Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 4 (PTI) The hard-hitting Tamil courtroom drama 'Jai Bhim' (2021) was able to reinforce the common man's trust in the country's legal system, besides sending out the message that justice will be delivered finally if people resort to the legal route, Justice (Retired) K Chandru has said.

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He expressed this view while in a conversation with advocate Thushara James at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL 2023) here on Friday evening.

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Directed by T J Gnanavel, 'Jai Bhim' was based on a case fought by Chandru, who became a lawyer post retirement, for the couple named Rajakannu and Sengeni from the Irular tribe in Tamil Nadu.

Highlighting that 'Jai Bhim' has unmistakably proved as to what extent a film can create its impact on society and power centres, he said there were massive interventions for the Irular community post the release of the movie.

He said while going for a meeting in 1993, Rajakannu's wife approached him with the missing complaint of her husband.

"After my retirement, I had mentioned this sensational case that happened during my practice as a lawyer in many interviews. I had written about the incident in a magazine during that period itself but it failed to garner attention," he recalled.

Later, during a car journey with Gnanavel, Chandru discussed the incident with him and the former soon realised possibilities of a film's plot in it.

Chandru wanted a film that must be beneficial for someone and thus the problems of the Irular community came to the fore in the flick.

"The film showed justice to around 95 per cent of the real-life incident. More importantly, everyone was able to understand more about the tribe and their real issues," he said.

When the film was censored, as many as 46 cuts were suggested and 'A' certification was inevitable for the film. The makers were not ready to trim even a scene and thus it was streamed on Over the Top (OTT) platform.

The former Justice also said he had decided not to appear in the film even as it depicted his life and he was keen on supporting the team from behind.

MBIFL 2023 features an impressive line-up of Nobel and Booker Prize winners and Jnanpith awardees, among over 400 eminent names in creative fields.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)