Criminal Justice Season 3 follows the return of Madhav Mishra as he finds himself defending a juvenile who has been accused of murdering his sister.
Criminal Justice: Adhura Sach Season 3 Episode 1 Recap: A Dark Night
Zara (Deshna Dugad) is a popular 12-year-old child actor who lives with her parents Neeraj (Purab Kohli) and Avantika (Swastika Mukherjee) and her brother Mukul (Aaditya Gupta). Although Zara remains extremely popular playing the same role of a 10-year-old for two years, she wants to be identified with her own personality and not that of her character.
Zara’s brother Mukul has been undergoing therapy for drug abuse, yet he continues to consume drugs, which he procures through his source.
When Zara is accompanied by her parents to Madh Island for a shoot, Mukul tags along in hopes of scoring some drugs through his regular source’s partner, Xavier, at the island.
Coming to Advocate Madhav Mishra (Pankaj Tripathi), he continues to suffer at the hands of his quirky and eccentric clients. Thankfully, he has his wife Ratna (Khushboo Atre) to share the burden although Ratna’s brother has joined Madhav as an assistant.
Mukul meets Xavier at a secluded bungalow near his accommodation to procure the drugs. At a launch party in the evening for a dance show, Zara makes plans to sneak out in the night to party with some newly made friends of hers. On the other hand, Mukul also cuts a deal with some of the guys he meets at the launch party to sell the drugs in his possession and make more money for future requirements.
Coincidentally, Zara and Mukul land at the same party, and Mukul notices that Zara is there too.
The next morning, when Avantika wakes up, she doesn’t find Zara in her room. Upon questioning Mukul, Avantika and Neeraj come to know that Mukul met Zara at the party. However, Mukul lies that he left her at the party and returned home alone.
When Zara is not found at the party venue, Neeraj calls the police. The police start questioning Mukul and the other people who were present at the party.
While Mukul maintains his earlier testimony, the others reveal that an altercation broke between Mukul and Zara. The CCTV footage also shows Mukul forcefully dragging Zara into the car.
Before the police can question Mukul once again, Zara’s body is found in a wrapped-up condition in the sea by some fishermen.
Criminal Justice: Adhura Sach Season 3 Episode 2 Recap: Web of Lies
The police ask Neeraj and Avantika to identify the body and calls the juvenile unit keeping in mind Mukul’s age. Although Zara’s face is not visible because of the mutilation caused by acid, Avantika identifies Zara from the anklet she wore.
With the juvenile unit officers present, the primary investigators Prashant Waghmare (Addinath M Kothare) and Gauri Karmakar (Kalyanee Mulay) start questioning Mukul based on the eyewitness testimonies that Mukul threatened to kill Zara at the party and dragged her to his car.
Mukul backs off from his earlier testimony and reveals that he found something off with Zara as she looked high on drugs. He informs the police that Zara pushed him into the pool when he tried to make her drink some water to dilute the drug’s effects. When she later became unconscious, he dragged her to the car and started the journey to his home.
However, according to Mukul’s confession, Zara puked in the car, and Mukul had to stop at the beach to clean the mess. As Zara was not willing to come home, keeping in mind the proximity to the house, Mukul decided to return.
During the questioning, the police come to know that Mukul had taken drugs the previous night, and they recover Mukul’s stash from his bag. Another crucial finding lands up at the police’s palms when they come to know that Zara is the child of Neeraj from his first marriage and Mukul is Avantika’s child from her first marriage with Arvind (Gaurav Gera).
Following Mukul’s testimony, the police end up at a secluded bungalow, just metres away from the location Zara was last seen at. Finding traces of acid and human remains at the spot, the police seal the bungalow as a crime scene. Later, the police also find some photos of the bungalow on Mukul’s phone from the time he arrived there to procure the drugs in the morning.
The post-mortem report confirms that Zara had taken drugs, but the police continue to suspect Mukul as the drugs in Mukul’s possession turn out to be the exact ones that Zara consumed.
Having enough evidence to take Mukul into custody, the police arrests Mukul with the support of the public prosecutor who was appointed for the case, Advocate Lekha (Shweta Basu Prasad), who has become a government lawyer against her father’s wishes. Avantika tries to convince Neeraj to find a lawyer for Mukul, but Neeraj shows reluctance to give the money to Avantika.
Meanwhile, Madhav and Ratna track the whole situation on television. Worried, Mukul’s father Arvind and Avantika look for a lawyer for their son. Observing the desperation of Avantika, officer Gauri shares the contact of Advocate Madhav with Avantika.
Pleading for help, Avantika arrives at the door of Madhav Mishra as Madhav mentally prepares to take up another gruelling challenge.
Criminal Justice: Adhura Sach Season 3 Episode 1 & Episode 2 Review
If anything defines Criminal Justice, it’s the series’ presentation of the handling of intricate crimes and the challenges that the system itself puts forth, by virtue of its making, on the path of those who set out to find justice.
The premiere episodes of Criminal Justice: Adhura Sach devote their time amply to establishing the crime in all its detailed mystery. Hence, very little is seen of the series’ mainstay – Madhav Mishra.
The series is off to a slow start as it takes time to establish the obvious evidence that will require a lot of unwrapping in the coming episodes. The makers have ensured that the crime and its intricacies remain entrenched in the viewer’s mind as the story progresses forward.
With the setting of a sibling rivalry establishing the context for the main crime, the series follows the patterns of its previous outings in Season 1 and Season 2 as an evident suspect must be defended throughout the course of the season. Criminal Justice continues to believe in the notion that often the obvious conclusion may not reflect the entire truth.
The episodes successfully establish the pivotal characters who are going to steer much of the action this season with some returning characters getting greater attention.
With the previous seasons having explored sensitive topics, this season too intends to navigate the complexities of a crime with a juvenile as the primary suspect. The procedural detail is brilliantly managed to portray the handling that such a sensitive case requires.
The actors playing Zara and Mukul steal the show with their performances as both exhibit conviction. Swastika Mukherjee and Purab Kohli remain at their usual best. The acting acumen of the rest of the cast remains unquestionable although Shweta Basu Prasad, who is portraying the prosecuting lawyer, does not get much screen time as one would expect her to have.
The obvious fact remains that an attempt has been made to focus on the key characters directly involved with the crime. The advocates will positively get their opportunities to shine.
While the series did not start on the strongest note with a seemingly average premise being set up, given the track record of this fan favourite series, it’s early to undermine the potential. If anything, the belief in Pankaj Tripathi’s performance and charm remains strong while a strong array of characters, who definitely evoke sincere interest, has been presented.
While a lot of Madhav Mishra is not seen, it can be expected that the witty and hilariously struggling lawyer is back to put his ingenious case-solving lawyer brain at work once again.
Rating: 3.5/5
Episode 1 and Episode 2 of Criminal Justice: Adhura Sach are now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
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