Judwaa 2 : Reviews & BO Thread - Page 9

Film: Judwaa 2

Starring: Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Taapsee Pannu, Rajpal Yadav, Anupam Kher

Director: David Dhawan

What's it about:

Welcome back to the cinema of the 90s cinema that was aimed at entertaining the audience unabashedly; cinema that cannot and should not be taken seriously. David Dhawan's Judwaa 2 is exactly that. The reason why it seems fresh despite being so illogical because contemporary filmmakers have closed their doors on this genre. So as an audience, you really haven't seen anything like this in a long time. This one's not a sequel at all. In fact, it is very much the same film that the director made 20 years ago with Salman Khan. In the newer version, it's Varun Dhawan who plays the dual roles of Prem and Raja identical twins who are separated at birth. Years later, they bump into each other in London. Their same-same looks have already caused a lot of confusion, mainly with their respective girlfriends (Jacqueline and Taapsee). But when they realise they're brothers, it's up to them to fight the bad guys who made them separate in the first place.

What's good:

We wonder why David Dhawan called this film Judwaa 2 if he was eventually going to use exactly the same characters and situations from the original. Also, it's not like the first one was an all-time classic or even among Dhawan's finest works. Judwaa (1997) was a fun movie for its time and a major commercial success too all credit to lead actor Salman Khan who just took it to a different level with his star power. In Judwaa 2, Varun Dhawan repeats the act and is solely responsible for maintaining the film's entertainment quotient. Every actor has one film in his career that escalates him into the coveted bracket of stars Judwaa 2 will do that for Varun. His pure and unwavering conviction in the content makes even the most illogical scene tolerable. The gags that work the most are the ones directly lifted from the original; the film also comes most alive when the background score from the original is played out. The best songs are the ones that are taken from the 1997Judwaa (Oonchi Hai Building and Tan Tana Tan). At a time when most young actors are shying away from such in-your-face commercial films, Varun is unapologetic about it and that's why it seems so natural. The funny moments in the film are typical David Dhawan and strangely, you still laugh at them because you haven't seen them in a long time. Much of the film is rather corny (the dialogues, Rajpal Yadav, the baddie played by Zakir Hussain) but it all blends with the overall tone. Dhawan, being the film's editor himself, doesn't leave any room for boredom. The film is brisk with the right punches at the right time. Among the other performances, Taapsee stands out and looks surprisingly at ease in this space. Cinematography by Ayananka Bose is top class.

What's not:

20 years have passed since the originalJudwaa. The least David Dhawan could've done was to eliminate the tackiness. It's not funny to see the hero spank the heroine or kiss her forcibly. It's distasteful to watch a mother pushing her daughter to be with a guy because he's rich. And it's ridiculous to make jokes on a speech-impaired man. What's worse is that an immensely popular actor like Varun Dhawan is made to be a part of all this, which somehow will make it acceptable and appropriate to a certain section of impressionable minds. In a day and age when actors and filmmakers make an effort to avoid such things, it's totally irresponsible on David and Varun's part to indulge in it even if it is in a film as harmless as Judwaa 2.

What to do:

Judwaa 2 is a lot of unadulterated old-school fun. Watch it for its brazen humour and Varun Dhawan's spectacular act.

Ratings: *** 3 Stars

Judwaa 2 Movie Review: A Classic Case Of Old Wine In A Not-So-New Bottle

29 Sep, 2017 - 1:27 PM | By Russel D'Silva

A lot is expected when the King of 90s comedies, David Dhawan, reteams with his son and the hottest-rising star of Bollywood,Varun Dhawan, especially after their feel-good last outing, Main Tera Hero. And when you're rebooting one of your own popular films, then the expectations are bound to be even bigger. So, doesJudwaa 2 live up to those expectations, bring back fond memories, and provides us a wholesome dose of family fun. Well, let's just say that what begins as a fun outing gradually loses steam along the way.

The plot, as confirmed earlier by the makers, is a reboot of the original 1997 film. So, no point in getting into the nitty-gritty details of it. However, we would like to state that just because a film is a reboot, it doesn't have to be a scene-for-scene task in copy-pasting your own work. We've had reboots in the past like Devdas,Don, and Bol Bachchan, which retained the essence and some iconic moments from the original, but also distinguished themselves with their own flavor, so much so that one of them even spawned a successful sequel. Moving back to the film on hand, Judwaa 2 takes almost 90% of the first film, shifts it to a dazzling foreign location, and applies a glossy sheen to make it look new and swanky. But with so much similarity, comparisons are bound to crop up, particularly when the Salman Khan version is so easily accessible in this day and age of online streaming.

(Also Read: Judwaa 2 budget analysis and box-office prediction)

The film begins well, in spite of the likeness when the twins get separated. We're then introduced to Prem, who loves music (duh) and is constantly bullied in his London college. Taapsee's track is quite refreshing at this point as she's the one who helps Prem ward off the bullies. Finally, we get the first sighting of the massy Raja, and his entry is a total hoot. Though his entry song Suno Ganapati Bappa Moriya, like all the songs in the film, is nothing to write home about, Varun's presence and his energy is too infectious not to take you along for the ride. Till now, the proceedings are quite breezy.

However, post these initial 30 minutes, a bit of fatigue begins to creep in as you feel you're seeing an updated version of the 1997 film. The problem is that the update may have worked had the entire focus not being on Varun. As brilliant he is in both his roles, the rest of the cast is given a royal ignore to highlight him in every frame, and this is one of the major reasons why the film falters. Where the tracks of Anupam Kher-Satish Shah, Kader-Khan-Tiku Talsania, Bindu, and Shakti Kapoor brought a lot to the table in the first film, every character actor in Judwaa 2merely exists to react to Varun, resulting in a sheer waste of precious talents like Pavan Malhotra, Rajpal Yadav, Upasana Singh, and Anupam Kher, who once again makes an appearance in the remake.

Another major drawback of the film is its songs. None of the new numbers work, and the remixes make you desperately yearn for the Anu Malik's original chartbusters. Truth be told, 1997's Judwaa was far from being Dhawan's better films (his collaborations with Govinda were way superior). It worked primarily because of its foot-tapping music and Salman Khan's charm. While Varun effortlessly recreates that charm, with his own identity to boot, the music doesn't aid him one bit. That being said, Judwaa 2 has it fair share of redeeming qualities and laugh-out-loud moments, besides Varun Dhawan. A handful of scenes like the restaurant confusions sequence, the proposal between Varun and Taapsee, and the first meeting between the two brothers really stand out, and keep the film from sinking.

While we've spoke about the supporting cast being criminally underutilized, the leading ladies,Jacqueline Fernandez and Taapsee Pannu, too, have precious little to do other than preen and pout, and honestly speaking, as much as we enjoy gorgeous women looking gorgeous on screen, we also like to see them do a bit more in 2017. Vivan Bhatena as the villain Tiger is almost comical when compared to the menace that Mukesh Rishi brought to the role. Once again, this has more to do with how weakly his character is sketched.Judwaa 2 is basically a Varun Dhawan show all the way, catering strictly to his diehard fans.