Jolly LLB 3 (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – Smart-alec Jolly Mishra and jugadu Jolly Tyagi clash in Judge Tripathi’s court with witty banter, wild twists, and heartfelt chaos in this ultimate courtroom comedy.

My Take – Back when it released in 2013, no could have predicted that the small-budgeted excellent comedy drama ‘Jolly LLB‘ would be so fondly remembered even twelve years later. Mainly because, unlike most courtroom features, writer-director Subhash Kapoor staged the film like a play, equal parts comedy and tragedy.

And while facts and laws were part of the proceedings, they took a backseat to satire, social justice, and one gloriously exasperated judge. So when its second installment, despite a primarily different cast and setting, played to the same strengths and found bigger success, a franchise was born.

However, what makes this third installment instantly special is that it promised fireworks by bringing both Jollys, Jagdish Tyagi (Arshad Warsi) and Jagdishwar Mishra (Akshay Kumar), together for the price of one makes them face off in and out of a Delhi court.

And though the results are not as excellent as one would have hoped, it still manages to works as a an engaging, socially relevant entertainer that sees director Subhash Kapoor do a good job of leveraging the two lead actors, both blessed with comic timing, to explore a serious and unfortunately prevalent topic like farmer suicides in a sensitive manner. His strong focus on portraying their struggles and questioning blind industrialization gives the film its heart.

Yes, the film is stretched, uneven, and suffers from pacing issues, but if you are here for banter, eccentric clients, monologues that thunder, and a teddy bear judge who threatens contempt with love, you case has been made.

Beginning in a village in Bikaner, the story sees a farmer-poet Rajaram Solanki die by suicide after the gram panchayat hands over his land to the local tehsildar because of a loan default. Naturally, because the tehsildar, the district magistrate, the MLA, and the police are all in cahoots with a menacing but dignified Delhi-based businessman, Haribhai Khaitan (Gajraj Rao), who wants all the land in the village for his prestige project ‘Bikaner to Boston’.

Cut to present day, Rajaram Solanki’s wife, Janki (Seema Biswas), has landed in Delhi and taken up the mantle to get justice for her husband. Though she is initially guided towards Jolly Number 1 (Arshad Warsi), by his NGO employed wife, Sandhya (Amrita Rao), in order to extract revenge for continuously stealing his cases, he redirects her to Jolly Number 2 (Akshay Kumar).

And while Janki’s case initially pits them against each other, with Judge Sunder Lal Tripathi (Saurabh Shukla) bearing the maximum trauma of this rivalry. But upon discovering her plight, the two Jollys, driven by emotions, are forced to work together.

No doubt, the plot is courageous. Farmer suicides are an ongoing national wound, and director Kapoor anchors his drama in this reality were farmers’ struggles and forced land acquisition in the name of cosmopolitan development is a socially relevant issue.

With his screenplay takes a sharp dig at the mindset of industrialists and opportunistic economists who prioritize profits over people. Indeed, the film does not invent new arguments, but it repackages them in a way that remains engaging. The widow’s grief humanizes what could otherwise become abstract economics. It is her anguish that forces the Jollys to care, and eventually to collaborate.

Sure, at around 157 minutes, the film feels a bit too long as it engages in several unnecessary subplots slow down the pace, such as random riot sequences, and the two Jollys engaging in physical fights. These moments divert attention from the real issue at hand. And yet, somehow it works. It works because the Jollys are fun to watch and director Kapoor knows how to stage a courtroom showdown.

The film is like a chaotic hearing where lawyers bicker, evidence gets misplaced, and the judge sighs in despair, but somehow we are viewers remain entertained. Particularly in its final act, where the script delivers a hard-hitting and emotional climax, where both Jollys shine.

Performance-wise, both Akshay Kumar and Arshad Warsi get equal opportunities to showcase their contrasting comedic styles. Kumar delivers his lines like punches, sometimes theatrical, sometimes heartfelt. Warsi slips in with quieter but equally effective deliveries, proving that understatement can carry as much weight as bombast. Seema Biswas brings yet another a searing turn, while Gajraj Rao is believable as a power-hungry businessman who believes poverty impedes the country’s success.

Amrita Rao and Huma Qureshi are underused but delightful. Ram Kapoor delivers one of the film’s standout moments. His courtroom monologue, measured yet powerful, injects real dramatic heft into the proceedings. Shilpa Shukla comes as a breath of fresh air amidst all the drama and intense acts.

And then there is Saurabh Shukla, the franchise’s main weapon. His Judge Tripathi is once again the highlight as Shukla has perfected this role to the point where the film almost bends around him. Without him, the film would collapse. On the whole, ‘Jolly LLB 3‘ is yet another engaging, socially relevant entertainer packed with enough wit, satire, and plenty of punches.