'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.
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.