The Practice

One thing about American television that I appreciate most is the fact that, they work hard for their serials, whether that is to do with the story line, character development or just taking the serial from one season to another. They make about 20 to 24 episodes on higher side in one ‘season’,  which means in one year, just compare that to the crap that comes to Indian television 5 times a week. We make about 220 to 250 episodes in one year with no near possibility of its end. Our serials have become eternal and we actually don’t mind that.

And here I started watching ‘The Practice’, because of my natural flair for court room dramas, I was pleasantly surprised, not only because of its entertainment quotient, but for the very fact that the serial dose not deviate from being factual. The cases may seem unrealistic in various episodes, but the approach with which they are handled gives you a close look at the American legal system, and the very basis on which it works. I learned a lot about court proceedings through this serial, and this has made me curious about Indian legal system as well. I really hope someday someone will make a serial as gripping and as realistic as ‘The Practice’ in India with Indian law context.

The serial is about a firm of attorneys, who generally specialize in criminal defence; now in Indian movies a lawyer defending a guilty accused is considered a villain from the very first scene. A notion that is hard to get by, but here in this serial, the side of those lawyers are shown, the moral obligations that they are required by law to fulfil. Defending the guilty with all the efforts, even when they personally don’t want the accused to be acquitted. And the use of loop holes in the American law to their aid.

The situations shown in the serial are sometimes just amazing, you may yourself feel entangled in them, and start wondering what you would have done in that situation. By now i have completed 3 seasons of this serial out of total 8 seasons. And I am loving it.

Highly recommended for a person with a law background, or even with an intention to make a career in this field. And for people who appreciate good work that not only entertains but educates.

Rating ****.