Oct 20, 2026 10:44am IST
‘Jolly LLB 4’: Arshad Warsi To Lead The Prequel Directed By Umesh Shukla (EXCLUSIVE)
The "Jolly LLB" franchise is set to return with a fourth instalment. Variety India has learnt that the fourth installment is in production and will wrap shoot by January 2027. The makers are yet to fianlise a title for the film. The film stars Arshad Warsi in the lead, under Umesh Shukla’s direction. Says a source, “The project is currently in the last leg of pre-production. And it’s not taking the film forward. It’s a prequel.“ Earlier three parts of the franchise were written and directed by Subhash Kapoor.
The development follows the release of "Jolly LLB 3", directed by Kapoor, which brought Warsi back as lawyer Jagdish Tyagi, popularly known as Jolly, and paired him with Akshay Kumar, who played Jagdishwar Mishra. The third instalment brought the franchise’s two central lawyers together for a courtroom face-off, continuing its blend of legal drama, satire and comedy. The previous film expanded the franchise by bringing its two Jollys into the same courtroom, and set the stage for the prequel.
Warsi first played the title role in the 2013 film "Jolly LLB", directed by Kapoor. While he lost the lead role to Akshay Kumar in the second and third part of the franchise. In the fourth installment he returns to claim the title role. The film found an audience through its mix of courtroom proceedings, social commentary and humour, establishing a format that the subsequent instalments would revisit on a larger scale.
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Across the franchise, the courtroom has served as a setting for stories that combine legal battles with questions of justice, privilege and accountability. The films have also relied on the contrast between their lawyers and Saurabh Shukla’s judge, whose interventions set the stage for comic relief and the moral centre of the proceedings.
Shukla, is known for directing films including "OMG: Oh My God!" and "102 Not Out." His previous work has moved between social satire and character-driven comedy, although it remains unclear what direction he will take with the fourth film or whether the film will retain the earlier instalments’ courtroom setting and satirical approach.
The fourth film wraps in January 2027 and will release next year. Will be interesting to see if familiar faces from the first installment — apart from Saurabh Shukla will reappear in the prequel — Amrita Rao, Boman Irani, Mohan Kapoor and Sanjay Mishra were an integral part of the Jolly LLB.
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