The Trial

Noyonika Sengupta( Kajol) is having a sound marriage,( or so her friends think) two beautiful kid daughters and a seemingly successful hubby who's a judge. And then her world comes crashing down when her husband's sex videos are released on social media( Jisshu Sengupta). A case is also made out against him of bribery, of accepting sexual favours etc. He is arrested and sent to jail. In his absence Noyonika Sengupta has to let go of the house, bank accounts of her husband. She doesn't work aby longer but once she was a hotshot lawyer. Her old friend Vishal helps her by giving her a position of intern on probation in his law firm. Noyonika and her two impressionable daughters are socially humiliated at her husband / their father having been incarcerated on bribery, and sexual escapade charges. But she carries on gamely and tries to explain the situation as honestly as possible, to her kids. She's deeply hurt by her hubby's wayward behaviour and infidelity but keeps her emotions in check.

Kajol as Noyonika Sengupta is brilliant. At times quite hyper but overall quite professional. It's just that her cases in the court appear to rather facile. Subplots are rather weak. The drama is not as taut as the story would demand. Acting wise as mentioned Kajol is pretty convincing in portraying her inner betrayal and at the same time in maintaining a professional facade. Jisshu does not have much drama in his character. He's passable. Kubra Sait is a revelation! Ally Khan as Vishal, Noyonika's good friend and once date in college, is quite good. Screenplay is a tad loose. Watchable but not great.

The Trial (2023): Series Review -

Kajol makes a webseries debut in Suparn Verma's eight-episode series, "The Trial". Based on CBS' TV series "The Good Wife," The Trial is a testament to theoretical changes according to our society's trends. Suparn Verma has created a show for our audience, but the adultery features are still not appropriate for families. But otherwise, it's an honest adaptation of The Good Wife. If you are thinking The Trial is about bringing about good and necessary changes in family traditions, society, and the legal system, then let me tell you that you are absolutely wrong. An absolute wrong perception brings an absolute disappointment. So you better prepare yourself for something that's about betrayal and evil, be it any element of the series-drama, law and justice, profession, love, or promises.

Rajeev Sengupta's (Jisshu Sengupta) sex clip with a female escot goes viral, and so he is suspended from his law position. His wife, Noyonika (Kajol), is devastated but has to take care of the kids and the family, which leads him to step out of the house for a job. Her ex-boyfriend, Vishal (Alyy Khan), gives her a chance at his law firm as an intern on probation for 6 months. Noyonika's one and only competition is another intern, Dheeraj (Gaurav Pandey), who is the favourite of one of the bosses, Malini (Sheeba Chaddha). Noyonika's kids are feeling ashamed to go to school and public places since their dad's image is totally filthy. The case is pretty similar to Noyonika's, but she believes in fighting rather than running away. With new cases in hand, office pressure, her husband's case, and conspiracies, Noyonika tries to find, or better say, establish, her existence as a woman who can do anything.

The Trial is indeed about a lot of things, but sadly, it doesn't put in enough effort to complete at least one of them. It is about fighting for law and justice, but we see lawyers who are more interested in their clients' goodwill and business. It's about a woman who is betrayed by her husband, but we see her repeating the same mistake with a sort of extramarital affair. The Trial is also about the Media Trial and how it can destroy someone's life, but we see it getting scrapped by someone's medical condition rather than arguments in court. The Trial also tries its hands at love triangle, and believe me, it's a big flop there. Justice and Love needed purification here, but sadly, that didn't happen. Some of the cases actually start off on an interesting note but end up being mediocre. Somebody's medical insurance fraud deserves to be explained so that people will understand the loopholes and tricks, but the Trial has you finishing it off with political references. Nevertheless, The Trial attempts all the trending things in today's world, and I am glad that somebody took on this challenge. One of the major influences on these is social media, news headlines, and reality shows. But somewhere, it needed a little filtering for the children and family audiences since some of the characters represent them on screen.

The Trial gets all the actors to perform at their best. Kajol literally shines like a strong lead in this series, and I am happy to see her working so well in a longer format. Usually, a two-hour runtime may not be enough for her calibre, but webseries have that liberty. Except for a few prosthetic exposure shots, she looks absolutely stunning. Every episode ends with her poetic dialogue, and that, I believe, is what stays with you. Jisshu Sengupta has been underlined in this series, but he makes a good comeback in the concluding parts. Kubbra Sait has a good role with bad features, but she does fine. A couple of kissing scenes are becoming mandatory for webseries nowadays; therefore, Kubrra has them naturally. But what's surprising is that even Kajol couldn't stay far this time. Sheeba Chaddha is a total killer as the head of a law firm. She makes things so natural and easy for the co-actors and her director. The male cast of The Trial has also done exceptionally well, including Alyy Khan, Gaurav Pandey, Kiran Kumar, Swayam Joshi, and others. Haelyn Shastri, Sheena Chouhan, Nancy Gill, Nirbhay Jain, Manasvi Mamgai, Flora Saini, Suchitra Pillai, and the rest of the supporting cast are very nice.

Coming to the technical aspects, The Trial seemed decent. The cinematography and the background score could have been better since it was a sort of thriller with courtroom drama. The production design is fine, though. You know, we have been habitual of seeing long and wide courtrooms, when in reality, it's completely different. The Trial shows you how it is-from outside as well as inside. Suparn Verma's courtroom drama raises a lot of questions that have been raised before. What the law and justice's failure tries to suggest here is comparatively nothing in comparison to what we have seen in "Section 375" (2019). The feminism angle of a working woman is far too dated now. If you ask me what's new, I'd say the ending. That betrayal and that longing actually sounded better than the whole show. The Trial gains something and misses something, but overall, it's a standard legal family drama that makes for a decent watch.

RATING - 5/10*

"The Trail" is a web series that draws inspiration from the Good wife but has nuances of popular legal dramas like "Boston Legal" and "Suits." While it leans more towards being a drama than a strictly legal series, the performances of Kajol and Aly Khan shine brightly. The storyline revolves around a cheating scandal involving a lawyer, blending elements of family drama into the narrative.

On a rating scale, I would give it a 6. The plot centers around the acceptance of cheating in a semi-modern society like India, juxtaposed with deep-rooted traditions-an intriguing irony. Some episodes offer engaging storylines, but it's hard to ignore the strong resemblance to "Suits" and "Boston Legal." Unfortunately, the acting of the junior lawyer is subpar and can be quite annoying.

One notable oddity is how the kids hide the crucial piece of evidence, adding a layer of suspense. While the direction is commendable, the script could have been better structured, and the series could have explored more innovative approaches. Despite its flaws, "The Legal Code" manages to deliver moments of intrigue and keeps viewers entertained throughout. Average one time watch !

Anwar Says: I was waiting for this series, not disappointed but not happy either. Adapted from GOOD WIFE, the American web series is not simply a courtroom drama but sheds light on impact of media trial, love triangle , family feuds, behaviour of children on father's betrayal, however unable to conclude. Suparn S Verma should have gone deeper into the screenplay and may have been a better outcome.

Kajol is probably the best actress of this era and she as a multifaceted and resilient woman shines both in courtroom scenes ,as well as in emotional family scenes and handling the growing children. Kubra Sait as Sana is such a cool character and is an integral part of the series and so Alyy Khan putting huge mark. Sheeba Chaddha, Kiran Kumar , Gaurav Pandey and Amir Ali have put their best.

Trial touched some very important cases of social importance but not able to bring it to logical end and it was also shocking to see a top law firm has allowed an intern to handle such sensitive cases . Kiran Kumar leaving the firm for absolutely no reason is als unconvincing. Watch it for Kajol only.

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I'm uncertain about why this series received a low rating, but personally, I enjoyed it a lot as it kept me thoroughly engaged. Nowadays, we often witness excessive use of abusive language, cuss words, and unnecessary sex scenes in many series. However, this particular series refrained from incorporating such elements, despite having the opportunity to do so. It impressively depicted the struggles of a woman trying to protect her family at any cost, while also avoiding over-dramatization. The series also portrayed the significance of a woman's career. Though at times, I found it slightly drawn-out, I am eagerly anticipating the next seasons.