Funny beyond a reasonable doubt

Amid the chaos of the courtroom the legal battles and the pursuit of justice lies a realm that is rarely exploredmdashthe backstage of the legal world Netflixrsquos Maamla Legal Hai written by Saurabh Khanna and Kunal Aneja offers viewers a lighthearted glimpse into the everyday lives of lawyers judges court staff and those who come to seek justice From bizarre cases to workplace banter the Ravi Kishan Nidhi Bisht Tanvi Azmi and Brijendra Kalastarrer looks at the legal system from a comedic lens midday explores the seriesrsquo journey from script to screen and what went into creating director Rahul Pandeyrsquos directorial venture that is both a laugh riot and darkDirector Rahul Pandey and Brijendra Kala going over scenesThe ideaIt all started with Aneja receiving an email from cowriter Khanna that explained the story As he delved into the material he realised the potential and found himself captivated by the legal world Aneja recalls ldquoI had not seen such a take on the legal world Generally in films and series the story is based on one case and it ends when the case ends Our approach was to treat it like a workplace comedy with the background of a sessions court It focuses on the everyday lives of a lawyer a judge and how the court managers deal with things The idea was always to make a bingeable comedy seriesrdquoWhile they began scripting in 2022 it took the duo a yearandahalf to lock the cases They drew inspiration from reallife court cases which took them to the district courts in Delhi ldquoWe came across so many bizarre cases because the right to legal remedy cannot be denied to anyone In the first case wherein a husband files for divorce because his new bride didnrsquot shy away on the first night a regular person can ignore it but the judge has to listen We went to almost all the district courts in Delhi Khanna has a friend who is a lawyer in Saket court so we went there several timesrdquo shares the writer who was also in touch with other lawyers for informationAnant Joshi and Naila Grewal in Maamla Legal HaiCharacters and the casesWhile many shows and films focus on lawyers and judges Aneja also examined the workforce behind the scenes ldquoA staff of almost 100 people is running the show it is their job to manage cases send the public attending cases to the right courtroom and manage parking That is how the character of Vishwas played by Anant Joshi came to berdquo he explainsFor director Pandey who was brought on board by showrunner Sameer Saxena it was initially difficult to believe that such cases existed The selection of the cases was a meticulous process that had to match the characterrsquos trajectory ldquoBy the time I joined the team the cases were more or less locked There were a lot of cases that didnrsquot make it to the final eightrdquo says PandeyAneja gives one instancemdashin a weird turn of events a daughter had sued her father for cheating in a game of Ludo ldquoOur cases had to be such that they went with the characterrsquos journey For example the case of the parrot using abusive language was to show Sujatarsquos Bishtrsquos character journey of finally fighting a case on her own There was a case between Starbucks and another brand called Sardarbucks As a citizen I can easily say itrsquos blatant copying but in court you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the name has been copied But we didnrsquot use it as it didnrsquot take the narrative aheadrdquoKunal AnejaCalling actionBefore facing the camera the cast underwent workshops and rehearsals The exercise gave Pandey the opportunity to finalise the seriesrsquo treatment ldquoI had decided that between the punchline and realistic treatment I would go with the latter Sometimes the jokes that are landing very well while shooting might not work on the edit table and vice versa So we had to be careful of thatrdquo he sharesAs a director he claims there are three things he would never compromise on the first being the support of the cast He was grateful when veteran actors contributed to making the scene look better He remembers how Kishan who had missed a few rehearsals would give suggestions that would elevate the sequence ldquoMy favourite scenes were the ones with Brijendra Kala In the scene where Sujata suggests to Tanvi Azmirsquos judge character that the prosecutor has also used profanities for her BK responds with a quick lsquono no norsquo These were nuances he added to the characterrdquoThe second factor was the set production He recalls reading an article about a case in a Dhanbad district court where a person refused to testify in the absence of a dock ldquoThe opening scene is where the courtroom clerks cart a dock for a witness to testify That idea was to keep the look and feel real The last factor is the edit We even kept the bit when Ravi Kishanrsquos character fumbles in one of his speeches to make it more realisticrdquoCowriter Saurabh PandeyThe verdictWhile navigating the comedic landscape Aneja and Pandey were careful not to offend the legal community They say that lawyers have applauded the series for its authenticity and humour ldquoWhile writing we wondered if we were offending anyone because that was never the intention Luckily the lawyers who have reached out to us have liked the showrdquo assures Aneja Pandey adds ldquoNo matter which community got offended we were sure the lawyer community would not because their notions of right and wrong are also legally drivenrdquo