Guilty Minds: Relevant And Entertaining
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2022-04-29 08:28:58
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
Guilty Minds (streaming on Prime Video), is the first legal series that shows the Indian judicial system as it is with judges, lawyers, petitioners, defendants and witnesses as real life (as opposed to larger-than-life or caricature) persons. It also shows real courtrooms and real legal processes, making it entirely believable. While the 10 episodes in the series take up many interesting cases, a common thread runs through the entire series in the form of a case in which many of the main characters are involved. That keeps up the interest as the case is about corruption in high places and the politician-businessmen nexus.
Deepak Rana (Varun Mitra) is a young lawyer from Himachal who has moved up in life after a shady chit fund case and has now become a partner in a top family law firm in which the formidable L N Khanna (Kulbhusan Kharbanda) rules. Kashaf Quaze (Shirya Pilgaonkar) is another young lawyer who, along with Vandana (Sugandha Garg), runs an independent law firm and takes up cases on behalf of the underprivileged. Deepak and Kashaf are college buddies and also have eyes for each other, while Vandana is gay and lives-in with her partner. There is the brother-sister duo Shubrat (Pranay Pachauri) and Shubanghi (Namrata Seth) Khanna who also work in the family law firm. Shubrat is at odds with Deeopak as he thinks that he is an outsider who is trying to usurp his rightful place in the firm. Then there is Justice Munnawar Quaze (Benjamin Gilani), the upright judge and Kashaf's father, who is accused of seeking favours for his scam-tainted son. The businessman in question is Satish Kaushik who brings in the intimidating element, while his son, played by Deepak Kalra, brings in the comedy.
There are cases involving an accident due to a driverless car, an app that uses artificial intelligence to create fake profiles to dupe customers, a IVF clinic that flouts rules to give male embryos to parents, a company that kills commoners and passes them off as Chambal dacoits to earn rewards and of course the case involving the murder of a child by a businessman-politician duo which Justice Quaze is to decide and for which he is continuously threatened with exposure about his conversation with the director of the ED. All these cases are presented excellently although sometimes one does get the feel that opposing lawyers do not cross examine witnesses properly or raise legal points where needed. But those are small blemishes in a show that holds one's attention.
The acting is top notch. Varun Mitra and Shriya Pilgaonkar are amazing as young lawyers who take each case seriously. Pilgaonkar, especially, is absolutely good as someone who battles past ghosts (molestation by her uncle) and present disturbance (when she comes to know about her father seeking favours for her brother) to always stand up for truth. All other actors perform wonderfully. The writers of the show (Manav Bhushan, Deeksha Gujral, Shefali Bhushan and Jayant Digambar Somalkar, with the latter two also taking up the megaphone to direct it) keep things tight and relevant. They also bring up many interesting social issues which help in showing why the characters act the way they do without taking away anything from the overall impact of the show.
