The lead roles of the movie, Chandru (right) and Sengeni Photo:screenshot of video clip posted on Sina Weibo

The 2021 Indian legal drama film Jai Bhim has received a warm reaction on Chinese social media and its review platforms as Chinese netizens drew a connection between the story of the film and a reallife murder trial concerning a Chinese woman murdered in Japan.

The film directed by T. J. Gnanavel and starring Suriya and Lijomol Jose with Manikandan and Rajisha Vijayan is also based on a true case that took place in 1993.

The story focuses on Sengeni and Rajakannu, a couple from the Irular tribe. Rajakannu is arrested by police and later goes missing from the police station. Sengeni seeks the help of an advocate, Chandru, to seek justice for her husband. Chandru files a habeas corpus case that he continues to appeal to find further truth.

India's caste system is also shown in the movie and the reflection on the system has gotten compliments from Chinese netizens.

The film has an 8.7/10 on Chinese major media review platform Douban from nearly 20,000 reviews. 

The social problems of India such as the caste system and corruption reflected in the movie shocked netizens, especially the caste system that brings lots of injustice to people of lower caste.

"The movie that can disclose these dark sides of Indian society proves that it's a meaningful work," a reviewer commented on Douban.

Shi Wenxue, a film critic based in Beijing, told the Global Times that India elevates films to the height of cultural strategy, and makes films a part of the country's soft power, which help improve the production quality of movies.

Some Chinese netizens pointed out that Sengeni's experience is similar to that of Jiang Qiulian, mother of a Chinese student murdered in Japan.

The mom won a lawsuit against Liu Nuanxi, her daughter's former roommate on Monday, as the court ruled that the roommate should bear responsibility as she locked the victim outside their apartment when the victim was being attacked by Liu's stalker ex-boyfriend.

Liu, who changed her name from Liu Xin, was ordered by a court in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province to compensate Jiang a total of 696,000 yuan ($109,193).

The judgment results from Jiang's pursuit of a lawsuit for more than three years. The lawsuit was featured very prominently on Chinese social media platform and has trended on Sina Weibo several times.

Lots of Chinese netizens supported Jiang's attempt to seek compensation from Liu and said that her win showed the fairness of the judicial system.

"The wife in the movie is as strong-minded as Jiang Ge's mother who spent millions of yuan seeking a justice for her daughter," a Sina Weibo user commented.

The wife Sengeni's faith and love for her husband and Chandru's sense of justice touched many Chinese audiences. Sengeni insisted on seeking justice for her husband, which is considered as similar to Jiang's persistence for her daughter.