'System': Ashwini Iyer Tiwari’s Well-Meaning Courtroom Drama is a Few Yards Short of Being Clever |
Director Ashwini Iyer Tiwari has been making films for over a decade. And yet, nothing gives away her lack of assurance more than her choice of background score. Iyer Tiwari’s style is what I like to describe as having soap-opera coherence (my mother is a huge fan of these films, which are technically proficient, but ideologically axiomatic). If the choice was ever between thought-provoking and manipulating tears, she overwhelmingly leans towards the latter.
Having made films with noble (sometimes, even sweet) through lines, like a mother re (Nil Battey Sannata), or a woman making a comeback to professional sports after a prolonged sabbatical (Panga) – Iyer Tiwari’s films often find its underdogs in women. But there’s also a lack of rigour in her ideas curdling the simple into gratingly simplistic.
In System – starring Sonakshi Sinha, Jyothika Surya and Ashutosh Gowariker – a seemingly rudimentary question is made to sound more profound than it might be. Does a court’s verdict always mean the same thing as justice? If someone’s wrongdoing is proved beyond reasonable doubt, does it matter if they’re claiming innocence? On the other hand, if their innocence is proved and then they gleefully accept they were indeed guilty – how reliable is the justice system?
Considering those with unlimited resources can manipulate it in the way they see fit, is it fair for poor folks to be at the mercy of people doing their duty without vested interests (which is rarely ever the case). Good courtroom dramas can be a barometer for a society’s moral compass, its worst instincts and social biases. It’s also a great setting for underdogs, taking on seemingly........