The distance between Parliament and the fictional Patparganj High Court may be covered in less than an hour. However, for Ravi Kishan, navigating legal loopholes as a politician is far easier than the unruly chaos he faces as Principal District Judge VD Tyagi in Mamla Legal Hai 2. Inspired by real-life cases, Netflix’s satirical drama hits the gavel on judicial biases and systemic delays.
“A judge is always on trial,” he says, reflecting on his role. “Of course, otherwise, who will watch or remember you? Every new release is a test. From Dilip Kumar to Shah Rukh Khan and me, you are constantly tried and tested. An actor has to give his exam.”
For Kishan, being a judge in a film is far messier than arguing cases from the floor as a parliamentarian. Drawing similarities between his character and his real life as a politician, he says, “We are both lawmakers. In my constituency, people come to me with their grievances, while Tyagi is faced with some unusual cases as well. But having said that, the man is a hustler and a survivor, and is emotionally attuned to the people. You will see many like him in the corridors of the civil courts.”
Mamla Legal Hai, Kishan’s first OTT series in a lead role, repackages serious national headlines with entertainment. Kishan looks at it as a throwback to the cinema of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Bhattacharya, and Shyam Benegal, which explored the everyday absurdities of a common man’s life. “People are so overburdened with life, the many struggles and challenges, that they have forgotten how to laugh and live. The show tries to see it with fun. The judiciary is a vast world, and there is so much to explore.”
The last couple of years have been particularly rewarding, winning acclaim for his role in Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies. Coming from humble beginnings marked with struggle, he sought the stardust of film studios. From supporting roles in Hindi films, it was Bhojpuri cinema that propelled him to stardom. His stint on reality shows such as Bigg Boss further cemented his popularity. He crossed over to Telugu, Kannada and Tamil cinema, while also diversifying towards OTT. “From where I came, I never thought I would create my own industry. But despite my beginnings, I was sure I didn’t want an unknown death, that even my neighbours wouldn’t know who I was and what I did.”
If anonymity was ever a fear, it’s one he has thoroughly outpaced—his calendar today is anything but unknown. Post Mamla Legal Hai, he is all set to share screen space with Madhuri Dixit and Triptii Dimri in Netflix’s dark comedy Maa Behan for starters. “It has been phenomenal to work with Madhuri, it is a colourful story and to see her in a never-before-seen avatar… Post that there are several surprises. I play a larger-than-life character in Mirzapur, as well as a mythical python. I want to make sure the audience keeps getting surprised. I look at life very differently—for me, everything is a drama. I take my camera everywhere with me to observe people, and their many shades and colours, a lived-in experience is what I give through my characters.”
His co-star Kusha Kapila says the best way to describe him is that he is forever peaking. “His comebacks and reinvention apart, he is a man who is so blissfully unaware of social media, but it’s because he exists, he is memes.” The praise and fame make him introspective, reflecting on his three-decade-long journey, saying that if there is anything people can take away from his life, it is conviction. “They wonder if I could achieve what I have, so can we. I have given hope to people. I was just another person in the crowd.”