Judgmental Hai Kya - A Review

Image taken from BookMyShow

Imagine how horrible it must feel when everyone refuses to believe you even when you know that you’re right and everyone calls you insane! 

That’s precisely what Bobby Batliwala (played by Kangana Ranaut) goes through, every single day. 

Traumatized by the domestic violence that happened in her childhood, Bobby refuses to trust people, especially men. She’s constantly on guard, always ready with a sharp instrument to attack… just in case. This behaviour makes her out to be quite a social pariah, though. 

But when she’s not chanting Mad-Eye Moody’s mantra of ‘Constant Vigilance’, Bobby lets go and embraces her creative spirit. She is a dubbing artist who literally dons the persona of the character she’s dubbing and clicks pictures of herself in those costumes. If not that, she makes origami out of newspaper article clippings, which showcase articles on domestic abuse and murder.

Her obsession with cases involving husbands murdering their wives (like her parents) seems to be the chief reason why she begins to obsess over her tenants – a lovey-dovey couple, Keshav (played by Rajkumar Rao) and Reema. After noticing that Keshav has lied to Reema about his smoking and eating habits, Bobby is convinced that he is going to kill Reema. 

And surprise, surprise. One day, Reema is killed due to a freak accident. This results in Bobby sparking up an investigation at the police station, accusing Keshav that he murdered her. But seeing how ‘abnormal’ Bobby really is, the police officers close the case. 

Now the scene is, who is insane? Is it Bobby, who looks so obviously mad? Or is it Keshav, who with his startlingly normal behaviour might be clinically abnormal and emotionless? Or is it us, the viewers, who are, with the constant cat-and-mouse-chase, unable to decipher who the real killer was? 

As a viewer, what really hooked me onto this was that it was so different from the typical Bollywood thrillers, where you get to know who the killer is, from the first scene itself. Till the very end, you’re continuously shifting back and forth, doubting both Bobby and Keshav, who are played so convincingly by Kangana and Rajkumar. When you feel like you have figured it all out, a rug is pulled from underneath you and you are befuddled, yet again, who the murderer could be! 

Also, what really struck me was how cleverly they showcased parallels between Ramayana and the story. Like how Bobby has very strong likeliness to Sita as they both lacked agency in the major chunk of their stories and how the narrative of their fate was set by other parties. Moreover, during one of the last scenes, there is also a very brilliant depiction of Ravana’s ten faces by showcasing one character’s reflection across ten mirrors stacked against one another. 

The main cast, like I mentioned before, was as phenomenal as always. The supporting cast – from the bumbling officers to Kangana’s desperate ex-boyfriend and Jimmy Shergill (who, in this movie, looks like he might get the girl after all) – was equally strong. In addition to the cast, the fast-paced storyline (which didn’t make the duration seem like a drag), the background score and the vibrant aesthetics made for it to be a very solid watch.

Yet, I felt that it could have done better if it could bring forth mental health in a better manner and tied up all the loose ends. That would have made this entire movie a masterpiece, in my opinion. 

Really glad that I let my mom (who is a big-time Kangana Ranaut fan) take me to watch this!