What happens when two underdog lawyers from small-town India crash into each other in Delhi’s crusty courtrooms? In Jolly LLB 3, the answer is: a lot of shouting, moral grandstanding, and surprisingly—some real moments of gold.
Arshad Warsi’s Jolly is still the scruffy, underpaid, chai-sipping lawyer we rooted for a decade ago. And then we got Akshay Kumar’s Jolly, all swagger and sarcastic, who treats the courtroom like a stage and justice like a tightrope. They start off at each other’s throats, flinging legal jargon like its street food. You witness a riot and a one-of-a-kind tug of war there.
But the narrative isn’t really about their clash. It’s about the system they’re stuck in.
Gajraj Rao plays Haribhai, a corporate villain so oily you’ll want to wash your hands after every scene he’s in. He wants to build a luxury township in Rajasthan—think champagne towers on farmland. Blocking his bulldozers is Janki, a quiet widow with a spine of steel (Seema Biswas, understated brilliance). The land’s hers. The fight begins.
The film pivots from comedy to commentary fast. One minute you’re chuckling, the next you’re hit with a monologue about farmers’ rights, or a gut-punch about how ‘development’ often means erasure. Subhash Kapoor doesn’t sugarcoat. He doesn’t spoon-feed either. He just lets the courtroom breathe — and fume.
Saurabh Shukla returns as Judge Sunder Lal Tripathi, now crankier, chubbier, and utterly done with everyone’s nonsense. He steals scenes without lifting a finger. The way he handles two Jollys, a crooked tycoon, and his own midlife existentialism? That’s peak cinema.
There are a few missteps. The Jolly-vs-Jolly bit overstays its welcome. Their friendship arc feels like a lazy edit. But once they join forces? The film tightens. The case turns rousing. The courtroom starts to crackle.
The film asks the right questions, loudly and often with a smirk. It’s messy, noisy, and oddly heartfelt. Not your usual courtroom drama. Not your typical sequel. But definitely worth hearing out — objection overruled.
IWMBuzz rates it 3.5/5 stars.
