Illegal Review: A Gripping Series That You Will End Up Binge Watching, Once You Hit The Play Button

Web Series - Illegal

Director - Sahir Raza

Writers - Reshu Nath

Actors - Piyush Mishra, Akshay Oberoi, Neha Sharma, Satyadeep Mishra, Kubbra Sait

Rated: 4 Out of 5

Watched the Voot Select Original Series Tilted ‘Illegal’ yesterday and boy oh boy, was I taken aback yet again? Yes, I was and I mean it in a good way. After, The Raikar Case, this is again a wonder stroke! Well, not without its fallacies but having said that, it is a swell job done.

Illegal is the story of a young lawyer Niharika Singh played by the Neha Sharma and the real-life psychological duels that she goes through in a bid to understand the reality of her circumstances. Niharika newly moves to Delhi after she has landed a new job with the law firm headed by Janardan Jaitley aka JJ played by Piyush Mishra. Akshay Oberoi plays his son and guess what? His name is Akshay in the series too! We also have Deepak Tijori playing the role of a construction baron whose son Neeraj Shikhawat is a rapist and he hides that behind a garb of suavity. When a rape case is registered against Neeraj, Akshay [who is his bosom friend] is convinced that he is just being framed. But the reality turns out to be completely different.

When Niharika is asked to defend the rapist, she hesitates in the beginning but after JJ’s little indirect cajoling, she acquiesces. Well, there is also a reason why she didn’t want to take up the case initially, if I reveal that, it will be too much of a giveaway! Now, what’s a little jarring is for some reason, a quadruple murder case of Mehr Salaam [played grittily by Kubra Sait] too has been incorporated in the story which is kind of juxtaposing the main storyline. It is a little difficult to find a clear connection with the Mehr Salaam case until the very end.

Coming to the storyline, the writer has surely taken a lot of little points, knowingly or unknowingly from the dichotomy of existence, the dilemma between the right and the wrong, and it also would not be an exaggeration to state that even the Bhagavadgita has been a good influence on the writing!

The usage of dialogues too are commendable and is more often than not, tongue in cheek; you just have to be aware of the context. ‘I See Dead People’, this line used in a Hindi web film is pretty unheard of, very few filmmakers have used this iconic line from The Sixth Sense and in this one it is used so malleably when Satyadeep Mishra’s character tries to explain to the psychiatrist what is wrong with him. Another fascinating facet is when Niharika and Satyadeep’s character team up to make sure the rapist is given his due punishment, Niharika tries to talk Neeraj into a confession stating that she will help in reducing his sentence; otherwise, things might turn bad. Neeraj is distraught, and when speaks to Akshay, he (Neeraj) just says, “I can’t do what she (Niharika) wants me to do.” (mind you he doesn’t for some reason say, she has asked him to confess) Akshay [who is busy in the prayer meet for his deceased mother) thinks Neeraj has some problem with accepting something that was discussed earlier with Neha, in order to prove him not guilty. He tells him to do as Neha says. Then, when he accepts his guilt, he receives the punishment. This brought an event that is written about in the Gita to my mind; when Yudhishthir went in front of Guru Dronacharya and shouted, “Ashwathama Hatha, Iti Kunjarova” (which meant Ashwaththama is dead, but it is an elephant) Mind you, guru Drona had a son called Ashwathama who he thought the world of, unfortunately, he too just heard a part of the entire statement and dejected, he put down his arrows and was killed by Draupadi’s brother.

Well, this explanation could be true to the thought of conceiving the scene the way it was shot. It is a probability, and even if it is not, it is a wonderfully written scene. And yes, I cannot forget the usage of the memorable and so ubiquitously relevant RK song ‘Duniya Banaane Wale’ mouthed by JJ when he comes to know about Niharika’s parentage!

Having said that, there were some issues in the narrative. JJ was pretty fond of Niharika’s qualities and in fact, did all he could to determine that she still has her qualities intact before he hired her. He knew pretty well that she cannot ignore the truth. And now, when he knows himself and the kind of treacherous person he is, what made him continue with her or was it just for the conflict in the plot to unfurl? And just like this one, there were some other points that I could have pinpointed at, but it would make no difference because all in all it is a well-made series.

The usage of light and the background music too were good jobs done. I liked the dual light being reflected on the face when the prosecution lawyer is for the first time taping whatever his client is telling him with an intensity in his eyes and an urgency to the scene.

But in the scene where Niharika comes to pay a visit to Mehr in the prison hospital, one can see, the rays of light coming in along with some haze from the windows behind her, however, behind the doctor who is checking on Mehr, just the light is there, minus the haze. Now, how can there be such a huge difference in a matter of less a metre? Also, in almost all the scenes shot during the day, [particularly in the day scenes which had Akshay Oberoi and his wife in the rooms of their houses] all the lights were switched on! That’s strange? Why? Was it just for the frame to look good? Wasn’t there enough light to shoot? I mean would those little lights make a difference, if any? It looked a little outlandish! Then again, when during a weak moment, Niharika and Akshay come close to each other in the office one night, she writes a letter in which she states, whatever has happened between us, is just for this one time and I would like to call it quits (because she knows he is married), much later after she has won the Mehr Salaam case, Akshay confront him and in a fit of rage, she states, ‘thankfully I didn’t give in to your advances’. In another scene, we see Akshay’s wife holds the same letter (that I mentioned about before) and reveals she is leaving her because he consummated an illegitimate relation (with Niharika). Now, I fail to understand what actually happened? Did the two really sleep together or didn’t they? And if they didn’t why couldn’t Akshay stop his wife saying, her interpretation of the letter is wrong because nothing happened between the two?!

All these things could have been bettered.

As far as the performances are concerned, they were all pretty good, Piyush Mishra excelled with is “seen it all” hardened expression in the eyes and the concern when his paranoid wife used to badger him with questions. Neha Sharma as the lawyer too has done a good job, besides looking gorgeous in every frame, she pulled off the role with an elan, however, I have to say, her expressions were just a little too repetitive. Akshay Oberoi didn’t quite have much to do this time, but he did full justice to whatever scope he had in the role he played. Satyadeep Mishra was a revelation, he was too good as the lawyer who brings JJ down and makes sure to conjure up a fight against him.

And another very pertinent aspect is, do watch out for the second season!

All in all, a series that will make you binge-watch it once, you push the play button!