“Judgementall Hai Kya” Review: It’s Both A Pleasurable & Melancholy Experience

After courting a series of controversies, Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao’s much-awaited film Judgementall Hai Kya, which was earlier titled Mental Hai Kya, hits theatres nationwide on 26^th July, 2019. The project has been in news even before being officially announced and has braved a number of challenges in reaching cinemas. Here’s what I feel about this hugely anticipated affair of the year.

What Judgementall Hai Kya Is All About?

A morbid childhood experience leaves Bobby Grewal (Kangana Ranaut) so scarred that she grows up suffering from acute psychosis. Professionally she is a dubbing artist who voice-overs for female leads of South Indian movies in Hindi. She gets so much into each and every character that she lends her voice to that she starts imagining herself in that particular character’s avatar. She gets herself photographed in every character she becomes a voice to.

Life takes a 360-degree change when Keshav (Rajkummar Rao) and Rima (Amyra Dastur) come to stay with her as tenants. The couple is madly in love, something which Bobby finds too good to be true. Before she could find out how real their love is, a murder takes place which changes the entire course of the story. Bobby is convinced Keshav is the murderer. But this could be her plain imagination also.  What happens next forms the crux of the story.

What’s Hot?

Judgementall Hai Kya is a cinematic brilliance if I have to sum it up in a few words. It is edgy, disruptive and experimental to the core. The film keeps you engrossed in its proceedings from the word go. Renowned South Indian filmmaker Prakash Kovelamudi, who makes his Bollywood debut with Ekta Kapoor and Shailesh R Singh’s film, deserves to be applauded for cleverly balancing suspense and satire, making Judgementall Hai Kya a good psychological black comedy with loads of wit.

The film plays really engagingly, with Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao doing a wonderful job. Their roles are powerful and brilliant. Thanks to Kanika Dhillon for penning down such nuanced and well-written characters. It might sound clichéd, but the truth is that nobody else could have played Bobby Grewal as convincingly as Ms. Ranaut has done. She is a joy to watch on the screen with all her eccentricity and craziness.

Talking about Rajkummar Rao, he does a brilliant job too. Getting into the skin of any character is a cakewalk for him now. He shows his magic again in Judgementall Hai Kya. In the role of Keshav, he fits unquestionably well. Amyra Dastur also manages to hold your attention with her brief but crucial part.

What’s Not?

Judgementall Hai Kya is quite pacy in the first half. It keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. However, as the second half kicks in, the pace dips. But before the movie gets affected by it, the director speeds up the proceedings, bringing the film back to its original place.

Judgementall Hai Kya brings in an underlying motif of the Ramayana with a modern-day twist. While the multiplex audience can understand the context, the same thing can seem misfit for the common, single-screen audience. I also feel that the director could have played around with the climax a little more. It seems done hurriedly, leaving too many questions unanswered.

Final Verdict

Judgementall Hai Kya is for everyone who likes good acting, great writing and has absolutely no issue with experimental cinema. Having said that, if you happen to be too captious and finding faults is the only thing in your head, you better avoid the exquisite film. I am going with 3 stars.

Movie Credits

Banner: Balaji Motion Pictures, Karma Media & Entertainment
Director: Prakash Kovelamudi
Casting: Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao
Runtime: 116 Minutes
STARBIZ Rating: 3 Stars

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