Ek Ruka Hua Faisla – 12 Angry Men

Basu Chatterjee's Ek Ruka Hua Faisla was inspired by the landmark courtroom drama by Sidney Lumet 12 Angry Men.  The story in both the films follows an open-and-shut case that begins to unravel because of one demurring juror out of the 12. They were asked to separate facts from fancy, where one man is dead, another man’s life is at stake. If there is a reasonable doubt, then bring the verdict of not guilty. Verdict must be unanimous. Death sentence is mandatory in this case.  They had to talk and convince. 

The story begins in a courtroom where a teenage boy from a city slum is on trial for stabbing his father to death. Final closing arguments have been presented, and the judge then instructs the jury to decide whether the boy is guilty of murder, which carries a mandatory death sentence. Once inside the Jury discussion room, it is immediately apparent that all jurors with the sole exception of Juror Number 8 (K.K. Raina) have already decided that the boy is guilty, and that they plan to return their verdict quickly, without taking time for discussion. His vote annoys the other jurors.

The rest of the film centers around the jury's difficulty in reaching a unanimous verdict. While several of the jurors harbor personal prejudices, Juror 8 maintains that the evidence presented in the case is circumstantial, and that the boy deserves a fair deliberation. He calls into question the accuracy and reliability of the only two witnesses to the murder, the rarity of the murder weapon (a common pocketknife, of which he has an identical copy), and the overall questionable circumstances (including the fact that an elevated train was passing by at the time of the murder). He further argues that he cannot in good conscience vote "guilty" when he feels there is reasonable doubt of the boy's guilt and slowly convinces each juror about the same by his logical findings around each piece of evidence.

How can all be so sure? The small questions are not asked, because they are afraid. The boy is poor, afraid, and not very knowledgeable. The judgement could be wrong. It' not a science where everything can be said with certainty. Coincidence is possible as with the knife.

The vakil was appointed by the court, and he did not have any confidence on the boy. Any proof that takes a person to death, should be accurate. We cannot confirm that a person is a convict unless proved otherwise. 

With Patience, conviction, 11 guilty and 1 not guilty changes to 1 guilty 11 not guilty. It's not easy to stand against all. 11-1, 10-1, 9-2,  8-4; 6-6 and then began the second inning. 9-3 vote – after the way he was killed. Then it moved from 8-4; lady 11-1; The meaning of everything can be changed. How circumstances can make you stick to your convictions. Life in their hands, death is on their mind. It explods like 12 sets of dynamite. 

The film starred great actors like Pankaj Kapur and Annu Kapoor in their early days. Annu Kapoor was the first to change his mind, while Pankaj Kapur was the last. Even after all agreeing Pankaj Kapur was unwilling, because of his differences with his son, whose photo he carried in his purse.  The other characters where Deepak Qazir Kejriwal as Juror No. 1,  Srivastav as Juror No. 2, Pankaj Kapur as Juror No. 3, S. M. Zaheer as Juror No. 4, Subhash Udgata as Juror No. 5, Hemant Mishra as Juror No. 6, M. K. Raina as Juror No. 7, K. K. Raina as Juror No. 8, Annu Kapoor as Juror No. 9, Subbiraj as Juror No. 10, Shailendra Goel as Juror No. 11, Aziz Qureshi as Juror No. 12, C. D. Sindhu as Gatekeeper were all amazing. 

Finally got to see both the movies same day, after waiting for years. Thanks for the assignment, and the happening's at home/flat association reminded me of this.