Judaai

'Judaai' falls under the category of weird Bollywood cinema. Well, weird in the sense that the story is unconventional, ironic and sort of a dramedy. I'll start with the negative points. To make the plot more concise the film could have done with a lot of editing. The comedy involving Kader Khan, Johny Lever and Paresh Rawal should have been deleted as both are mind-numbingly irritating. Though Kader Khan does (and is the only one to) make you laugh. The repetitive background music (especially the one derived from the title song) gets irritating at points.

The songs, though very pleasant to the ears, appear out of place and slightly slow down the pace. Besides what's the point of shooting songs in Europe or America if the whole story is set in India? On top of that the choreography is terrible! Both Sridevi and Urmila (being Bollywood's example of sheer talent) are also known for their graceful dancing abilities and this is wasted with poor choreography. Cinematography could be better. It appears very flat. Direction is brilliant at some places but amateurish at others.

Performance wise, Anil's performance is the usual. The actor has nothing new to offer but he performs okay. Actually, it would have been more interesting to see Sanjay Dutt (apparently Anil had asked him to do the film) to play the part. Supporting cast by Poonam Dhillon and Farida Jalal are strictly OK. Now what makes this movie worth watching is Sridevi and Urmila Matondkar. Sridevi plays a character that's never been played by an actress in cinema. The character is full of layers, one that we both laugh at and pity and Miss Sridevi just makes acting look easy. Urmila Matondkar is probably the only actress to have worked with Sridevi and deliver a memorable performance (unlike others like Jaya Prada, Padmini Kolhapure...who's performances have vanished into oblivion). Rumour had it that both actresses were taking a serious risk that would put their career in the drain. But then, it is their risk taking that has contributed to the fact that they are willing to experiment and this only shows the true actress they are. These were two of the best performances of the year but not surprisingly, they got ignored by the awards.

So, is 'Judaai' worth watching? Yes. Keep your remote close by to fast-forward the comedy track as I can assure that you won't be missing much or just watch the first Johnny Lever sequence to see if he's funny at all. I for one, find him extremely irritating and unfunny.

Judaai is not bad at all for what it is - a typical Hindi movie. I actually saw it back in the day but I just re-watched it, and thought it deserved a good review.

The story is quite interesting, albeit a little over the top. The acting from Sridevi and Urmila is very good. The part Sridevi plays is a tough one but she holds up amazingly well. Urmila's role is more generic but her acting is still worth mentioning. Anil Kapoor does OK. There are a good number of side actors, mostly comedians, who do a good job as well. The soundtrack isn't bad overall even though I only really liked two of the songs. Finally, I thought the dialog was very good, almost unexpectedly so.

If you enjoy Hindi movies from the 90s this is a shoe in.

I mean, come on - a woman sells her husband? And on top of that, the husband has no objection? Which woman would sell her husband? Which woman would want to buy a man? Which man would be ready to display himself for sale? It's a big joke. The film does have something that partially works, maybe it's the naivety of the mainstream, escapist, and not-always-realistic Hindi cinema. But it falls short soon. The main idea and the entire story make it look pathetic. Anil Kapoor is ordinary. Sridevi, despite delivering a generally good performance with a nice mixture of comedy and drama, is annoying and unbearable at times. I mean, you need not be a complete idiot to make a convincing poor and rural housewife. It's not her fault, it's the director's insistence to make her a court jester. Urmila is perhaps the best of the lot, and she plays the simple rich girl endearingly. Well, Judaai is not that bad for a one-time watch, and I believe some would enjoy it. My say - watch it if you are ready to go through moments of sheer stupidity.

It definitely delivers many messages. It's about a women who for greed of money divorces her husband. She then learns her lessons gradually. This is the main plot. It points towards an impeccable metaphor regarding the commercialisation of thoughts and ideas. Humanity is being divided into 2 groups who values their destination either materially or immaterially. Then gradually lessons are understood. 7/10 only for this plus Sridevi's flawless performance.

Apart from that the funny scenes should have been a little less. It's boring to see lengthy funny scenes. Otherwise it was good. The movie could have been better in its story telling. The characters are justified well including Jahnvi. She is an American girl with easy adaptable nature. She leaves him with his first wife so that they could live together again. She takes Raj unborn child with her as a symbol of their love. She is shown to be non traditional in her real life which seems right. Others are well portrayed just like family reunion again.

Really speaking Bollywood needs this type of content in movies but they seem to have been disappeared. Aa ab laut chalen was another movie of this sort. Both of these movies have been unpopular.

NOTE-- Skip the songs and funny scenes to get a good experience from this movie. A 68/100 for entirety.

For viewers looking for a somewhat traditional Bollywood movie, I would not hesitate to recommend this movie. Viewers do need to keep their expectations in check as there are some aspects that may seem unrealistic. The main plot is also rather dragged out but the various sub plots involving the comedians do add humour and good entertainment value.

Sridevi plays the role exceptionally well and it is difficult to see anyone any actress playing this role as well as she does. She naturally adds humour to the character and towards the end acts the role of a desperate wife rather well. Urmila and Anil Kapoor also play their roles well.

The movie is a standard 3 hour watch, but time quickly flies by and the soundtrack is rather catchy. Overall this is a must watch!