Judgementall Hai Kya: 5 Films That Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao’s Film Reminded Us Of!

Judgementall Hai Kya, starring Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao in the lead, is quite peculiar. It stands apart from the mainstream movies thanks to its noir elements, that range from quirky to bizarre to abstract. It is difficult to say for now how the general audiences would accept a movie like Judgementall Hai Kya, that, for most of its portions, is a trippy ride that makes you question everything folding on the screen. But if you have a taste for the niche, then Judgementall Hai Kya could be a treat for you. Judgementall Hai Kya Movie Review: Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao Liven Up This Trippy Potpourri of Dark Humour and Intriguing Suspense.

Directed by Prakash Kovelamudi, Judgementall Hai Kya is written by Kanika Dhillon of Manmarziyaan fame. The movie benefits hugely from the excellent performances of Rajkummar Rao, Kangana Ranaut, some fantastic visuals and a terrific BG score. Not to mention, the movie has some darkly funny sequences and some nail-biting intrigue as well. The movie often pays homages and influences to some of the masterpieces of its genre. Judgementall Hai Kya: Before Kangana Ranaut-Rajkummar Rao Starrer, 10 Memorable Movies With Flawed Male and Female Leads Who Manipulate Each Other!

As I watched Judgementall Hai Kya during a special screening, there were five movies whose heavy influences were felt at many points of the film. Needless to say, SPOILERS AHEAD!

Gaslight

In quite a few scenes, Keshav aka Shravan (Rajkummar Rao) makes Bobby (Kangana Ranaut) think that some of the events happening to her are her own delusions. This is an idea borrowed from the 1944 classic, the Ingrid Bergman-starrer Gaslight. The movie has a man convince his wife that she is seeing and hearing things to drive her mad for his own nefarious aims. This movie coined the term 'gaslighting' which means - 'a form of psychological manipulation in which a person seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, making them question their own memory, perception, and sanity.'

Rebecca

Judgementall Hai Kya has plenty of Hitchcockian flairs that the late master director would be proud of. One particular Alfred Hitchcock movie that JHK loved to make teasing references to was Rebecca. There is a horror movie that Bobby used to dub for that has a premise suspiciously similar to this classic. It was this movie that creates doubts in Bobby's mind about her new diabolical paying guest.

Ittefaq

Let's get closer home now. The idea of both the leads trying to pin the blame of a murder on each other reminded me of the Yash Chopra whodunit. This was later remade with Sidharth Malhotra and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead, with some major changes to how their characters were portrayed.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

In the second half, Bobby's delusions get even more trippy, as she sees herself as Sita from the Ramayana play that she was an understudy in. In her warped imagination, she creates avatars of Hanuman, Lord Rama and Jataka, who are modelled after people she knows. They follow here everywhere - a theme that feels inspired by Alejandro G Iñárritu's Oscar-winning film. After all, both the films have a tally imaginative birdman following the lead everywhere!

Peeping Tom

In the climax of Judgementall Hai Kya, Keshav reveals himself, in Raavan-style, that he is a serial killer, having killed his former wife and many other people. He also confesses that he loves to hear the screams of his dying victims on a loop, having recorded them during his grisly crimes. This feels like a homage to the antagonist in this pulp British thriller, where he kills his victims and records their dying screams for his sadistic pleasures.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 26, 2019 07:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).