Judaai

Judaai -- Separation

MAIN CAST:
Anil Kapoor -- Raj
Sridevi -- Kajal
Urmila Matondkar --Janhvi

BRIEF PLOT OVERVIEW:
Raj is a humble, hard-working engineer who lives a relativley peaceful life with his wife Kajal and their two children. But while Kajal does love Raj and is good at heart, she is often preoccupied with thoughts of material posessions and desires a place in high society. Then Janhvi, the wealthy neice of Raj's boss, comes along and promises to give Kajal all the money she could want...in exchange for Raj.

FILM -- 4/5
I groaned a little when this DVD started up, because Johnny Lever jumped on-screen and stole the whole opening wedding scene in the name of bad humor. Still, Judaai is a well-made movie, especially in a technical sense. The camerawork is really lovely, and special care is taken to work with local colors and scenery. The script isn't perfect, but it's top notch as far as masala goes, with well-crafted dialogue that really suits the characters and an ending that is handled quite well despite its potential for complete WTFness. There's surpisingly little choreography, although what's there is pretty good stuff, and I really loved getting to see Sridevi dance a bit! (Although...,yeah, Anil Kapoor's apparent seizuring during a few of the songs kind of ruined that golden moment for me.) At the risk of making myself very unpopular, I liked a good few of the costumes*. Of course, there are some obnoxious dramatic sound effects and a few moments of awful sound quality, but I've come to expect that from 90s masala. The obligatory action scenes are also over the top, as per usual, but the one where Raj kicks the crap out of Janhvi's obnoxious fiance is followed by an unusually lovely shot of Raj holding an umbrella over Janhvi's head as they walk through the pouring rain; it's this kind of balance that puts Judaai a cut above most old-school masala movies.

CHARACTERS -- 4/5
Anil Kapoor plays another one of his "good as gold" characters with a tendency to preach, but he's incredibly charming and handsome (provided he doesn't show his bare back), which tends to override the more cliche aspects of his part. He also handles the character's situation very delicately, which I appreciated. Sridevi...damn, can we say the ORIGINAL doll face? Her huge eyes make her beautiful and unnerving simultaneously, which I thought made her a good physical match for the character. This was Sridevi's final film role, and she plays it marvelously! The chemistry between Anil and Sridevi is light and fliratious. Urmila Matondkar is perky and pretty, although she seems to lack some of the charisma she had in Rangeela. Regardless, she played her part well and had decent chemistry with Anil, even if I thought they looked a bit like father and daughter at certain points. The supporting cast is a rollercoaster ride in terms of quality, with Farida Jalal making an appearance as Kajal's mother while Johnny Lever simultaneously robs scenes of their joy with some of the worst humor he's even done. Upasna Singh far outstripes him as she plays both an endearing mute girl and her owlish mother with a beautiful singing voice.

SOUNDTRACK -- 3/5
The title track is a decent love ballad with clean, crisp vocals and a humming sort of beat to it. "Raat Ka Need" pops out mid-fight, which I found a bit much even by Bollywood standards, but I forgive that oddness because it's a fun song. Urmila looks surprisingly beautiful during "Mujhe Pyaar Hua," another upbeat song with a great guitar bridge and some rather unfortunate brass instrument interludes. Part of me hates "Pyaar Pyaar" for the sheer obnoxiousness of it while another part dances to it shamelessly. I was longing for a little Indian flavor by this point, so I was really excited when the rhythmic "Main Tujhe Aise" came on. Great song! Then Johnny Lever lip syncs a song that I've blocked from my mind. (If you're wondering why, just reread that last sentence.) "Shaadi Karke" is a little too adult contemporary for me. The final song, a reprise of "Judaai" is a toe-tapping mixture of traditional Indian rhythms with western synthesized instruments, a medley that is relatively affective when it isn't having those loopy guitar riffs.

OVERALL -- 4/5
Judaai seems like a movie everybody's bound to hate, but it's a surprisingly heartfelt and interesting film that manages to stand out from the rest with its great performances and relatively fresh story. The masala moments may ruin Judaai for some viewers, however, and it's important to take the film with a grain of salt, lest you over-analyze it. Beneath its mantle of neo-conservatism, this flick is entertaining and intriguing, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who can handle a little craziness in exchange for an otherwise great movie.

TOTAL SCORE -- 15/20 (great)




* Several of the Bollywood books I own point out that Urmila Matondkar was apparently a real fashion trend-setter in the 90s. I find that hard to believe with the monochrome turtle neck dresses she wears, but her snappy footwear and her ability to pull off even the craziest costumes with ease soothes my doubts.