Anatomy Of A Coincidence | Part 01 | Under Lens

April 27^th, 1959 -  Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati, a reputed commander in Indian Navy kills his friend Prem Ahuja.

July 01^st, 1959 - A movie based on a 1952 bestseller is released. Lieutenant Frederick Manion kills restaurateur Barney Quill.

Two totally unrelated events had their own share of co-incidences. In the movie, Anatomy Of A Murder which was based on novel by the same name, a small town attorney Paul Biegler played by James Stewart takes on two attorneys prosecuting his client. His client pleads non-guilty on account of temporal insanity. Barney Quill takes advantage of his wife and he murders him in rage. Movie allows the plot to remain in grey area as viewer is made to believe that it is possible that Manion killed Quill in an irresistible impulse, the other scenario where subtle witness doctoring led to fooling of Jury is equally possible.

Decorated officer Lt. Manion who kills a person with dubious record and character and has molested his wife is deemed to be guided by an irresistible impulse to kill and Jury finds him non-guilty. The USP of the movie lies in the trial and the way motive of the murder is used as a trigger to temporal insanity. With few evidences and high emotional voltage Biegler is able to set up the case. He slowly invalidates the solid evidences provided by the prosecution and establishes his case on a weak but emotional foundation. The case is less about establishing a fact but more about establishing it in front of Jury.

Approximately two months back, a similar incident happened in the other part of the globe – in Bombay, India. -  Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati, a commander in Indian Navy kills his friend Prem Ahuja under similar circumstances but for different reasons.