There are some movies where it is
easier to form an opinion, while there are some where the audience needs time
to process what they have seen. Director Prakash Kovelamudi’s ‘Judgemental Hai
Kya’ falls in the latter category and leaves its shaken audiences to ponder over
the last two hours they spent amidst quirks, chills and thrills.
The movie opens in the twisted, wild
world of Bobby Balliwala Grewal (Kangana Ranaut), an eccentric dubbing artist with
a dark childhood, who is just released from a mental asylum. She dresses
herself in quirky outfits, has a fetish for clicking herself in the avtars of
the horror characters she dubs for and lives surrounded by paper puppets that
she makes. Just like the colourfully tinted glasses on her windows, her life
isn’t plain and two-toned. She suffers from a mental illness, which makes her
hallucinate and imagine things which are not always real. The writer Kanika
Dhillon brilliantly adds quirks and thrills by showing us the world through
Bobby’s mind, blurring the lines between reality and hallucinations, keeping us
constantly unsure. This works well for the movie since the audience can never
really predict who is the culprit in the scheme of things.
There are mysterious deaths that
happen around Bobby, who has a knack for intuitively sensing anomalies around
her. Her suspicion always points towards her tenant, Keshav (Rajkummar Rao),
whom she constantly accuses of murders. But it’s never easy to prove – she also
seems to harbour feelings for Keshav, snoops into her tenant’s house and joins
him and his partner on their Lonavala holiday, uninvited. As I said, it takes
time to process this movie because your perspective changes when you think in
the hindsight. Was it really her lust for Keshav that made Bobby track him? Not
really. She was probably investigating her suspicion. It is such nitty-gritties
that make this movie an edgy experience. The second half is replete with
bizarre things – adding further to the audience’s confusion of what is real and
what isn’t. Interestingly, the writer links the whodunit to Ramayana, with Sita
looking for Ravan. To be talking anymore about the plot would lead to spoilers
but I would just say the second half could have been tighter. The movie slumps
post interval. Again, in the hindsight, may be the writer drops the pace to let
the audience experience angst and restlessness, just as Bobby experiences these
on-screen. If that really was the writer’s intention, then she succeeds in
making me shift in my seat uncomfortably. Yet, I would have preferred if she
got to the point faster.
Before talking about the
performances, a huge shout-out to the edgy camerawork by Pankaj Kumar, who makes
sure his camera captures Kangana in all her quirks. The art design and costumes
deserve a mention for creating an outlandish world and dressing the characters
appropriately, especially Kangana – giving her a bizarre, ‘mental’ look. The
background score by Daniel George adds to the suspense and thrills. But, such a
difficult movie belongs to its writer-director/wife-husband duo, Kanika Dhillon
and Prakash Kovelamudi. Choosing such a difficult narrative to tell a story through
the lens of a mentally ill protagonist is commendable. But adding both humour
and elements of a thriller to such a twisted tale deserves a bigger applause. Certain
parts of it also felt inspired by Shriram Raghavan’s style of dark humour
(probably that is why he gets a mention in the opening credits).
Apart from strong writing and
direction, the movie also has a great cast to its advantage. Satish Kaushik and
Brijendra Kala as the cops add a fun element to the murder investigation and
bring to the table their great comic timing. Writer-actor Hussain Dalal as
Bobby’s manager/probable boyfriend is a treat to watch – his banter with
Kangana is especially funny. Rajkummar Rao is a great actor and does not
disappoint this time either. While he plays a sane yet mysterious Keshav,
unlike the eccentric Bobby, he shines in his scenes with Kangana. But, alas,
the movie belongs to Kangana Ranaut. She is spectacular as the eccentric Bobby
and gets to display her strong acting skills. She switches from sad to scared
to happy to helpless – everything in a jiffy! Even her unfunny jokes have a
tinge of unintended humour, which displays her impeccable comic timing. Just
like her accusations on all and sundry in real life, Bobby passes accusations
at the drop of the hat, mostly without any proof. It’s a very difficult
character to play and Kangana floors us with her performance.
Judgemental Hai Kya is an
exciting thriller and works for most parts of it. Whether I liked it? Yes.
Would I recommend it? Most certainly. But would it appeal all kinds of audience?
Not really. It is dark, it is edgy and it is unsettling. It may not be everyone’s
cup of tea. Watch it for great performances and a whacky, weird and disturbing
story-telling. If you are looking for a light-hearted movie, stay away from
this.
My Rating – 3/5
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