Released in 1986
10/10
Genre- Drama, Thriller
The Cast: Deepak Qazir, Amitabh Srivastav, Pankaj Kapur, S. M. Zaheer, Subhash Udgata, Hemant Mishra, M. K. Raina, K. K. Raina, Annu Kapoor, Subbiraj, Shailendra Goel, Aziz Qureshi, C.D. Sindhu
Story- “Twelve Angry Men” by Reginald Rose
Screenplay: Ranjit Kapur, Basu Chatterjee
Direction- Basu Chatterjee

a scene from “Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986)”

BRIEF INTRODUCTION Based on Reginald Rose’s acclaimed teleplay, “Twelve Angry Men” and Sidney Lumet’s 1957 film of the same name, the story revolves around a nineteen-year-old who is put on trial for allegedly killing his father. To close the final argument and reach an unbiased verdict, the judge directs a jury of twelve members to discuss the boy’s matter among themselves (with all the facts and evidence) and give a final verdict of guilty (with a compulsory death sentence) or not guilty. Now, it’s up to these twelve jurors to decide the fate of the teenager.

The Movie Ek Ruka Hua Faisla is one of the most thoughtful thrillers from Indian Cinema and I want to acknowledge that I saw Ek Ruka Hua Faisla first and then got to know about 12 Angry Men through it. The whole film is shot in one room only with 12 different jurors arguing with each other. I consider this well-executed film a filmmaking master class, how one could deliver a meaningful cinema with the minimum amount of resources.

an important scene from “Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986)”

Performances This film is a powerhouse of performances, with almost all the actors belonging to “NSD (National School of Drama), Delhi”. Every single actor from the twelve of them delivered a natural and confident performance. Pankaj Kapur and Annu Kapoor unarguably delivered unforgettable performances, they played the most challenging characters (Juror No. 3 and Juror No. 9) from the twelve of them.

P.S. Annu Kapoor at the age of 30 played the character of a 70-year-old (Juror No. 9) in the film.