The Trial review: Kajol wins the argument but it's Sheeba Chaddha who wins the trial

Cast: Kajol, Jisshu Sengupta, Sheeba Chaddha, Kubbra Sait, Ally Khan

Director: Suparn Verma

Language: Hindi

There’s a new chameleon in town that has been painting the town with different colours and not just red. Thy name is Sheeba Chaddha, there’s something about her aura that suggests brood and emotional bruise. She has been around for 25 years and it’s only now she has fully transformed into a shape-shifter. Throw her into any milieu and she’ll still survive, and shine; think of her as Rekha from Khoon Bhari Maang (okay so the analogy was a bit of a stretch). Here, in Disney Hotstar’s The Trial, she plays the senior associate of a law firm Malini Khanna, and the lady means business. She’s shrewd, sharp, and sensible.

This is an adaptation of The Good Wife. Here, the good wife is played by Kajol, who has The Bad Husband played by Jisshu Sengupta. Art mirrors society on web shows too as the conflict of the narrative begins when this bad husband is too keen for sexual favours and is then thrown behind bars. The good wife now takes upon herself to be a good mother and get to work as a lawyer. It’s going to be hard, she’s going to be judged and mocked and questioned for the minutest of fallacies, but she won’t give up. She’s that good.

The makers have changed the name from The Good Wife to The Trial, and why not. The title is both literal and metaphorical; on one hand is the trial of her husband and on the other hand her own. Kajol, in the last seven months, has jumped from love (Salaam Venky) to lust (Lust Stories 2) to now law. Here, the performance left me a little conflicted. The despair of a mother at home and the desperation of a lawyer at work seemed like an effort by an otherwise effervescent actor to prove she still has in her. It was more the actress talking and not the character she was essaying.

Without giving away too many spoilers, there are other key players too, there’s Ally Khan and Kubbra Sait, and as the series will (if it does) progress, their characters will hopefully unravel a lot more meticulously. The Good Wife is arguably the most dense show made, with seven seasons and 22-23 episodes each. Of course, director Suparn Verma and writers Hussain Dalal, Abbas Dalal, and Siddharth Kumar will have to concise the narrative and tone the language down. Let’s just say this is only the first hearing of the trial, the court is adjourned till next season.

The Trial is now streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar