Narayan Kamble is an ageing folk singer living in Mumbai who has been marked by the authorities as a dissident. Kamble’s latest charge is for inciting the suicide of a sewage worker through the allegedly seditious lyrics in his songs. With no evidence and few witnesses, events unfold in a lower Mumbai courtroom, shedding a cold light on the justice system in contemporary India. Alongside this, glimpses into the lives and minds of Kamble’s defence lawyer, the prosecutor and the judge illuminate the personal prejudices, corruption and ultimately injustice still prevalent in the shadows of the system. Tamhane’s debut feature places this convincing narrative within the context of a country full of contrasts: modernity versus tradition, wealth versus poverty, young versus old, with both humanity and humour.