''Jolly LLB'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to disc ...

film written and directed by

Subhash Kapoor Subhash Kapoor is an Indian film director, and screenwriter. He was a political journalist, and later became known for directing satirical comical dramas like '' Phas Gaye Re Obama'' (2010), ''Jolly LLB'' (2013) and ''Jolly LLB 2'' (2017). Car ...

and produced by

Fox Star Studios Star Studios (formerly known as Fox Star Studios) is an Indian motion picture production and distribution company. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney Star, part of the Disney International Operations segment of The Walt Disney Company. Th ...

. The film stars

Arshad Warsi Arshad Warsi (born 19 April 1968) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several awards including a Filmfare Award from five nominations and is noted for acting in varied film genres. Before making his acting deb ...

Boman Irani Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian actor, photographer and voice artist who works predominantly in Hindi cinema he has also worked in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. He has acted in more than a 100 films in his career. Ear ...

and

Amrita Rao Amrita Rao (born 7 June 1981), is an Indian actress who is known primarily for her work in Hindi films. Rao made her acting debut in ''Ab Ke Baras'' (2002), which earned her a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut in 2003. She su ...

. The theatrical trailer was revealed on 8 January 2013. Released on 15 March 2013, the film revolves around the early life of Advocate Jagdish Tyagi a.k.a. Jolly and focuses on his attempt to earn six innocent wage earners their rights and his journey against the monopolistic behavior of the rich and judicial corruption. The storyline is inspired by the 1999 hit-and-run case of

Sanjeev Nanda Six persons, including three police officers were killed by a speeding BMW E38 in the Lodhi Colony area of Delhi, India, on 10 January 1999. After following trails of the engine oil, police found the BMW at 50 Golf Links, the residence of Rajee ...

and a minor reference to Priyadarshini Mattoo case.

Plot

In 2009, Jagdish "Jolly" Tyagi is a Delhi-based lawyer staying with his brother-in-law Pratap and is in a relationship with Sandhya. He happens to see prominent criminal lawyer Tejinder Rajpal successfully defending Rahul Dewan, a boy from a high society family in a

sessions court A Sessions Court or even known as the Court of Sessions Judge is a court of law which exists in several Commonwealth countries. A Court of Session is the highest criminal court in a district and the court of first instance for trying serious off ...

, who is accused of drunken driving in a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado causing death of six people sleeping on the footpath five months earlier. Jolly, desperate to have some money and fame, decides to pursue the case and files a PIL in the court against Rahul Dewan. After initially reprimanding Jolly for his mistakes in filing the PIL and taking the press reports as evidence, Justice Sunderlal Tripathi warns Jolly to collect some evidence before the next hearing. Jolly then runs into Albert Pinto, who claims to have witnessed the accident but soon learns that he is a lackey of Rajpal and was a plan to extract more money from the Dewan family. As part of the deal, Pinto gives Jolly a share of the money and turns hostile in the court. Sandhya and Kaul Saab chide him for compromising on justice for his greed. He returns the money to Rajpal and challenges him to win the case. With Pratap's help, Jolly collects the video footage of the car involved in the accident and presents it to the court. Rajpal counters that the car was driven by the driver of Dewan family and the footage was fake. Jolly refutes it by successfully cross examining the driver, who finally accepts that he has registered a false statement. The Judge orders the police to provide a bodyguard for Jolly after he is manhandled by Rajpal's assistants. Although Sub-Inspector Satbir Rathi, who is also on Rajpal's payroll, tries to sabotage him, Jolly, with the help of the bodyguard, leaves for Gorakhpur after he learns that Sadakant Mishra, a survivor of the accident stays there. Jolly, after passing through many hurdles, successfully brings Mishra to the court. Rajpal tries to scuttle proceedings but the hesitant Tripathi overrules him. Mishra reveals the truth of the accident: that night, he and his relatives were sleeping on the footpath when Rahul Dewan drove his Land Cruiser over them, except Mishra. When he saw Mishra witnessing what he did, Rahul backed his car hoping to run over him, but instead ran over his leg, resulting in it being amputated. Mishra also states that Rathi had threatened him after the accident and fabricated the investigation. He was only allowed to go after he offered his hard-earned money and jewelry for his sister's wedding. Mishra also identifies Rahul Dewan as the one who drove the car. After the emotional closing arguments by Rajpal and Jolly, the judge directs the police department to suspend Rathi and initiate a criminal inquiry against him and also declares Rahul Dewan as guilty of the crime and sentences him to seven years in jail under Section 304 of the

Indian Penal Code The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of India established ...

. As Jolly walks out receiving praises, Rajpal sits crestfallen over losing a case for the first time.

Cast

as Advocate Jagdish Tyagi a.k.a. Jolly *

as Advocate Tejinder Rajpal *

as Sandhya a.k.a. Sandhu *

Saurabh Shukla Saurabh Shukla (born 5 March 1963) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, and film director who works in Hindi and a few Tamil and Telugu films. He is famous for his roles in ''Satya'' (1998), '' Nayak: The Real Hero'' (2001), '' Yuva'' (2004), ''L ...

as Justice Sunderlal Tripathi *

Harsh Chhaya Harsh Chhaya is an Indian actor. He debuted in a minor role as "Jijo" in the early 1990s Zee TV series '' Tara'', but first came into prominence in the role of Krishnakant Trivedi (KT) in mid 1990s TV series '' Hasratein'', where he portrayed ...

as Albert Pinto * Manoj Pahwa as Pratap (Jolly's brother-in-law) * Ramesh Deo as Kaul Saab *

Mohan Kapoor Mohan Kapur (born 27 October 1965) is an Indian actor, voice artist and television host who works predominantly in Hindi films and television. Career Mohan is famous for being the first South Asian host of the first South Asian original progra ...

as Yograj Dewan (Rahul's father) * Sanjay Mishra as Guruji *

Mohan Agashe Mohan Agashe (born 23 July 1947) is an Indian psychiatrist and actor. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1996 in theatre. Early life Agashe was born in Bhor, Maharashtra. He studied in B. J. Medical College, Pune for his MBBS ...

as Senior Dewan (Rahul's grandfather) *

Vibha Chibber Vibha Chibber is an Indian actress and theatre artist who appears in TV shows & Hindi films. She is well known for her memorable work in the successful television soaps '' Sapna Babul Ka... Bidaai'', '' Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch Bahuein'' and ''K ...

as Meerut Judge *

Sushil Pandey Sushil is a first name often found in Hindu and Buddhist community. It is also a common adjective found in South Asia :such as in Nepali , Hindi, Oriya, Marathi, and Gujarati. The word has its root in Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; ...

as Sadakant Mishra * Sandeep Bose as Sub-Inspector Satbir Rathi *

Rajeev Siddhartha Rajeev Siddhartha (born 11 April 1986) is an Indian actor. His work spans productions across film, television, theatre and digital web series. Siddhartha began his career in 2007 with the film ''Dil Dosti Etc'' and received critical acclaim as ...

as Rahul Dewan *

Brijendra Kala Brijendra Kala is an Indian actor who works in Bollywood films. He is known for his subtle portrayals of characters rooted in reality. He gained attention for his small roles in mainstream cinema. Early life Kala spent his childhood in Mathu ...

as Suresh Vashishth (in opening scene) * Mukund Bhatt as Hawaldar Haldiram * Vijay Gupta as Ramakant Shukla *

Vishal O Sharma Vishal Om Prakash (aka Vishal O Sharma) is an Indian actor. He has acted in over 50 films in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films. His notable roles have included Kumar Deepak in the award winning Peepli Live. Personal life Vishal O Sharma was born ...

as Lawyer *

Ishtiyak Khan Ishtiyak Khan (born Istayak Arif Khan; 15 April 1976) is an Indian actor known for his work in bollywood movies and television shows. He came into limelight for his role as english teacher in the film Phas Gaye Re Obama which also went viral ...

as Vasu (Lawyer from Rohtak)

Production

The story is inspired by the events of the

hit-and-run case of 1999.

Release

Critical reception

Taran Adarsh Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media. Career Taran Adarsh started his journalism career at the age of 15 with ''Trade Gui ...

Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provide ...

gave the film 3.5 stars and said "''Jolly LLB'' is a power-packed courtroom drama. But, most importantly, it celebrates the spirit of the common man seeking justice and impartiality most effectively. Just don't miss this jolly good film!".

Anupama Chopra Anupama Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written sev ...

of the ''Hindustan Times'' said parts of the film are "laugh-out-loud funny, but underneath the humour is an angry critique of the system, so easily manipulated by the rich and so difficult to penetrate for the poor." Chopra gave the film three stars, saying that the love angle is clumsy and that Rao "stumbles badly" in a key scene. (slow loading)

Music

The music of ''Jolly LLB'' was composed by

Krsna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one o ...

. Lyrics were penned by Subhash Kapoor and Vayu (for "Jhooth Boliya"). The first song promo, "Mere Toh L Lag Gaye" by

Bappi Lahiri Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

, was released on 13 February 2013. In the soundtrack, the song has been cut into two different songs, one titled "Law Lag Gaye" while the other "L Lag Gaye". The second song promo, "Jhooth Boliya" by

Kamal Khan ''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by Ge ...

was released on 15 February 2013. The full soundtrack was released on 22 February 2013 under the label T-Series. It consists of eight songs.

Track listing

Awards

;

61st National Film Awards The 61st National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals of India presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2013 in the Indian cinema. The ceremony was held on 3 May 2014. ...

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several ...

National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor The National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor, officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Supporting Actor (), is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), a ...

; 2014 Screen Awards *

Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor The Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor is chosen by a distinguished panel of judges from the Indian "Bollywood" film industry and the winners are announced in January. The first award was given to Anupam Kher. Saif Ali Khan, having won th ...

: Saurabh Shukla ;

59th Filmfare Awards The 59th Filmfare Awards were held to honor the best films of 2013 from the Hindi-language film industry (commonly known as Bollywood). The nominations were announced on 13 January 2014. The ceremony that was held on 24 January 2014 (telecasted ...

Filmfare Award for Best Story The Filmfare Award for Best Story is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a writer who wrote a film's story. List of winners 1950s * 1955 Mukhram Sharma – '' Aulad'' * 1956 Rajinder Sing ...

* Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue Kids Choice Awards 2014: Bindass! * favourite song- mere Toh L Lag Gayi (won) * favorite Geet Sensational - jhoot bolliya

Sequel

A sequel, Jolly LLB 2 was released in February 2017, with Shukla reprising his role.

Remake

The film has been remade in Tamil as '' Manithan'' (2016) and in Telugu as ''

Sapthagiri LLB ''Sapthagiri LLB'' is an Indian Telugu-language film directed by Charan Lakkakula and released in 2017. The film is a remake of ''Jolly LLB,'' a Hindi film. The story is about a small-time lawyer who challenges a top lawyer in a hit-and-run cour ...

'' (2017). A sequel, '' Jolly LLB 2'' was released in February 2017.

References

External links

* * {{Subhash Kapoor 2013 films Indian legal films 2010s Hindi-language films Films about corruption in India Films scored by Krsna Solo Films set in Delhi Hindi films remade in other languages Indian comedy-drama films Indian black comedy films Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor National Film Award-winning performance Indian satirical films Films about social issues in India Best Hindi Feature Film National Film Award winners Fox Star Studios films Indian courtroom films Fictional portrayals of the Delhi Police Films directed by Subhash Kapoor