Cinema Express: National: Tuesday,
1 October 2024.
The legal terminology in this courtroom drama, directed by Suresh Krissna, sounds well-researched, but the rest of the film is like a melodramatic TV serial
Suresh Krissna’s courtroom drama RTI gets a few legal
details and legal parlance right, but the film and its overall conflict are
handled lethargically. There’s nothing gripping about the mystery, and the
injustice is not dealt with in a hard-hitting way. You would feel that the
bigger injustice is being committed on the technical front. Yet, what we can
appreciate is the in-depth understanding of law and the detailed digging into
loopholes.
Director: Suresh Krissna
Cast: Rajendra Prasad, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Rama Rao Jadhav, Aditya Menon, Ravi Prakash. Shashank
Streamer: ETV Win
Tara, played by Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, is a handicapped lawyer who, together with her father (Rajendra Prasad), fights against legal loopholes using the RTI Act. When a school-going girl commits suicide, the case is wrapped up with the influence of her school's crooked founder. Tara decides to file an RTI case against the investigation procedure of the case and decides to challenge the system.
One of the most disturbing elements of this courtroom drama is the complete lack of sound design. The lack of ambient sounds makes this an insipid cinematic experience. Viewers who are attuned to too-much sound design in a regular commercial film might find RTI a task to watch. And the more distracting element is the forced, melodramatic music. To make up for the lack of sound design, the music is amplified in every scene, and that quickly puts you in TV serial territory.
Without giving out any spoilers, this is a crime-drama that has its head clear but with a dysfunctional body. The legal proceedings are dealt with a strong understanding and research, but the film falters in its dull storytelling and overdramatic performances. Except for Rajendra Prasad and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, every actor overdoes their reactions throughout the film. The melodrama reeks of lethargic soapy writing, and the actors and technicians come up short when it comes to selling a scene.
The dialogue is another crucially unsettling area, which sometimes become laughably silly. For example, when the lawyer asks the girl’s father (played by a monotonous Ravi Prakash) about whether she had a favourite hangout spot, the father shows him her dead body in the mortuary and says, “She is hanging out here these days.” The level of tone-deafness displayed in some areas is ludicrous, to say the least. Randomly, Kurukshetra and Mahabharat references are taken in no-context situations, making you wonder whether the stakes were ever that high. Even the antagonist, played by Aditya Menon, is portrayed in such an uninspiring manner that you can almost imagine the actor tediously putting on a suit, the makeup, standing tall, and wearing cunning expressions on his face at the prompt of the director behind the camera. At some point, one has to consider that corporate bosses are being done too much injustice by cinema in every overtly explicit villainous portrayal. Why does the head of a school wear a three-piece suit 24x7? Wish we knew the answer.
Where the film scores a point is only in the research put into Indian law and the loophole study. The film shows appreciable intention with regard to the RTI case and its importance. The film not only talks but also puts it all in an accessible perspective. Take, for instance, the way the film introduces us to the main characters of Tara and her father. The lawyer-duo fights a case just to claim the loss of Rs 2 and the reason for it is explained pretty well. It’s clear the writer has a strong passion for the subject, but as a film, it’s a great misfire. In spite of having great performers like Rajendra Prasad and seasoned actors like Varalaxmi and Shashank, RTI fails to deliver a thrilling crime drama.
The legal terminology in this courtroom drama, directed by Suresh Krissna, sounds well-researched, but the rest of the film is like a melodramatic TV serial
Director: Suresh Krissna
Cast: Rajendra Prasad, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Rama Rao Jadhav, Aditya Menon, Ravi Prakash. Shashank
Streamer: ETV Win
Tara, played by Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, is a handicapped lawyer who, together with her father (Rajendra Prasad), fights against legal loopholes using the RTI Act. When a school-going girl commits suicide, the case is wrapped up with the influence of her school's crooked founder. Tara decides to file an RTI case against the investigation procedure of the case and decides to challenge the system.
One of the most disturbing elements of this courtroom drama is the complete lack of sound design. The lack of ambient sounds makes this an insipid cinematic experience. Viewers who are attuned to too-much sound design in a regular commercial film might find RTI a task to watch. And the more distracting element is the forced, melodramatic music. To make up for the lack of sound design, the music is amplified in every scene, and that quickly puts you in TV serial territory.
Without giving out any spoilers, this is a crime-drama that has its head clear but with a dysfunctional body. The legal proceedings are dealt with a strong understanding and research, but the film falters in its dull storytelling and overdramatic performances. Except for Rajendra Prasad and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, every actor overdoes their reactions throughout the film. The melodrama reeks of lethargic soapy writing, and the actors and technicians come up short when it comes to selling a scene.
The dialogue is another crucially unsettling area, which sometimes become laughably silly. For example, when the lawyer asks the girl’s father (played by a monotonous Ravi Prakash) about whether she had a favourite hangout spot, the father shows him her dead body in the mortuary and says, “She is hanging out here these days.” The level of tone-deafness displayed in some areas is ludicrous, to say the least. Randomly, Kurukshetra and Mahabharat references are taken in no-context situations, making you wonder whether the stakes were ever that high. Even the antagonist, played by Aditya Menon, is portrayed in such an uninspiring manner that you can almost imagine the actor tediously putting on a suit, the makeup, standing tall, and wearing cunning expressions on his face at the prompt of the director behind the camera. At some point, one has to consider that corporate bosses are being done too much injustice by cinema in every overtly explicit villainous portrayal. Why does the head of a school wear a three-piece suit 24x7? Wish we knew the answer.
Where the film scores a point is only in the research put into Indian law and the loophole study. The film shows appreciable intention with regard to the RTI case and its importance. The film not only talks but also puts it all in an accessible perspective. Take, for instance, the way the film introduces us to the main characters of Tara and her father. The lawyer-duo fights a case just to claim the loss of Rs 2 and the reason for it is explained pretty well. It’s clear the writer has a strong passion for the subject, but as a film, it’s a great misfire. In spite of having great performers like Rajendra Prasad and seasoned actors like Varalaxmi and Shashank, RTI fails to deliver a thrilling crime drama.
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