System Movie Review: In the hands of Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, System starts out being a moot legal thriller that would make audiences mesmerise at the end. Meanwhile, Jyotika has a huge emotional burden on her shoulders, from the sidelines. It’s a really solid set up: an undefeated legal giant representing a billionaire for a huge case; his own daughter in opposition to him for the career-defining win that might win him some respect.
The show’s sleek cinematography, quiet tone, helps the film in its favour. However, somewhere in the never-ending debate over whether it was a witness statement or CCTV or court procedure, the suspense factor seems to drop. Nonetheless, the main reason System is still a solid first-time OTT drama, albeit one that may never be as thrilling as the law drama it aims to be, is the fact that it was always quite entertaining to watch.
It is a tale of two women whose lives intertwine in a significant legal case. Neha (Sonakshi Sinha) is a public prosecutor who wants to make a name for herself in the shadow of her legendary father. Her father (Ashutosh Gowariker), one of the most dreaded and admired lawyers in the country, charges a huge price for his one sitting and has never lost a case in his career. His intimidating presence is established well from the outset of the film. He does not come across as a showy or boisterous antagonist. He, on the other hand, is carried off with a sense of serene authority, which is more suitable to the character.
The driving force of the story is Neha’s ambition. Her father tells her that she can attend his firm only if she wins ten consecutive cases, and she begins to feel a personal competition with him based on ambition, validation and respect. That is the reason immediately attracts interest since it makes the conflict a legal battle that becomes an emotional one.
Meanwhile, Jyotika’s Sarika, a court stenographer, is left with crumbling middle-class family life when her husband, after an accident, becomes a wheelchair user. Whereas Neha and her father are in the elite courtroom world, in Sarika’s life there is some hardship and vulnerability visible. Jyotika is authentic as her character and her subdued acting helps hold some scenes together.
The main plot starts when Neha starts working on her tenth case in succession which is the last win she requires to get a seat in her father’s firm. The irony is that the accused happens to be one of India’s richest businessmen and Neha’s own father is in the court defending him. But from that moment on, the film becomes a clash between an unbeaten attorney and his spirited daughter. But on paper, it sounds extremely exciting. But on the ground the movie is annoyingly talky.
The most thing I don’t like about System is its structure. But nearly all of the first half is spent on character building, emotional setups and first act introductions, despite the film’s running length of just over two hours. That shouldn’t matter if the second half returned some sort of unearthly pay-off. Unfortunately, the investigation and courtroom proceedings never get that far.
With the case officially underway, the film appears to be ready to become a fiercely litigious mystery that is rife with paradoxes, concealed evidence and courtroom manipulation. Most of the developments, however, are not dramatized, but explained orally. There’s a lot of talking about evidence, CCTV footage, apartment incidents and legal loopholes, but not much actually happens on screen beyond a few shots of the surveillance footage. This makes the suspense less than adequate.
I still hoped for some instances when Neha would find some startling information or the cleverest way to break down her father’s arguments, using her legal acumen. Even those moments don’t come with the punch the film gives. Finally, the film’s only significant question is whether the daughter can win her father’s case in court. Further, the case itself is never emotionally compelling enough. The victim is not well established and as a result the crime and its repercussions do not have the emotional impact they should have.
Even some characters are added simply for convenience in the screenplay. Neha’s brother shows up, but doesn’t do much in the film. In fact there is a slightly inexplicable stretch in which he casually shows up asking for food and it’s almost a side story, an unrelated episode. A second character joins Sarika’s journey, and it’s apparent that they are just there to drive the narrative. All of this makes the screenplay seem constructed rather than developing organically.
Yet at the same time, the movie doesn’t suck. It’s technically well put together. The courtroom scene looks fairly realistic, the cinematography is fairly clean, and the pacing, although slow and dull in the first half, is not overly tedious. There is a particular impact from Ashutosh Gowariker as he knows how to control the role. Meanwhile, Sonakshi Sinha is also a natural fit for the roles as she goes through a roller coaster of emotions while also putting in her effort to make it in the profession. The best performance in the film will be Jyotika who does the most natural performance.
I liked the approach of the film in regards to its portrayal of adult content. Many film makers then add out of place sex and trauma elements even in legal thrillers to make it more intense in today’s OTT era. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari manages to keep it relatively clean and easy to understand here. The film has been rated U/A 16+, but really, it’s appropriate for the family.
What stops System from being a poor film is that there simply aren’t any highs that are memorable. The emotional dynamics play a part for a while, the acting is genuine, and the film’s technical aspects are decent, but it doesn’t have the excitement or a probing sharpness or dramatic payoff to move it up to a strong courtroom movie.
The movie, however, does its job just fine as an OTT offering on Amazon Prime Video. It’s not a thing that’s tedious, yet it’s not exciting enough to get enthusiastic about. System is a good fit for those who want a relatively unadventurous and tidy courtroom drama to watch over the weekend without a ton of expectations.
Rating: 3/5
