Caught an episode of Bombay Lawyers, NDTV's recent foray into fiction programming. The idea is great and so is the choice of subject. NDTV and 'legal drama' is plausible.
Unfortunately the show is really, really bad. All the actors, barring Mita Vashisht are unknowns. Which is okay except they just can't bloody act. That's probably why the camera keeps a safe distance from their chehras. Imagine a drama in long-shots!
There's plenty of great American shows in this genre. Starting from the one and only L.A. Law to Picket Fences and Ally McBeal. More recently we've had Boston Legal. A variation on the law firm angle is Law and Order: Special Victims Unit which starts from the criminal investigation and ends in the courtroom.
The trick is to create unique and memorable characters who people care about, and weave in unique and interesting cases. Bombay Lawyers lacks both.
Imagine a case where a husband and wife are 'colluding' to get a quick divorce. The judge smells a rat and asks the lawyer to investigate. Turns out the husband is dying and would rather leave behind a woman who is a divorcee. "Kyunki hamare samaaj mein widhwa hona aaj bhi ek kalank hai."
Uh huh.
In an era of 'breaking news'... spicily packaged facts are more interesting than badly acted fiction!
