Global Courant
Kajol, one of India’s best-loved actors, stars in Disney+ Hotstar series “The Trial – Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha,” the Indian adaptation of CBS series “The Good Wife.”
The courtroom drama sees Kajol star as Noyonika Sengupta, a housewife who is forced to return to work as a lawyer after her husband’s public scandal puts him behind bars. The cast also includes Sheeba Chaddha, Jisshu Sengupta, Alyy Khan, Kubbra Sait and Gaurav Pandey in key roles.
Produced by Banijay Asia and Ajay Devgn FFilms, “The Trial” is directed by Suparn S. Varma (“Rana Naidu”).
Kajol has credits that include romance “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,” melodrama “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…,” romantic thriller “Fanaa” and drama “My Name Is Khan.” She hails from the Mukherjee family which is studded with actors, directors and producers, and has been married to fellow Bollywood star Ajay Devgn for more than 20 years. She made her streaming debut with Netflix film “Tribhanga” which played from 2021. “The Trial” will mark the streaming series debut for Kajol.
Kajol said: “The complexities are what defines a character to me and the layers surrounding Noyonika are what spoke to me when this role first came over. Noyonika felt personal, I instantly felt protective about her and that reaffirmed my faith in choosing ‘The Trial’ on Disney+ Hotstar to be my first step into the long format. Suparn Varma has built a world where the vulnerability of characters meets the cruel situations posed by life. The audience will feel for and feel one with Noyonika as she makes difficult choices, because I did.”
Gaurav Banerjee, head, content, Disney+ Hotstar, added: “Bringing ‘The Trial’ together is the result of high collaboration and support of everyone involved, be it the director, Suparn to our charismatic show lead Kajol to our producers, Deepak Dhar from Banijay. At Disney+ Hotstar we strive to bring in content which is genre-defining and highly entertaining and this title is certainly that. We look forward to launching this inspiring story for our viewers and hope they enjoy it.”
Varma said: “The characters are woven in the story in a way that each of them navigates the story in a unique direction which builds their character arcs. Kajol as Noyonika and Jisshu Sengupta as Rajiv bring this tightly woven world together seamlessly. The series will see remarkable talent collaborating with each other for the first time and I think that will be refreshing for the audience to watch.”
Banijay Asia CEO Deepak Dhar said: “We found synergies with our partners including Rajesh Chadha and Parag Desai as producers together with Disney+ Hotstar to bring this fantastic story / adaptation for the Indian audiences. The excitement of bringing a global mega hit to the country along with Kajol, is huge and we can’t wait to present it to our viewers here.”
The original series, “The Good Wife,” was created by CBS Studios, in association with Scott Free Productions and King Size Productions. Executive producers who worked on the show include Robert and Michelle King, Ridley Scott, David Zucker, Brooke Kennedy, Craig Turk, Leonard Dick, Ted Humphrey and Keith Eisner. The format rights are distributed globally by Paramount Global Content Distribution. It has been licensed in China, India, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam.
Roxanne Pompa, VP, international formats at Paramount Global Content Distribution, said: “It is incredible to see how the storyline and these characters in the adaptation have been transformed to fit into the local landscape and culture so effortlessly.”
The series streams from July 14.
Watch the trailer here:
