmi justice and the big message against the system-administrative as well as religious-in a populist and predictable, stereotypical and sentimental yet entirely forceful and successful way. On the one hand is the overarching story of an innocent branded a criminal, of the common man having to suffer at the hands of a powerful and corrupt system. There are two aspects to Jolly LLB 2: the big and the small.
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