Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Cast/Actors: Pankaj Tripathi, Surveen Chawla, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Asha Negi, Shweta Basu Prasad, Kalyanee Muley, Barkha Singh, Khushboo Atre & Others
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Director: Rohan Sippy
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Production House: Applause Entertainment & BBC Studios India
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Release Date: Streaming from 29th May, 2025 (New Episode Releasing Every Thursday)
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Available On: JioHotstar OTT Platform
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Released/Available In Languages: Hindi & Dubbed in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi & Bengali
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Number Of Episodes: 8
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Episode Duration: 40 Minutes (Approx. Each Episode)
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Critic Review:
It’s a cosy situation for surgeon Dr Raj Nagpal (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) with separated wife Anju (Surveen Chawla) in the apartment across the floor and girlfriend-cum-nurse Roshni Saluja (Asha Negi) in his house to take care of fragile daughter Ira who suffers from Aspergers Syndrome. His mom Gurmeet (Sohaila Kapur) is around too, happy to go along with Raj’s unconventional arrangement.
After an eventful 13th birthday party for Ira, the idyllic world is shattered when the housemaid walks in to find Raj holding the bloodied dead body of Roshni in his arms. One scream from the maid and Anju from across the floor comes rushing in.
Whodunnit and why?
It’s called A Family Matter for a reason as director Rohan Sippy (with writers Harman Wadala, Sandeep Jain and Sameer Mishra) packs family squabbles and paarivarik tidbits into every corner.
Fighting for Raj Nagpal, Madhav Mishra (Pankaj Tripathi) whose common man personality does not betray his uncommonly sharp legal brain, arrives in a car that splutters and jerks like a rickshaw. It’s one of the relief moments the director brings in when the going gets weary, with wife Ratna (Khushboo Atre) at the wheel and her brother (Atma Prakash Mishra) who’s around simply because he’s the brother-in-law Madhav can’t shake off (the saala aadha gharwala syndrome). That makes Team Mishra a family matter too.
Add to it the strain between ACP Gauri Karmarkar (Kalyanee Muley) and her ex-husband (their marital mess was spotlighted in Season 2) as they work together to investigate Raj, Anju and several red herrings. Top it with hotshot lawyer Mandira Mathur (a perpetually grim Mita Vashisht) who has more than a bone to pick with Madhav Mishra, and her lawyer-daughter Shivani (Barkha Singh) who has joined Madhav’s team for an overspill of family friction. Mercifully, Public Prosecutor Lekha Agastya (Shweta Basu Prasad) and her standoff with her rich family was dealt with in an earlier season, so that doesn’t surface to add to the many family equations that Season 4 plays with.
There are unexplained drawbacks in the narration. When the entire police focus is on one obvious suspect , you can’t help wondering why the investigation doesn’t look at other family members, society workers and the victim’s background. Gauri Karmarkar’s tough cop act also doesn’t show the smarts that should accompany the no-nonsense face. And Madhav Mishra’s dalliance with a lucrative corporate offer clashes with his core personality.
But there are reasons for this season to work well for the viewer because a) Pankaj Tripathi continues to rise to the task of shouldering the show, combining chuckle-eliciting skills with legal sharpness b) Surveen Chawla handles a range of expressions rather well c) Everybody loves a good marital mess with the other woman killed (she deserved it syndrome) and d) There are enough diversions and complications to keep it moving.
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter – Watch Or Not?: Although it could’ve been wrapped up faster without so many detours, Season 4 does justice to the popular franchise.
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Review Score Rating: 3 out of 5 (i.e. 3/5)
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter Official Trailer:
Credits: JioHotstar
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