A SKILFULLY EXECUTED CROWD-PLEASER

RIYADARSHI, who won audience's hearts with his comic prowess in Pelli Choopulu and later proved his mettle with films like Balagam and Mallesham, remains an atypical hero for Telugu cinema. Similarly, in Court - State vs A Nobody, his character Teja is introduced with a suitably low-key, understated energy.

- BH HARSH

RIYADARSHI, who won audience's hearts with his comic prowess in Pelli Choopulu and later proved his mettle with films like Balagam and Mallesham, remains an atypical hero for Telugu cinema. Similarly, in Court - State vs A Nobody, his character Teja is introduced with a suitably low-key, understated energy. Teja is a budding lawyer—smart, well equipped for his job, and yet an under-confident man striving for that one big chance. He is tempted to keep his ambitions low, because of how he is treated by his boss. In the first half of the film, Teja is largely presented as a bystander, a listener of the past before he begins his journey of reshaping the future of Chandu (Harsh Roshan), the victim he has promised to defend. Priyadarshi's existing image adds to the playout here, and Teja remains a character just waiting for his moment of resurgence. The pre-interval portions of the film are taut and gripping, and yet relatively off-beat, because they gradually set the stage for the crowd-pleaser that Court emerges to be in the second half.