Criminal Justice Season 4 Review: When a man’s mistress is murdered, there are usually two prime suspects: the man and his wife. This is also the plot of Criminal Justice Season 4: A Family Matter. However, when the man and his wife are played by the talented Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Surveen Chawla, with Pankaj Tripathi added to the mix, the plot needs to churn out more than just a cliche. Thankfully for director Rohan Sippy, the fourth instalment of Criminal Justice is a well-seasoned murder mystery.
The series begins with Madhav Mishra (Pankaj Tripathi) ready to take on a fancy, new corporate law job, only to learn that his best qualification is that he is not fancy. Madhav Mishra is an “ordinary man” with Pankaj Tripathi’s signature ‘humblespeak’ and a likability reserved for the actor.
However, his swanky new job is jeopardised when he decides to represent a well-known client in a case involving Dr Raj Nagpal, who hails from the upper echelons of Mumbai’s high-rise community. Madhav is told to drop the case, otherwise his “aam aadmi wala chehra celebrity lagne lagega”. It’s hard not to interpret this as a cheeky reference to the many ‘aam aadmis’ that Pankaj Tripathi has played on screen.
In a twisted turn of events, Raj’s estranged wife, Anju (Surveen Chawla), also finds herself embroiled in the high-profile murder trial. As the defence and the prosecution peel this glass onion layer by layer over eight episodes, one is compelled to inch closer to the edge of their seat.
Of course, one might feel confident to predict the outcome of the series near its end. As the heart of the show, it is believed that Madhav Mishra will ultimately win the case. He does. But even at his best, Madhav is bested. The story ends with a welcome twist, highlighting clues that were evident all along but could easily be missed by unsuspecting viewers- a general marker for good murder mysteries.
