Kajol, one of India’s most popular actors, appears in the Disney+ Hotstar series “The Trial – Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha,” an Indian translation of CBS’s “The Good Wife.”
Kajol plays Noyonika Sengupta, a housewife who is compelled to return to work as a lawyer after her husband is imprisoned due to a public scandal. Sheeba Chaddha, Jisshu Sengupta, Alyy Khan, Kubbra Sait, and Gaurav Pandey all play important parts.
“The Trial” is directed by Suparn S. Varma (“Rana Naidu”) and produced by Banijay Asia and Ajay Devgn Films.
Kajol’s work includes the romance “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,” the melodrama “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…,” the romantic thriller “Fanaa,” and the drama “My Name Is Khan.” She is a member of the Mukherjee family, which includes actors, directors, and producers, and she has been married to fellow Bollywood star Ajay Devgn for almost 20 years. She made her Netflix debut with the film “Tribhanga,” which premiered in 2021. “The Trial” will be Kajol’s first streaming series.
Kajol said: “The complexities are what defines a character to me and the layers surrounding Noyonika are what spoke to me when this role first came over. Noyonika felt personal, I instantly felt protective about her and that reaffirmed my faith in choosing ‘The Trial’ on Disney+ Hotstar to be my first step into the long format. Suparn Varma has built a world where vulnerability of characters meet the cruel situations posed by life. The audience will feel for and feel one with Noyonika as she makes difficult choices, because I did.”
“Bringing ‘The Trial’ together is the result of high collaboration and support of everyone involved, from the director, Suparn, to our charismatic show lead Kajol, to our producers, Deepak Dhar from Banijay,” said Gaurav Banerjee, head of programming, Disney+ Hotstar. We strive to provide content that is genre-defining and immensely enjoyable on Disney+ Hotstar, and this title is exactly that. We are excited to share this inspiring story with our audience and hope they enjoy it.”
Varma said: “The characters are weaved in the story in a way that each of them navigates the story in a unique direction which builds their character arcs. Kajol as Noyonika and Jisshu Sengupta as Rajiv bring this tightly woven world together seamlessly. The series will see remarkable talent collaborating with each other for the first time and I think that will be refreshing for the audience to watch.”
Banijay Asia CEO Deepak Dhar said: “We found synergies with our partners including Rajesh Chadha and Parag Desai as producers together with Disney+ Hotstar to bring this fantastic story /adaptation for the Indian audiences. The excitement of bringing a global mega hit to the country along with Kajol, is huge and we can’t wait to present it to our viewers here.”
“The Good Wife,” the original series, was created by CBS Studios in collaboration with Scott Free Productions and King Size Productions. Robert and Michelle King, Ridley Scott, David Zucker, Brooke Kennedy, Craig Turk, Leonard Dick, Ted Humphrey, and Keith Eisner served as executive producers on the show. Paramount Global Content Distribution distributes the format rights worldwide. It has been granted permission to operate in China, India, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Roxanne Pompa, VP, of international formats at Paramount Global Content Distribution, said: “It is incredible to see how the storyline and these characters in the adaptation have been transformed to fit into the local landscape and culture so effortlessly.”
The series streams from July 14.
You can watch the trailer here:
