Your honour

SonyLiv

12 episodes

*ing: Jimmy Shergill, Varun Badola, Meeta Vashishth

Rated: 8/10

What a man can do or turn into when it comes to saving his progeny from law is what this intense, perfectly timed episodic drama tells you in a gripping, no-nonsense tale unfolding over some seven hours.

Seven hours for a web series is a good time frame and the director does well to limit episodes to not more than 35 minutes each. The timing of the episodes works very well with absorbing the story and not getting fatigued with screen time — if, that is, you have the kind of control to not be drawn into binge watching. Your Honor persuades you into doing just that with the episode-from-episode tugging continuity which compels you into tuning into the next one with the inevitable “what happens next” question.

After a trial court judge’s son gets involved in a hit-and-run case, Judge Khosla, always the protector of law and known for his honest judgements, does everything he can but shouldn’t, to save his son from jail.

What complicates matters is the fact that the victim with serious head injuries, turns out to be the son of a dreaded criminal who Khosla had sent to jail for life.

The series stands tall on three principle pillars which go by the name of Jimmy Shergill, Varun Badola and Mita Vashishth. This does not mean that the capers by more than three others are not fleshed out or play their part any less.

Shergill as the judge scripts a believable performance with unbelievable nuances as the server of justice plays with law as a toddler would with a chewy toy. His wide eyes, his holier than thou look, his chicanery hidden under his reputation for justice, Shergill helms a role not easy to navigate. As he turns from friend, honest citizen, respectful mentor and the ultimate server of justice to a selfish father with no qualms of manipulating friends, contacts and an intern to serve his purpose, is what fleshes out this gripping story.

Varun Badola, too, scripts the role of a man who rose from the underbelly of poverty to serving as an honest commandant of CRPF, thanks to the largesse of the Judge in whose home his mother was a maid, with precision and gumption. He forces you to feel for him and his predicament with his powerful performance which never goes into hysterics but is a textbook for histrionics.

Meeta Vashishth as the all seen nothing hidden senior inspector of a crime prone district is simply brilliant in body language, diction and screen presence. She simers all through, infecting you with anticipation and angst.

The story, as mentioned, is taut, very you and me, simple and yet engagingly potent. Even for one moment you do not feel, it is an import from Israel, so beautifully has director E. Niwas adapted it to Punjab's sights and sounds.

Such content is welcome, even if the cinema halls reopen sometime in September.