Law
Official release poster
Directed byRaghu Samarth
Written byRaghu Samarth
Produced byAshwini Puneeth Rajkumar
M. Govinda
StarringRagini Prajwal
CinematographySugnaan
Edited bySrikanth
Music byVasuki Vaibhav
Production
company
Distributed byAmazon Prime Video
Release date
  • 17 July 2020 (2020-07-17)
Running time
119 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageKannada

Law is a 2020 Indian Kannada-language legal drama film written and directed by Raghu Samarth. The film stars Ragini Prajwal in her debut as a law graduate who fights her own case due to her circumstances. It had a direct-to-streaming release on 17 July 2020 on Amazon Prime Video, becoming the second direct-to-streaming Kannada film on any platform after Bhinna (2019).

Plot

Nandini is a law graduate who files a case of gang-rape and uses the power of social media to gain support. After several delays by an ineffective local police, the case is handed over to the CBI. Parthasarathy Brahma, the officer in-charge, sets about his investigation and finds out that the culprits are Kamalesh Lad, Bhandari and Kanthi Kotwal, all sons of powerful and corrupt politicians. The trial begins with Nandini representing herself, against the formidable prosecutor and all the evidence is in favour of Nandini. After a series of turns and twists, Brahma begins to doubt that the crime even happened.

Cast

Production

In March 2019, it was announced that Ragini Prajwal would be making her feature film debut in Law, directed by Raghu Samarth and produced by Puneeth Rajkumar's PRK Productions. Regarding the title, Raghu said the protagonist "is a law graduate, and due to her circumstances, she ends up fighting her own case. This is why we thought the title worked."[5] Ragini said she accepted the film because of its script, adding, "I didn't see myself doing a romantic film as my debut, so I thought this movie is a great first choice." The film was produced by Puneeth's wife Ashwini and M. Govinda.[6] Besides directing, Raghu also wrote the script and interacted with a retired crime branch officer D. K. Shivaram and advocate Nagendra as part of his research.[7] Cinematography was handled by Sugnaan, and editing by Srikanth.[8]

Music

The music is composed by Vasuki Vaibhav.[9] The film's only song is "Happy Song", a "new-age party song" written by Jayanth Kaikini and sung by Vasuki Vaibhav and Madhuri Seshadri.[10][11]

Release

Law had a direct-to-streaming premiere on 17 July 2020 on Amazon Prime Video.[12] It was originally planned for a theatrical release,[6] but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the theatrical release was cancelled.[12] The film was initially supposed to premiere on Prime Video on 26 June 2020 before being postponed by three weeks.[13] This made it the first Kannada film to be released directly on that platform without a theatrical release,[14] and second direct-to-streaming release in Kannada after Bhinna (2019).[15]

Reception

Haricharan Pudipeddi, writing for the portal Cinestaan, rated the film one star and termed it "unimaginably bad".[16] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute felt the "courtroom drama is let down by bad writing".[17] Karthik Kumar of Hindustan Times called the film a "gloriously bad legal drama and makes a mockery of the genre".[18] Jananki K. of India Today wrote, "Raghu Samarth's Law did an exceptional job of telling the story of a rape survivor. There are certain glaring lapses in the story which fails to create the impact the film would have intended to."[4] Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion wrote "The film, alas, is terribly written and executed. Even if you ignore the mood-killing song and the cringy comedy... it’s very hard to stay invested in these drab, borderline-nonsensical proceedings. The knowing reaction shots (meant to mislead us) get unbearable after a point...Law is further proof that good intentions can never triumph over bad filmmaking".[19]

References

  1. 1 2 Ramnath, Nandini (17 July 2020). "'Law' review: A lightweight legal drama about a rape survivor". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  2. ↑ Sharadhaa, A. (14 July 2020). "Law best debut I could have had: Ragini Prajwal". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Sharadhaa, A. "Law Movie Review: This courtroom drama makes a case for women's rights". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 K., Janani (17 July 2020). "Law Movie Review: Ragini Prajwal gets her own Ponmagal Vandhal". India Today. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  5. ↑ "Ragini Chandran's debut titled Law". Cinema Express. 18 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Ragini Chandran: The script of Law is what got me in". Cinema Express. 1 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "'Law' director Raghu Samarth always want to see strong women characters". The New Indian Express. 11 July 2020. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  8. ↑ Amazon Prime Video (25 June 2020). "The facts will be witnessed on a new date, #LawOnPrime will premiere on July 17, 2020!". Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020 – via Facebook.
  9. ↑ "Vasuki Vaibhav begins dubbing for French Biryani". The Times of India. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  10. ↑ Joy, Prathibha (12 July 2020). "Law is not a routine legal drama: Raghu Samarth". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "'Happy Song' single from Kannada film Law". Telangana Today. 13 July 2020. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  12. 1 2 Balachandran, Logesh (26 June 2020). "Kannada film Law to release on Amazon Prime Video on July 17". India Today. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  13. ↑ "Kannada film 'Law' gets new release date on Amazon Prime Video". The News Minute. 26 June 2020. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  14. ↑ Balachandran, Logesh (26 June 2020). "Kannada film Law to release on Amazon Prime Video on July 17". India Today. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  15. ↑ Suresh, Sunayana (16 May 2020). "As two Kannada films get direct OTT releases, Sandalwood says yes to new business model". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  16. ↑ Pudipeddi, Haricharan (18 July 2020). "Law review: Amazon Prime's Kannada legal drama is unimaginably bad". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  17. ↑ Rajendran, Sowmya (17 July 2020). "'Law' review: Ragini Prajwal's courtroom drama is let down by bad writing". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  18. ↑ Kumar, Karthik (17 July 2020). "Law movie review: This Kannada legal drama is gloriously bad". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  19. ↑ Rangan, Baradwaj (17 July 2020). "Law On Amazon Prime Video, With Ragini Prajwal: An Utterly Underwhelming Story About A Gang-Rape Survivor With A Twisty Secret". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
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