shaheen raaj

Hindi Film Review

Judgementall Hai Kya

By: Shaheen Raaj

“Judgementall Hai Kya Is A Well Made Film With Powerful Performances”

Banner: Balaji Motion Pictures, Karma Media And Entertainment & ALT Entertainment

Producers: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor & Shailesh R Singh

Director: Prakash Kovelamudi

Star Cast: Raj Kummar Rao, Kangana Ranaut, Jimmy Shergill, Amyra Dastur, Kanika Dhillon, Amrita Puri, Brijendra Kaka, Satish Kaushik, Lalit Behl & Hussain Dalal

Music: Arjuna Harjai, Ruchita Arora, Tanishk Bagchi & Daniel B George

So how will you define a “normal” human behavior? And what are the criteria to be followed by a person that he/she can be considered as “normal”? In the past there were films like My Name Is Khan in the year 2010, Taare Zameen Par in the year 2007) etc. wherein the protagonists’ behavior were such that they stood out & were even ostracized. But still they were special & earned respect in society after a long struggle. And now, writer Kanika Dhillon & director Prakash Kovelamudi have come up with Judgementall Hai Kya that tackles these issues but unlike the aforementioned films, this flick goes into an unconventional zone with even a murder occurring in the narrative.

The scripted scenario of Judgementall Hai Kya reveals the story of a woman with mental issues trying to solve a supposed crime. Bobby Batliwala Grewal (Kangana Ranaut) is an orphan who has lost her parents at a young age. She is partly responsible for their demise. Bobby Batliwala Grewal grows up as a disturbed individual & her grandfather (Lalit Behl) takes care of her. She stays separately from him & works as a dubbing artiste for South Indian films. She is on medication for her mental condition but she doesn’t consume her pills. She is in a relationship of sorts with Varun (Hussain Dalal) who is desperate to get physical with her. But she doesn’t give him the opportunity. At this point, Bobby Batliwala Grewal gets a new tenant named Keshav (Rajkummar Rao) & his wife Meena (Amyra Dastur). Both are deeply in love with each other. Bobby Batliwala Grewal spies on them & she starts to imagine herself with Keshav. However, she also gets intrigued since Keshav seems mysterious. In front of Meena, he pretends to be a non-smoker & a vegetarian. But Bobby Batliwala Grewal catches him smoking heavily & also relishing chicken dishes. She starts to trouble them & then it reaches a point where Keshav & Meena decide to move to another place. Before that can happen, a gas explosion occurs in their kitchen & Meena dies. The cops (Satish Kaushik & Brijendra Kala) begin their investigation. Bobby makes it categorically clear to them that Keshav has murdered Meena but doesn’t have concrete proof. The police officers interrogate Kehsav as well but realize it was a case of accidental death. Hence, they decide to close the case. An enraged Bobby Batliwala Grewal assaults Keshav & she’s sent to a mental asylum for a brief period of time. 2 years later, Bobby Batliwala Grewal seems to be in control. She’s started regular medication & her grandfather sends her to her cousin Megha’s (Amrita Puri) place in London to help in a stage production on Ramayana. All is going fine when Bobby Batliwala Grewal gets a jolt when she spots Keshav also in London. What happens next forms the rest of the crux of the film.

Kanika Dhillon’s story is unconventional & even quite promising & entertaining. Kanika Dhillon’s screenplay is interesting but in some parts, she falters. This is particularly in the 2^ndhalf where the film goes into another zone & doesn’t seem convincing. She however raises some interesting points on the idea of “normal” & even draws parallel with Ramayana. Only if all these things had come together well, the impact would have been manifold. Kanika Dhillon’s dialogues suit the film, especially the ones mouthed by Kangana Ranaut.

Prakash Kovelamudi’s direction is appropriate & he uses his technical knowledge well. The film is very stylishly narrated which goes with its theme & also the title. In a few scenes, he shows his brilliance but goes over the top in the 2^nd half’s pre-climax scenario especially. Also, a few scenes might seem difficult to digest, particularly the scene where Bobby Batliwala Grewal confronts Keshav. He was treading line with this film & sadly enough, he trips at places & this affects the impact of his role.

Judgementall Hai Kya’s intro scene shows the disturbed childhood of Bobby Batliwal Grewal in a brief & concise manner. Once She grows up, it takes a while however to get in the film’s flow. This is because the character is unconventional & unlike anything that one has seen in Bollywood films. Hence Kangana Ranaut’s mannerisms, actions, way of living life etc. are not exactly “normal”. Things get interesting once Keshav & Meena arrive to reside at her place as tenants. Keshav also seems mysterious & the scene where he is fixing the fuse at midnight is quite nicely done. The Lonavala sequence also is funny. But it’s when Meena passes away that things begin to heat up. The intermission point is a shocker. Post-interval, the interest level is maintained with some unexpected developments. But this is also the point where bizarre also things start happening in the film. One can argue even the 1^st half had its share of bizarre stuff but in the 2^nd half, the makers go completely overboard. The film is still unpredictable but the theme & execution will restrict its audience to only multiplexes of the urban areas.

The songs do not really make an impact. The title song stands out but comes at a time when the film turns very bizarre. “Kis Raste Hai Jana” is okay. “Wakhra Swag” appears during the end credits. Daniel B George’s background score however is way better & is zany just like the film’s theme.

Pankaj Kumar’s cinematography is conventional & yet works in a film like this. Sheetal Sharma’s costumes are quite quirky especially the ones worn by Kangana Ranaut & she looks great. In fact, costumes add a lot to her character. Ravi Shrivastav’s production design is praiseworthy, especially for the Ramayana play. After’s VFX is average & moreover the cockroach shots could have been more realistic. Shweta Venkat’s editing (with additional editing by Prashanth Ramachandran & Shieeba Sehgal) is fine. The duration of the film is just 116 minutes & that’s certainly a plus point.

Performance wise, Kangana Ranaut nails the part. This was probably her most challenging part yet & she delivers the goods as per expectations. Any other actress in her place would have to put a lot of effort & it might have made her performance mechanical. But Kangana Ranaut just slips into the part with perfect ease & takes it to another level. Rajkummar Rao also gets to shine. He’s too good as the mysterious Keshav. But he’s at his best in these 2 scenes wherein he begs Bobby Batliwala Grewal to spare him & his wife. Amyra Dastur is cute & enacts the supporting part well. The same goes for Amrita Puri. Satish Kaushik & Brijendra Kala is apt for their respective roles. Hussain Dalal is a talent to watch out for. He’s very funny & adds a lot to the film. Jimmy Sheirgill as Shridhar is endearing in the special appearance. Lalit Behl is decent. Kanika Dhillon as Sita, also the writer of the film, is stunning & gets to play a fine part in the film.

Tail Piece: On the whole, Judgementall Hai Kya is a well made film with powerful performances from both Kangana Ranaut & Rajkummar Rao.

At the box office turnstiles, it will cater mainly to the urban multiplex frequenting audience. Period!

Hindi Film Review

Arjun Patiala

By: Shaheen Raaj

“On The Whole Arjun Patiala Is A Shockingly Poor Fare”

Banner: T – Series & Maddock Films

Producers: Bhushan Kumar & Dinesh Vijan

Director: Rohit Jugraj

Star Cast: Diljit Dosanjh, Kriti Sanon, Varun Sharma, Ronit Roy, Pankaj Tripathi, Seema Pahwa, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Amit Mehra, Yogesh Upadhyay, Biswapati Sarkar, Himanshu Kohli, Ritesh Shah, Sumit Gulati, Sunny Leone, Mithilesh Chaturvedi, Ankush Kulshreshtha, Manvendra Tripathi, Tajender Singh, Pradeep Singh, Akshay Joshi, Rajeev Tiwari, Jaspal Sandhu, Nikita Grover, Bharat Bhatia & Gurmeet Chawla

Music: Sachin – Jigar, Akash D,
Guru Randhawa & 
Ketan Sodha

Comedy is an established genre in Bollywood. Since the audiences are now ready for thehatke stuffs, filmmakers are constantly trying to push the boundaries in the existing genres too. This Friday coincidentally sees the release of 2 such films, although both the movies are as different as chalk & cheese. While Judgementall Hai Kya has violent undertones, the other film, Arjun Patiala, is like a spoof on comedy, on the lines of famous Hollywood films like Scary Movie & Deadpool. Bollywood has rarely made such films & one recent film in this space was Welcome To New York (2018). It was a huge failure in all respects & now its lead actor Diljit Dosanjh appears in another comedy film, Arjun Patiala.

So the scripted scenario of Arjun Patiala tells about a cop trying to achieve a crime free district. A struggling director (Abhishek Banerjee) meets a rich 3^rd generation producer (Pankaj Tripathi). After ensuring that the director has put all the necessary “ingredients” needed for a masala entertainer, the producer allows the narration of the script. The director then starts to tell his story, that of a police officer named Arjun Patiala (Diljit Dosanjh). He becomes a sub-inspector through sports quota & he is posted at Ferozpur Police Station in Punjab. Within a few days, he falls for Ritu Randhawa (Kriti Sanon), an honest reporter working for Tezz News Channel. He is also visited by his senior, DSP Gill (Ronit Roy). Arjun looks up to him since childhood & he is the reason why he decided to be a cop. DSP Gill shares with him his dream of making Ferozpur a crime free district. Ritu Randhawa meanwhile helps Arjun Patiala in sharing the list of baddies in the area. There’s Baldev Rana (Amit Mehra) who is so brash that he even beats up police officers if they come in his way, Sukool (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) who runs a brick kiln, his brother Anda (Sumit Gulati) & finally Dilbaug Singh (Himanshu Kohli) who runs his business from jail & also has haemoglobin problems. Arjun Patiala devises a plan, he generates a gang war between them, hoping that they’ll all kill each other & hence DSP Gill’s dream will be achieved. However, there’s also MLA Prapti Makkad (Seema Pahwa) who seems to be the biggest villain of all & also has ulterior motives of her own. What happens next forms the rest of the crux of the film.

Ritesh Shah & Sandeep Leyzell’s story is outdated. The writers had some good ideas but fail to put it together on paper. Ritesh Shah & Sandeep Leyzell’s screenplay is shockingly horrible. It’s like an apology of a script. The attempt to make a spoof comedy & taking a dig at conventional Bollywood films is something that could have paid dividends. They also had some very funny characters & any other worthy writer would have made a complete laugh riot. Alas, the writers of the film let these characters go waste. They add some dry & beaten to death moments & twists. In fact, its bewildering how this script got approved in the 1^st ever place. Ritesh Shah & Sandeep Leyzell’s dialogues are also dry & fail to evoke any laughter.

Rohit Jugraj’s direction is smooth for most places but with such a poor script, there isn’t much he could have done. At a few places however, he rushes through the film & this was avoidable. For instance, it’s never properly established why Sukool agrees to bump off other villains in the district. A few more minutes should have been spent in establishing the tensions between the varied gangs. If Rohit Jugraj had done the needful, the end result would have been better but still, the film would have emerged as a total disappointment as the content itself is not worth it.

So Arjun Patiala begins on a great note. The manner in which the producer & the director converse over the “masala” script is interesting. The opening credits sequence, a spoof on James Bond style of films, is witty. But soon, one realizes there’s nothing much happening in the film. Yes, there are a bunch of villains but they are not utilized properly. In fact, after a point, the film stops being funny. A few scenes are interesting here & there like Sukool assassinating Baldev Rana or the way a romance blooms between Arjun Patiala & Ritu Randhawa. But these are few & too far between. The twist in the tale in the pre-climax scenario is something that one can see from miles away. The grand finale is also hardly funny & reeks of lazy writing.

Sachin-Jigar’s music is nothing compared to their previous works. “Main Deewana Tera” has the chartbuster feel but doesn’t have a long shelf life. “Crazy Habibi vs Decent Munda” is situational. “Dil Todeya” & “Sachiya Mohabbatan” are okay. “Sip Sip” is played during the end credits. Ketan Sodha’s background score is totally & disapprovingly theatrical.

Sudip Sengupta’s cinematography is fine. Parijat Poddar & Shekhar Ujjainwal’s production design is a bit television show like. Vikram Dahiya’s action is sans any gore. Veena Kapur Ee’s costumes are appealing, especially the ones worn by Kriti Sanon. Huzefa Lokhandwala’s editing is too quick at places.

Diljit Dosanjh is apt as the cute & the naughty police officer. He genuinely plays his part & even tries to rise above the script. Varun Sharma (Onida Singh) is likeable although he’s repeating himself now. Kriti Sanon is also sincere & plays the entertaining part well. The sequence where she narrates her tragic part is where she gives her best. Sadly enough, the film makers spoil the show with an animated flashback running below on the screen & it takes away the impact of her performance too. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub is the best among the villains. He totally shines & it’s sad that such a cool villain won’t get his due to the bad script. Ronit Roy fits the part to the T. Seema Pahwa is decent. Amit Mehra, Himanshu Kohli & Sumit Gulati get no scope. Biswapati Sarkar as the Editor of the Tezz News Channel is appropriate. Ritesh Shah as Arjun’s father & the actor playing her mother are poor. Sunny Leone as Baby is sizzling. Pankaj Tripathi & Abhishek Banerjee are the funniest guys in the film.

Tail Piece: On the whole, Arjun Patiala is a shockingly poor fare, riddled with an outdated & absolutely tragic script.

At the box office, it will be rejected outright by the cine goers.