Bollywood has produced numerous versions of the Nanavati case over the decades starting with "Yeh Raste Hain Pyar Ke" and the last being "Rustom", where different spins were given to the original subject. Zee5's "The Verdict" is perhaps the only narrative that reproduces the actual courtroom drama, the cause and profound effects it had on the country's legal system, and how the media played a significant role in distorting the judgement. Wing Commander Kawas M Nanavati, a much decorated and admired navy officer returns home to discover that his wife Sylvia has not only been having an extramarital affair with the alleged playboy Prem Ahuja but also swears of being in love with him, he shoots Prem dead with 3 successive shots in a crime of passion. Kawas then surrendered to the Mumbai police and admitted having committed the murder, an act that shook up the naval force and the ministry of defence, affecting even the Prime Minister of the nation.
The top brass quickly gets into action to quell the damage caused to the reputation of the armed forces and engineers a campaign to turn the case around, against the wishes of Kawas. Blitz, a daily newspaper run by its editor Rusi Karanjia was commissioned to safeguard the reputation and influence the outcome of the case, who played a masterstroke in dividing the nation on the basis of ethnicity and religion, affecting the jury's verdict.
"The Verdict" is an exceptionally made series that remains true to the original case, plays out high drama through rock solid performances and steers clear of turning out into a documentary. Angad Bedi as the defence lawyer Karl Khandalawala, Saurabh Shukla as Rusi Karanjia, Makrand Despande as prosecutor Chandu Trivedi, Sumeet Vyas as the narrator and external counsel Ram Jethmalani and Swanand Kirkire as Judge R B Mehta fire up the screen so much that the episodes turn bingeworthy. To that end, the central characters of the Nanavatis played by Manav Kaul and Elie Avram, and that of Mamie Ahuja (Kubra Sait) are downplayed by director Shashant Shah subtly, compared to the Bollywood melodramas on the same subject that glorified them.
The top brass quickly gets into action to quell the damage caused to the reputation of the armed forces and engineers a campaign to turn the case around, against the wishes of Kawas. Blitz, a daily newspaper run by its editor Rusi Karanjia was commissioned to safeguard the reputation and influence the outcome of the case, who played a masterstroke in dividing the nation on the basis of ethnicity and religion, affecting the jury's verdict.
"The Verdict" is an exceptionally made series that remains true to the original case, plays out high drama through rock solid performances and steers clear of turning out into a documentary. Angad Bedi as the defence lawyer Karl Khandalawala, Saurabh Shukla as Rusi Karanjia, Makrand Despande as prosecutor Chandu Trivedi, Sumeet Vyas as the narrator and external counsel Ram Jethmalani and Swanand Kirkire as Judge R B Mehta fire up the screen so much that the episodes turn bingeworthy. To that end, the central characters of the Nanavatis played by Manav Kaul and Elie Avram, and that of Mamie Ahuja (Kubra Sait) are downplayed by director Shashant Shah subtly, compared to the Bollywood melodramas on the same subject that glorified them.