# The Verdict - State vs Nanavati
**The Verdict - State vs Nanavati** is a 2019 Indian courtroom drama web series of ten episodes that dramatizes the K. M. Nanavati vs State of Maharashtra case of 1959, in which naval commander Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati shot dead Prem Ahuja, his wife Sylvia's lover, and surrendered to the police. It was produced for [ALTBalaji](https://www.edgepedia.org/altbalaji) and streamed on ZEE5, and it uses the real names of the people involved in the trial.[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/the-verdict---state-vs-nanavati/0-6-2057) • [2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-review-a-gripping-re-telling-of-a-controversial-case-6060644/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | All ten episodes premiered on 30 September 2019 on ALTBalaji and ZEE5[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/the-verdict---state-vs-nanavati/0-6-2057) |
| Subject | The 1959 murder case in which naval commander K.M. Nanavati fired three bullets into businessman Prem Ahuja, his wife Sylvia's lover, and turned himself in to Mumbai police[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-review-a-gripping-re-telling-of-a-controversial-case-6060644/) |
| Direction | Directed by Shashant Shah; series director Subhash Kapoor; created by Ekta Kapoor[3](https://www.iradaentertainment.com/the-verdict.html) |
| Writing | Written by Pooja Tolani and Rahul Patel, based on public records, newspaper articles of the time, and interviews with people who had knowledge of the case[3](https://www.iradaentertainment.com/the-verdict.html) • [4](https://www.indiaforums.com/article/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-alt-balaji-releases-second-trailer_154629) |
| Lead cast | Manav Kaul as Kawas Nanavati, Elli Avrram as Sylvia Nanavati, Sumeet Vyas as Ram Jethmalani, Angad Bedi as Karl Khandalavala, Saurabh Shukla as Russi Karanjia[5](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati) |
| Languages | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada audio with English subtitles[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/the-verdict---state-vs-nanavati/0-6-2057) |
| Reception | IMDb rating 7.0/10 from about 3.8k user ratings[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9193600/ratings/) |
## Spoilers
### Cast and characters
The series uses the real names of the case's participants.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-review-a-gripping-re-telling-of-a-controversial-case-6060644/) [Manav Kaul](https://www.edgepedia.org/manav-kaul) plays Kawas Nanavati and said he took 15 days to read and understand the man before playing him; he argued that the longer format let the show explore the stories of the wife, the lawyers, and other parallel lives that a film could not accommodate.[14](https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/television-news/article/manav-kaul-the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-explores-the-parallel-lives-too-401422) [Sumeet Vyas](https://www.edgepedia.org/sumeet-vyas) plays [Ram Jethmalani](https://www.edgepedia.org/ram-jethmalani), Angad Bedi plays Nanavati's lawyer Karl Khandalavala, Makarand Deshpande plays public prosecutor Chandu Trivedi, Saurabh Shukla plays *Blitz* editor Russi Karanjia, Kubbra Sait plays Mamie Ahuja, Pooja Gor plays the journalist Vidya Munshi, Viraf Patel plays Prem Ahuja, Swanand Kirkire plays Judge R. B. Mehta, and Soni Razdan plays Mehra Nanavati.[5](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati) • [2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-review-a-gripping-re-telling-of-a-controversial-case-6060644/)
### Story structure
The series opens with Jethmalani, played as an older man, narrating the Nanavati saga in flashback to an aspiring writer.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-review-a-gripping-re-telling-of-a-controversial-case-6060644/) The episodes then follow the trial's arc: Nanavati's confession to shooting a man; jury selection, in which Trivedi and Khandalavala each try to seat jurors they prefer; Karanjia's attempts to influence the case outside the court; the examination of witnesses, including a challenge to the admissibility of Officer Lobo's statement; Nanavati's own account, in which he pleads that he pulled the trigger by accident; Sylvia's testimony about her extramarital affair, in which Khandalavala humiliates her; evidence presented by Jethmalani; closing arguments; the jury's verdict, which Judge R. B. Mehta rejects; and finally Mamie Ahuja's hesitation over signing the mercy petition on which Kawas's freedom depends.[15](https://www.zee5.com/collections/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-all-episodes/0-8-2788)
## The historical case behind the series
In 1959, Parsi naval commander Kawas Nanavati shot dead his English wife Sylvia's lover, the businessman Prem Ahuja, and then confessed the crime to the police.[7](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-all-we-learnt-about-the-landmark-case-from-bollywood-6031205/) The case enthralled Bombay for three years.[7](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-all-we-learnt-about-the-landmark-case-from-bollywood-6031205/) During the trial, Nanavati was supported by the Parsi community, and Russi Karanjia, the Parsi owner of the *Blitz* weekly, wrote several articles in his support.[7](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-all-we-learnt-about-the-landmark-case-from-bollywood-6031205/)
The jury in the Greater Bombay sessions court pronounced Nanavati not guilty with an 8–1 verdict. Because the jury had been influenced by media and public support for Nanavati and was open to being misled, the Indian government abolished jury trials after this case.[8](https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2023-07/SAP_21st%20Century%20Skills_English_Students%20Handbook.pdf) The verdict did not end the matter: in the High Court judgment dated 24 November 1961, the court held that where misdirections vitiated a jury's verdict, the High Court had the power to examine the entire evidence and interfere if the verdict was one no reasonable body of persons could have returned on that evidence.[9](https://aphc.gov.in/docs/imp_judgements/K_M_Nanavati_vs_State_Of_Maharashtra.PDF)
The series presents the case as one that divided India along several lines: public, media, and political opinion debated the morality of Sylvia and Prem to cast Nanavati as a national hero, while Parsis and Sindhis stood against each other over whether to save their communities' pride or convict a murderer.[10](https://thetvdb.com/series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati)
## Production and release
[Ekta Kapoor](https://www.edgepedia.org/ekta-kapoor) conceptualized the series for her digital platform ALTBalaji after three earlier Bollywood adaptations of the case: R.K. Nayyar's *Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke* (1963), Gulzar's *[Achanak](https://www.edgepedia.org/achanak-1973-film)* (1973), and Tinu Suresh Desai's *Rustom* (2016).[7](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-all-we-learnt-about-the-landmark-case-from-bollywood-6031205/) The show was announced in 2018, when Kubbra Sait and Elli Avrram joined the cast as Mamie Ahuja and Sylvia respectively.[11](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/kubbra-sait-elli-avrram-altbalaji-the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-5382027/) Its second trailer was dedicated to the lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who died on 8 September 2019, weeks before the series premiered.[12](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-second-trailer-manav-kaul-sumeet-vyas-altbalaji-5985802/)
The series was one of five shows co-produced under the ALTBalaji and ZEE5 content alliance, an arrangement to co-produce more than 60 originals with content costs shared between the platforms.[13](https://www.balajitelefilms.com/pdf/outcomeofboardmeeting/BTLOutcome13112019.pdf) All ten episodes were released on a single day, 30 September 2019, with individual runtimes between about 26 and 44 minutes.[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/the-verdict---state-vs-nanavati/0-6-2057)
## Reception
[The Indian Express](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-indian-express) review called the series the most 'real' on-screen adaptation of the case, noting that it follows the real course of events and uses real names, and praised the banter between Chandu Trivedi and Jethmalani, Makarand Deshpande's portrayal of Trivedi, and [Saurabh Shukla](https://www.edgepedia.org/saurabh-shukla)'s Russi Karanjia, while observing that the show meanders between episodes and lacks a crime-solving thriller element.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-review-a-gripping-re-telling-of-a-controversial-case-6060644/) A Mid-Day review was less favorable, criticizing predictable writing, episode endings without cliffhangers, and the first episodes' shortfall on the promised focus on Sylvia's perspective.[16](https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/web-series/article/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-review-not-a-favourable-verdict-for-this-show-21825167) On IMDb the series holds a weighted rating of 7.0/10 from about 3.8k ratings, with individual episode ratings ranging from 6.2 (the finale, "Justice for All") to 7.1 (the premiere, "Law Abiding Citizen").[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9193600/ratings/) Balaji Telefilms' 2019-20 annual report records that the series won "Drama Content of the Decade" for Alt Balaji at the Economic Times Labels Awards.[17](https://www.balajitelefilms.com/pdf/annualreports/balajiannualreports/Balaji%20AR%202019-20.pdf)
The series remains available on ZEE5 and VI movies and tv in India.[5](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati)
## References
1. [The Verdict - State VS Nanavati, ZEE5](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/the-verdict---state-vs-nanavati/0-6-2057)
2. [The Verdict State Vs Nanavati review: A gripping re-telling of a controversial case, The Indian Express (9 October 2019)](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-review-a-gripping-re-telling-of-a-controversial-case-6060644/)
3. [The Verdict - State Vs Nanavati, Irada Entertainment](https://www.iradaentertainment.com/the-verdict.html)
4. [The Verdict: State Vs Nanavati | ALT Balaji Releases Second Trailer!, India Forums (11 September 2019)](https://www.indiaforums.com/article/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-alt-balaji-releases-second-trailer_154629)
5. [The Verdict - State Vs Nanavati - streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati)
6. [The Verdict - State Vs Nanavati (TV Mini Series 2019) - Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9193600/ratings/)
7. [KM Nanavati vs State of Maharashtra: All we learnt about the landmark case from Bollywood, The Indian Express (30 September 2019)](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-all-we-learnt-about-the-landmark-case-from-bollywood-6031205/)
8. [21st Century Skills English Students Handbook, UNDP](https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2023-07/SAP_21st%20Century%20Skills_English_Students%20Handbook.pdf)
9. [K. M. Nanavati vs State Of Maharashtra on 24 November, 1961, Andhra Pradesh High Court](https://aphc.gov.in/docs/imp_judgements/K_M_Nanavati_vs_State_Of_Maharashtra.PDF)
10. [The Verdict - State vs Nanavati, TheTVDB.com](https://thetvdb.com/series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati)
11. [Kubbra Sait, Elli Avrram to join cast of ALTBalaji's The Verdict State Vs Nanavati, The Indian Express (2 October 2018)](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/kubbra-sait-elli-avrram-altbalaji-the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-5382027/)
12. [The Verdict-State Vs Nanavati second trailer, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-second-trailer-manav-kaul-sumeet-vyas-altbalaji-5985802/)
13. [ALTBalaji + Zee 5 Content Alliance live, Balaji Telefilms (13 November 2019)](https://www.balajitelefilms.com/pdf/outcomeofboardmeeting/BTLOutcome13112019.pdf)
14. ['The Verdict: State v/s Nanavati explores the parallel lives too', Mid-Day (8 December 2018)](https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/television-news/article/manav-kaul-the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-explores-the-parallel-lives-too-401422)
15. [The Verdict - State VS Nanavati - All Episodes, ZEE5](https://www.zee5.com/collections/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-all-episodes/0-8-2788)
16. [The Verdict - State vs Nanavati: Not a favourable verdict for this show, Mid-Day (1 October 2019)](https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/web-series/article/the-verdict-state-vs-nanavati-review-not-a-favourable-verdict-for-this-show-21825167)
17. [Balaji Telefilms Limited Annual Report 2019-20](https://www.balajitelefilms.com/pdf/annualreports/balajiannualreports/Balaji%20AR%202019-20.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Indian and South Asian web series › Premiered 2003 to 2020*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license