Review: Julie 2
Director: Deepak Shivdasani; Cast: Raai Laxmi, Ravi Kishen, Aditya Srivastava, Pankaj Tripathy, Rati Agnihotri, and Yuri Suri
Film: Julie 2
Director: Deepak Shivdasani
Cast: Raai Laxmi, Ravi Kishen, Aditya Srivastava, Pankaj Tripathy, Rati Agnihotri, and Yuri Suri
Music: Viju Shah, Rooh Band, Atif Ali, Javed – Mohsin
Cinematography: Sameer Reddy
Editing: Asif Ali Shiekh
Prior to its release, Julie 2 had managed to raise expectations among film buffs and to be fair to the filmmakers and Raai Laxmi, they seem to have just about managed to meet those expectations. The film, which some thought would be a boring, run of the mill kind of story on “women empowerment” which would showcase all men as villains and portray all women as angels, is refreshingly different and interesting.
Technically speaking, this film too blames men and glorifies women but the only difference is that there is much more to it than just the blame game aspect.
Julie (Raai Laxmi) is a star, who has made a name for herself in the industry. On a glorious day, she chooses to disclose details of her painful past to the public, including the fact that she was raped by her stepfather when she was a teenager. The actress is at peace after making the disclosure and chooses to go shopping. As she begins to examine a golden cross studded with precious stones in a reputed jewellery store, a group of masked men with guns enter the shop. There is random firing and several people are shot dead. Julie realises that it’s a heist and freezes in fright. There is a mad rush as panic sets in and then, one of the robbers fires at her. The actress is badly injured and rushed to the hospital. As the cops take over the investigation, they realise that what appeared to be a heist was actually a diversionary tactic and that the real motive of the masked men was to kill the actress. Who would want to kill the actress and why? As Julie lies struggling for her life in a hospital, the cops get to work and soon, dark stories begin to come out…
The manner in which the vulnerable and the weak are exploited in a ruthless industry is showcased well by the director, who has cleverly encased all of this in a crime case. The film begins on a slow note but soon picks up pace. There is no beating around the bush and that works in the film’s favour big time. The second half, in fact, is a lot more interesting than the first. Add to that the fact that the film has a generous dose of sensous and glamorous scenes and you know that this film is bound to get attention.
Although the makers of the film have put out a disclaimer stating that the story is imaginary and that it is not based on the life of anyone, some of the sequences showcased in the film remind those well versed with the industry of certain incidents that had occurred in the last decade.
Raai Laxmi shows how capable she is as an artiste through this film as she single-handedly, carries it on her shoulders. Pitiful in some places, sad on occasions, frustrated and depressed for the most part and victorious and vengeful in certain places, Raai Laxmi plays the part of Julie to perfection. In fact, her acting in the scene when the masked robbers enter the shop and spray bullets is just above par. From her eyes that speak volumes of her fear to her cheeks which tremble on hearing the gun shots, Raai Laxmi is just brilliant.
Rati Agnihotri as Julie’s spiritual guide, friend and make-up artiste does a neat job. The veteran has no problems playing the part to perfection and in fact, revels in it. Most other actors too have come up with decent performances.
While the background score of the film works big time, the songs in the film are terrible. In fact, they are unbearable. This was at least the case in the Tamil version. They might be of a much better class in the Hindi version.
Sameer Reddy’s cinematography needs to be praised for while the film is full of glamorous and sensous sequences, at no point, does it come across as being obscene or vulgar. The cinematographer seems to have carefully planned the lighting and positioning of his shots so as to ensure that the shots don’t show one inch more than what was intended to be showcased.
A round of applause is also due to Asif Ali Shiekh, whose editing keeps the film gripping and interesting.
On the whole, director Deepak Shivdasani’s Julie 2 is a decent effort that deserves attention.
