I watched Judwa-2(Hindi movie) today. Though, it was little bit late as the movie was released during last week of September, 2017. But, watching first on big screen is always a pleasure for seasoned movie buffs. I enjoyed it as normally I do not read review of movies by celebrated critics. It gives me pleasure to enjoy movie without  being prejudiced about performance of actors or intricacies of plots. So, whenever a movie gets released on Friday, I adopt the attitude of a cavemen and avoid all references to that movie in newspapers, websites, televisions or any other mass media source till I watch it through my own eyes. I avoid it religiously and even turn my gaze away from such reviews while leafing through pages of magazines/websites.

So, I will try not to reveal plot or any substantial fact about movie if you are planning to watch it in near future and do not know the history and geography of this movie. Yes, history and geography are important pillars of this movie. Normally, history and geography are not integral part of a run-of-the-mill movie. These subjects are actually stress-busters for harried students tormented by laws and bylaws of mathematics and science.

But, Judwa -2 is different. It is different in the sense that I already knew the plot and was familiar with shenanigans of lead actors. It was a sort of deja vu for me as I recall watching Judwa in a pretty foggy and cold morning in the month of February, 1997. More than 20 years have gone by, but it seems I watched it yesterday.

It is a well established fact that satellite/streaming channels have stuffed our lives with all sort of visual entertainment and movies are repeated time and again. The best example of this stuffing theory is melodramatic film Sooryavansham on Set Max. I am not sure how many times I have watched it inadvertently. Even broadcaster sitting at the Control Room of Set Max doesn’t know it. It is joked that even close relatives of megastar Amitabh Bachchan call him by the name of Dada Thakur. Normally, as per data collated by diligent movie-lovers, a TV-watching Indian adult watches each movie at least 05 times in a life time.

So, Judwa(1997) is no different. Actually, it was a remake of a Telugu movie named Hello Brother (1994) starring superstar Nagarjuna. But, Hello Brother is also an unofficial remake of  Twin Dragons (1992) starring an Asian/Hollywood superstar Jackie Chan. This movie was made in Hong Kong. A Kannada movie named Cheluva was also made based upon Two Brothers of Nagarjuna.

So, now you will realize that Judwa -2 originated  in Hong Kong and travelled to Hyderabad then to erstwhile Banglore then to erstwhile Bombay and now arrived in Mumbai. So, it has covered a distance of nearly 4200 Kilometres in a journey which started 25 years ago(in 1992) on a coastal city on South China Sea and culminated on humid coastal region of Arbian Sea.

Now, coming to the movie.

Basic logic of the movie is that if  one part of a twin experiences pain then other part of twin also gets hurt depending upon distance. It is a reflexive kind of funny action.

Movie has been declared an all-round hit and earned few hundred crores and counting as on date. It is nicely packaged masala movie and full of double-meaning suggestive words.I will call it a time pass entertainment having wonderful cinematography. Scenic locations in England have been shown beautifully.  University of London campus forms backgrounds of various scenes. Beaches and resorts of Mauritius give the movie a holiday look. Taapsee Pannu and Jacqline Fernandez perform the task of good eye-candies and they looked beautiful.But, acting -wise I feel that Karisma and Rambha were far better in 1997 movie. Varun Dhawan is impressive but comparing him with a younger Salman is bit too harsh.Original humour and timing of actors were better. Original Judwa was the starting point of an enduring partnership between Salman Khan and David Dhawan.

The movie also denotes the times we live in. Salman Khan came to India  in earlier version and here our Varun goes to London. So, the background changes and clean streets of London replaces rustic charm of erstwhile Bombay.

But, music is hummable. Earlier version was evergreen in flirty sense and that’s why 02 of best songs of earlier version have been remixed by original composers. Anu Malik deserves praise for putting old wine in refurbished bottle.

So, watch it for old times.