JUDAAI - a review
THE LINK
This review of "Judaai" was published in THE LINK Newspaper on Saturday
March 8.
Sridevi's Swan Song - Out Of Tune!
I don't know which is worse a good move with bad songs or good songs in
a bad film. Boney Kapoor has his heart in the right place but no
business acumen to make his films click at the box office. In his newest
film Judaai, he has all the right ingredients: brother Anil Kapoor, wife
Sridevi, rangeeli Urmila Matondkar and not to mention the hot music
courtesy of N-S. There was only one thng missing from "Judaai" - a
strong storyline.
If you are looking for an emotional drama about love and the heartache
of separation then Judaai is not the film for you. By all accounts,
Judaai is a comedy based on a serious theme mishandled beyond belief.
The film is about Kajol (Sridevi) and her endless quest for the riches
in life. In fact, she is so adament toobe wealthy that she is blind to
the priceless wealth of her loving husband Raj (Anil Kapoor) and her two
adoring children. Enter a rich miss, Jahnvi (Urmila Matondkar) who
descends upon Kajol's life like manna from heaven. In a twist of
"Indecent Proposal", Jahnvi proposes an offer that Kajol cannot resist.
they work around the bigamy clause via a divorce so that Kajol can sell
her husband to wife number two in exchange for Rs. 2 crore. In Kajol's
mind, money will give her all the happiness and peace in the world.
The film lacks in direction and what remains of the storyline after the
imposition of songs and comedy, is predictable at best. The acting
cannot be faulted as each artist delivered the role and performed on
cue. Sridevi was able to cajole a chuckle from an unamused audience and
even move us when, let's face it, the emotional scenes were simply
melodrama perfected. Anil Kapoor was endearing as the husband reduced to
an object for sale and Urmila was the lively energy in an otherwise dull
film.
"Judaai" had another weakness in the direction of the plot. The
maintenance of the somber mood through unusual and unrealistic
circumstances falls apart with the sudden and abrupt insertion of
splashy songs. Out of the blue, the characters would be wearing modern
clothes, and traipsing around Las Angeles and Las Vegas. The song
promptly ends and the heroines return o their demure saris and Anil
Kapoor's gyrating ceases - thank goodness!
As if the film didn't have enough probmlems already, there is yet
another drawback with the annoying noise of Johnny Lever and Upsana
Singh. Slick dialogue saved Paresh Rawal and Kader Khan from sharing the
same dismal fate.
"Judaai" was supposed to be Sridevi's swan song from films. Well, at
least she still has "Kaun Sachha Kaun Jhoota" on hand giving her yet
another chance to redeem her crown.
al...@acsu.buffalo.edu
Thanks for that great review update of the movie "judaai"...
I was wondering if anyone in the toronto vicinity knows
when "Judaai" is playing?...I will be in the area on march 20-23...
I'd appreciate someone providing this info to me.....
Thanks,
Saif M.D
Mili
In article <Pine.GSO.3.95.970310...@lictor.acsu.buffalo.edu> al...@acsu.buffalo.edu writes:
>From: al...@acsu.buffalo.edu
>Subject: for toronto residents....judaai
>Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 22:34:55 -0500
>**i think it is palying at woodside cinemas..intersection is mccowan and
finch. **
Mili
Ikram Ahmed Khan
THE LINK wrote:
> Sridevi's Swan Song - Out Of Tune!
> If you are looking for an emotional drama about love and the heartache
> of separation then Judaai is not the film for you. By all accounts,
> Judaai is a comedy based on a serious theme mishandled beyond belief.
Agreed about everything except for the mishandled bit. The film would
have been too boring, if they had gone for the tearjerker formula,
besides sticking out like a sore thumb for it's storyline.
I think Aastha is a recent movie also dealing with the similar
theme of materialism starting to mean more {It takes a quite
different take on the 'Indecent...' storyline}. Perhaps, THE
LINK would like it more.....
Btw, two points -
> The film is about Kajol (Sridevi) and her endless quest for the riches
~~~~~
So kajol is the way we now spell kaajal, huh?!! :) Amazing thing,
fame... :)
> adoring children. Enter a rich miss, Jahnvi (Urmila Matondkar) who
~~~~~~
Urmila herself corrects the spelling in the film. Doesn't she say
that it was supposed to be Janhvi??
Later,
Ikram.
ps. Come on... The Johnny Lever bit *was* funny... :)
pps. So, how's it doing in India?
Donald Matthews
In <Pine.GSO.3.95.970310...@lictor.acsu.buffalo.edu>,
al...@acsu.buffalo.edu wrote:
> I was wondering if anyone in the toronto vicinity knows
> when "Judaai" is playing?...I will be in the area on march 20-23...
It's playing right now at both the Woodside (at Finch & McCowan in
Toronto's north-east corner) and the Albion (Albion Rd at Kipling, in
Toronto's north-west corner.)
more details at:
http://banner.globeandmail.ca/Personal/drm/tor-asian-movies.html
enjoy the movie/
/Donald Matthews
DMat...@globeandmail.ca