Meet Justice K Chandru, the inspiration behind Suriya’s ‘Jai Bhim’

Justice K Chandru, the inspiration for Suriya’s character in recent Tamil film ‘Jai Bhim’, shares his experience of the judicial system in fighting for the disadvantaged

, a Tamil film directed by TJ Gnanavel, depicting a legal drama with in the lead role, brings to life the struggles of Sengani, a woman from the Irula tribal community, in seeking justice.

Rajakannu, Sengani’s husband, is nabbed by the police on false charges of theft. When he goes missing, the police claim he has fled. With the help of lawyer Chandru, played by Suriya, Sengani files a habeus corpus petition and so the story unfolds.

The film is based on true incidents from a case that took place in Vriddhachalam, dealt by Justice K Chandru in 1993 when he was practising as a lawyer. Justice Chandru, retired from the Madras High Court and who now lives in Chennai, has disposed of 96,000 cases during his tenure, a feat which he says is possible with planning, organisation and classification of cases. On average, as a judge he would listen to 75 cases a day. In this interview, he reflects on the film, the nature of truth and law as a practice.