Maamla Legal Hai series is a smart, sharp and funny satire on the professional lives of lawyers. These lawyers are practising in one of the district courts of Delhi, India.
Sameer Saxena (of the ‘Kota Factory’ show) is the creator of this legal dramedy. Most likely, many lawyers (working in various courts across India) will be able to identify with its tales.
“Maamla Legal Hai” Is A Delightful Satire Set In District Courts In Delhi
Trailer of the Maamla Legal Hai (S1/2024) Series
Synopsis [Official] of the Maamla Legal Hai (S1/2024) Series
Chaos collides with the letter of the law at District Court Patparganj, where quirky employees work to uphold justice — but not without a few objections.
Spoilers Free Review of the Maamla Legal Hai (S1/2024) Series
The introduction
The byline of this comedy show says, “Meet the unique stories and characters of District Court Patparganj (miliye District Court Patparganj ke anokhe kisse aur kirdaaro se).” And that is an apt description of this fun-filled comedy drama. Some of its stories seem to be inspired by the real-life incidents that happened in (and out) the court premises in India.
Please note that we are not sharing the detailed storyline here as it will spoil your viewing pleasure. However, we have shared the summaries of the episodes below.
So, what did we like about this show?
One of the big positive points of this satire is that it highlights the inadequacies of the legal (law & justice) system in India, without being preachy and mouthing lengthy dialogues. Then, we also get to see the daily struggles of average and regular Lawyers, who are simply trying to earn a decent living. But, it is a really difficult task, given the harsh ground realities. Yet, we loved the way, besides entertaining us, it uses the humourous script to highlight the various challenges plaguing the legal fraternity in India.
Ravi Kishan leads the pack of an impressive ensemble cast
We also loved the way Ravi Kishan (Laapataa Ladies film) played the role of VD Tyagi, the District Bar President in the show. However, the diction of Ravi sounded off-key, as a Tyagi (non-Bihari!?) character. On the other hand, he is very well supported by a superb star cast. For example, Naila Grewal plays a well-off Ananya Shroff – the fresh Harward-educated South Delhi lawyer trying to take pro-bono cases and learning to take baby steps in the legal world. Nidhi Bisht plays middle-class Sujata Negi – an attractive lawyer (like Vidhya Balan) who is an intelligent lawyer but she is not ambitious.
In this show, Ravi, Naila and Nidhi are like a perfectly balanced three-wheeler auto-rickshaw (tuk-tuk) commonly found in India. Then the fourth wheel is Anant Joshi (12th Fail movie), who plays Vishwas Pandey – a key government officer working in the court, who loves drinking tea and solving problems. But, then, the supporting characters like – Mintu (Anjum Batra), Shambhu (Kumar Saurabh), Munshiji (Vijay Rajoria), Mahinder Phorey (Yashpal Sharma), PP Sahab (Brijendra Kala), Judge Bainsla (Tanvi Azmi), etc add their unique flavours to this well-made comedy.
The conclusion
If you chat with the common Indians on the streets about the prevalent Law and Justice System of India, then you will find that most of them dread visiting the court premises. Many of them also lament the fully established system of Tareekh-pe-Tareekh (adjournment, new dates) in Indian courts. As per the Law Ministry of India, over 5 crore (50 million) cases are pending in various courts across India. Perhaps, where the justice delayed is not justice denied.
With weird characters belonging to the legal fraternity, this comedy show (mis)uses real-life incidents to bring to light the strange world of the Legal world in India. Set against this kind of system, this series talks about the various (other) inadequacies in India’s legal system in a smart and spirited manner. We loved this entertaining show, it makes you laugh and think.
Rating of the Series
| FM Rating | 4.05/5 |
| FM Short Comments | This bizarre and delightful satire set in the District Courts of Delhi (India’s capital city) is hilarious. The four main pillars/actors of the comedy show – Ravi Kishan (VD Tyagi), Naila Grewal (Ananya Shroff), Nidhi Bisht (Sujata Negi), Anant Joshi (Vishwas Pandey) are impressive. Also, the bunch of odd-ball characters, viz., Mintu, Order, Law, Shambhu, Daleel, etc. are wacky. |
Key Details about the Series
| Genre | Comedy, Drama |
| Original language | Hindi (India) |
| Title explained | “Maamla Legal Hai” (मामला लीगल है) means “The Matter Is Legal”. |
| Released | March 1, 2024 |
| Season | One (1) |
| Episodes | Eight (8) |
| Creator | Sameer Saxena |
| Director | Rahul Pandey |
| Writers | Kunal Aneja & Saurabh Khanna |
| Cast | Ravi Kishan (VD Tyagi), Naila Grewal (Ananya Shroff), Nidhi Bisht (Sujata Negi), Anant Joshi (Vishwas Pandey), Anjum Batra (Mintu), Vikram Pratap (Order), Amit Vikram Pandey (Law), Kumar Saurabh (Shambhu), Imran Rasheed (Daleel), Vijay Rajoria (Munshiji), Yashpal Sharma (Mahinder Phorey), Tanvi Azmi (Judge Bainsla), Brijendra Kala (PP Sahab), etc. |
| Network | Netflix |
Poster of the Series
Spoilers Alerts – episode summary of this 2024 legal comedy-drama
Summary of the Eight Episodes of the First Season of the Series
Egregious (S1, E1) | 38 minutes
Tyagi seeks key support in his campaign for bar president. Harvard grad Anaya Shroff struggles to find her footing… and a desk.
Egregious means extraordinary in some bad way.
Darwaza (S1, E2) | 33 minutes
Ananya looks to assist a mysterious advocate in his cases. Trouble brews for Tyagi’s nomination when someone complains about his bold signboard.
Darwaza (दरवाज़ा) means door, gate, gateway, etc.
Dignity (S1, E4) | 28 minutes
When a monkey causes a stir on the court premises, the lawyers are moved to strike, leading to a strain on Ananya and her first case.
Dignity (pf the humans) means self-respect of the humans.
Aukaat (S1, E4) | 33 minutes
Sujata tries to drop her “foyer lawyer” status with a new client — a foul-mouthed parrot. When a big-shot lawyer arrives, Tyagi and Bagai hatch a plan.
Aukaat (औकात) means the status of a person in a society.
Touch (S1, E5) | 28 minutes
Ananya and Sujata scramble to help an inmate fulfil her dream to start a family. Tyagi has an emotional talk with his father, a retired judge.
The utilization of pronouns in the sequence in this episode where the Punjabi bride is mentioned to associate as a Bengali with pronouns - "Amar/Tomar" is a subtle jab at the present circumstances and also a satire of how it often appears foolish yet inescapable.
Biradari (S1, E6) | 30 minutes
Tyagi and his campaign land in hot water after police and lawyers clash. Ananya and Sujata contend with a fierce woman in the race.
Biradari (बिरादरी) means fraternity, kindred, phratry, etc.
Kutai (S1, E7) | 29 minutes
Phorey or Tyagi? The election results are finally in — but the twists aren’t over yet. Ananya turns counsellor for a young woman’s case.
Kutai (कुटाई) means thrashing and/or threshing.
Law Vs. Justice (S1, E8) | 33 minutes
Tyagi weighs an important decision that will change the course of his career. PP Sahab and Ananya are pulled into a landmark case.
The Poster and the Featured Image of the Maamla Legal Hai (S1/2024) show are courtesy of Netflix and Canva.com