The Good Wife (Indian TV Series)

''The Trial: Pyaar Kaanoon Dhokha'' is an Indian legal drama television series streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. It is an adaptation of Robert King and Michelle King's ''The Good Wife'' and features Kajol in the lead role. The series is centered on a housewife who, after 10 years, starts working at a law firm to support her family when her husband gets imprisoned.

The series was announced in July 2022 with principal photography commencing the following month. It was released on Disney+ Hotstar on 14 July 2023.

Premise

Noyonika Sengupta, a law school graduate, is a housewife who gave up her career to look after her children. When her husband, Rajeev Sengupta, is arrested for a sex and corruption scandal, she starts working as a junior lawyer at a law firm to support her family. Noyonika now has to balance both her work and family life while also having to deal with the humiliation she faces from her husband's scandal.

Cast

Main

* Kajol as Noyonika Sengupta
*Jisshu Sengupta as Rajiv Sengupta: Noyonika's husband
* Alyy Khan as Vishal Chaubey
* Sheeba Chaddha as Malini Khanna: A name partner at the firm.
* Kubbra Sait as Sana Shaikh: A consultant at the firm.
* Gaurav Pandey as Dheeraj Paswan
* Shruti Bisht as Ananya Sengupta: Noyonika and Rajeev's older daughter.
* Suhani Juneja as Anaira Sengupta: Noyonika and Rajeev's younger daughter.

Recurring

* Beena Banerjee as Seema Sengupta: Rajiv's mother.
* Aseem Hattangadi as Illyas Khan: Family friend of the Senguptas.
* Aamir Ali as Pradeep Shinde: Police officer and Sana's love interest.
* Atul Kumar as Daksh Rathod: TV news reporter
* Manasvi Mamgai as Juhi Bhatia
* Rituraj Singh as Sharad Jhadav
* Kiran Kumar as Kishore Ahuja: A name partner at the firm.
* Aditi Singh as Tina / Latika Kalra
* Shyam Kishore as Bharat Mishra: Rajiv's lawyer.

Episodic

* Arjun Kachroo as Rajat Kakkar
* Suchitra Pillai as Shivani Bahl
* Vijay Vikram Singh as Takesh
* Flora Saini as Anisha Menon
* Swayam Joshi
* Haelyn Shastri
* Sheena Chohan as Jasmin Lobo
* Nirbhay Jain
* Nancy Gill as Kavya Bola
* Aparna Menon as Rose Mathews

Production

Development

Season 1

A collaboration between Disney+ Hotstar and Kajol was announced in July 2022 with a teaser video revealing an untitled series. In August, shooting commenced at Juhu Studios in Mumbai where a set was built depicting an office setting. On 8 September 2022, the first look was released, announcing the title as well as the show being an adaptation of the American series of the same name. The motion poster was released on 9 June 2023, with the trailer on 12 June announcing the release date of 14 July.

Release

All episodes of ''The Trial'' released on Disney+ Hotstar on 14 July 2023.

Critical reception

The show has received mostly mixed reviews from critics.

Anuj Kumar of ''The Hindu'' opined, "The makers have looked beyond the obvious faces that dot the OTT space these days and have brought back some lesser-seen powerhouses."

Shubhra Gupta of ''The Indian Express'' opined, "For the second season, can we expect smoother writing, less choppy situations, and please, none of those sonorous voice-overs which feel like they were written as bumper-sticker lines to the wise?"

Saibal Chatterjee of ''NDTV'' gave a mixed review and rated the series 3 stars out of 5, stating, "Not everything in this world is by the book. One of the key characters in ''The Trial'' avers that a lawyer's job is to defend a client, not the truth."

Critic Deepa Gahlot reviewed the series for '' Scroll.in'' stating, "Kajol is given annoying internal pop-philosophical monologues about love, trust, destiny and faith."

Santanu Das of ''Hindustan Times'' felt the dialogue is poor and wrote, "None of the performances land, even the always-reliable Sheeba Chaddha meets the fate of a poorly written boss-lady archetype."

Tushar Joshi of ''India Today'' wrote, "On the flip side, the score and music sounds outdated and some of the dialogues stand out as a sore thumb in an otherwise modern setting. There is a lack of cohesiveness between the episodes and you need to be patient to make it to the point where the actual fun starts."

A critic from ''Rediff.com'' wrote, "Blame it on my expectations, but we've seen far more absorbing and closer-to-life court room dramas in recent times – the slow burn ''Criminal Justice'', spirited ''Guilty Minds'' and, of course, the glitzy ''Suits'' being one of my all-time favourites."

''Pinkvilla'' gave a mixed review, saying, "''The Trial'' counts for a nice weekend binge despite few clichéd tropes and plot conveniences."

References

External links

The Trial
at IMDb

Trial
on Disney+ Hotstar

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trial (Indian TV series), The
Hindi-language Disney+ Hotstar original programming
Indian crime television series
Indian legal television series
Indian drama television series
2023 Indian television series debuts
2023 Indian television series endings
Hindi-language television shows
Indian television series based on American television series
The Good Wife