Criminal Justice cast Pankaj Tripathi, Jackie Shroff and director Tigmanshu Dhulia on adapting British TV show

After directing films, Tigmanshu Dhulia, along with Vishal Furia, will soon bring the adapted version of the 2008 mystery crime thriller Criminal Justice on the web, starring Pankaj Tripathi, Vikrant Massey and Jackie Shroff in pivotal roles. While taking to Firstpost, Tigmanshu shared what attracted him to a digital platform, “A few days back, we used to say that digital is the future. Now, it is the present. It’s a reality and we have to do it. There are many reasons to get into web series as there are a few stories that take time to develop. It can’t be told in a two or two and a half-hour film. Apart from the timeline, storytelling has also changed. Stories have changed, audience’s tastes have changed. Nowadays no one has time to go to the cinema to watch a film. Eventually, entertainment will be consumed on our phones, laptops, and it has a worldwide reach,” Dhulia asserted. [caption id=“attachment_6378461” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Pankaj Tripathi in a still from Criminal Justice. YouTube[/caption] After playing ganglord Kaleen Bhaiya in _Mirzapur,_ Pankaj Tripathi will play a struggling lawyer Madhav Mishra in Criminal Justice. Talking about the role, the Newton actor said, “I enjoyed playing both Kaleen and Madhav. The best part I liked about this is that Madhav is a powerless man. No one cares about him, so playing such a role gives me inner peace (laughs). Such a role makes you much stronger and I enjoyed my character because of this. I was a Madhav Mishra of Bollywood a few days ago (laughs), an actor no one cared for before. There were moments like you’re roaming around and the guard says, ‘Get out, casting is done’.” The show marks the debut of versatile actor Jackie Shroff in a full-fledged web show. The actor is quite thrilled and feels more powerful than before.“I just took up the project. Rest, they (Tigmanshu and Vishal) supported it with their vision. First of all, I heard their names, then secondly, they said that it is based on Criminal Justice, which I didn’t see but I was aware of the strength of my team and I got into it.” _Drohkaal-_fame Mita Vaishist will also be seen as a senior lawyer with shades of grey. She also shared that for her lawyer character is cliched and she was not too keen to do the role, “For me, the director comes first, and then the rest of the project. Talking about my character, I didn’t know much about it because normally, I don’t like lawyer characters. When I did Ghulam, I refused to play a lawyer as I know that my character will be the first to cut off as soon as the movie becomes too long. So it was a cliched character for me. But I did it as it was Tigmanshu and the makers were persistent for me to do this role,” the Taal Tiger Zinda Hai and _The Final Call-_fame Anupriya Goenka is also playing a crucial role in the series. “My character is someone who is between Tripathi and Vaishist. She is a newbie lawyer who is righteous, naive and she’s finding her footing into this legal world”. Recently, Salman Khan said in a media interaction that he will produce digital content which is family oriented, and criticised the current trend. Jackie Shroff reacted to this by saying, “If you want to watch, watch it or else don’t watch it. There are so many options. You can either watch Ram or watch Lakhan. It’s your choice”. On the other hand, Pankaj Tripathi added that the platform gives you an option to back out, “This OTT platform is account-oriented. The user creates an ID, agrees to the terms that the user is an adult. So if you think that the adults in the family are ready to consume the content together then go ahead or else watch it separately.” Anupriya instantly added that nowadays, even web shows are enjoyed by family as they are relatable to them. She thinks that even television is no longer a family medium and everyone prefers to watch content in privacy. Produced by BBC India and helmed by Applause Entertainment, Criminal Justice will air on Hotstar from 5 April.