Judaai (1997 film)

Judaai is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Raj Kanwar. It stars Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Urmila Matondkar. Kader Khan, Farida Jalal, Johnny Lever, Paresh Rawal, Upasana Singh and Saeed Jaffrey feature in supporting roles. Poonam Dhillon makes a special appearance. A remake of the 1994 Telugu movie Subhalagnam which was inspired by the 1991 Kannada film Ajagajantara and the 1993 American movie Indecent Proposal, the plot revolves around the travails of a greedy wife Kajal (Sridevi), who lured by wealth, convinces her husband (Kapoor) to marry a second time.

Some portions of the movie were filmed in Thun, Switzerland. Upon release, the film was a major commercial success grossing ₹28.77 crores against its ₹6.30 crores budget, becoming the Eighth highest grossing Indian film of 1997. The film was widely praised for the performances of the lead actresses.

Plot
Kajal marries engineer Raj Verma. She assumes that he is wealthy and corrupt. But in reality, Raj is neither wealthy, nor corrupt. This annoys Kajal.

She and Raj have twin children: Romi and Preeti. But still Kajal's mind isn't changed. She meets her old wealthy friend Nisha, lying that Raj is a business magnate, her family owns several cars and have a big bungalow. Nisha offers to give her lift. Kajal is exposed when the bungalow she points out as her own turns out to be Nisha's.

Coming from overseas, Raj's boss Randhir's niece Jahnvi learns he is an engineer working for Randhir's construction company. Vikram Khanna, Randhir's business partner tries to rape Jahnvi but Raj arrives and saves her. She falls in love with him.

Even when she learns that he is a married man, she is adamant about marrying him. Unaware that Kajal is Raj's wife, Jahnvi accidentally meets her. She confesses her love to Kajal and Raj, which angers them.

Jahnvi meets Kajal and offers 2 crore rupees in exchange for marrying Raj. Kajal, seeing this as her chance to gain wealth, accepts her proposal. Kajal forces Raj into the agreement. Reluctant, Raj marries Jahnvi. Kajal divorces him herself, to comply with the Hindu Marriage Act; thinking that she and Jahnvi will happily share Raj.

Kajal uses the money she got in the bargain to buy a huge mansion and cars. The bungalow she buys ends up being that of Nisha. She briefly returns to her old home to collect a picture of her husband. Kajal taunts her that she has fulfilled her dreams, whereas Nisha has lost everything. Nisha reminds Kajal that she sold her house and possessions to pay for the treatment of her ill husband, whereas Kajal has sold her husband for riches. Kajal moulds herself into a socialite. This leads to Kajal neglecting her family. Raj initially feels rejected by Kajal and does not get close to Jahnvi, feeling objectified for being bought and sold between his two wives. But the children and Raj find companionship with Jahnvi, who showers them with love and affection. She changes herself and becomes a housewife. She even travels happily in crowded buses and autos to make Raj and the kids feel secure and happy around her. She abandons all the luxury and comforts she grew up with. The children call Jahnvi "Maa", something that Kajal would previously reprimand her children for calling her; insisting that they call her "Mummy" as it sounded high society.

Kajal eventually realizes how she has drifted from her family. She forgets her wedding anniversary and throws a birthday party for her daughter's birthday, not realizing that Raj has never been attracted to a lavish lifestyle and thus further pushing him away from her and towards Jahnvi. After frequent reminders from her mother, Kajal tries to make amends. When nothing works, an angry Kajal slaps Jahnvi and accuses her of stealing her husband and tries to make Jahnvi leave. Kajal offers Jahnvi all her money back in exchange for Raj again, only to be told by Raj that she is the poorest, despite having all the riches she ever dreamed of. Kajal seeks legal advice which also states that the only way she can legally marry Raj if he and Jahnvi divorce. She then forcibly tries to throw Jahnvi out of the house, but to no avail, as Raj decides to leave with Jahnvi. The kids decide to stay with Janhvi and their father.

Kajal on the other hand, distraught by her family abandoning her, donates all her riches. When she learns that Raj and the kids are leaving for the US, she runs to the airport for one final visit. She finds them ready to depart. But at the last minute, Jahnvi turns to Raj and tells them that she is leaving for the US alone, but she is not alone. She is expecting Raj's child. Jahnvi accepts that although Kajal sold her husband, it was she who offered to buy him and thus she too should pay her dues. Kajal gets her family back, learning of the importance of family over money, and Jahnvi leaves for New York.

Special appearance

 * Anil Saxena as Vikram Khanna
 * Poonam Dhillon as Nisha Khadoria: Kajal's friend
 * Dinesh Hingoo as Dr. Manoj Chopra
 * Mehmood Jr. as Champak Raina

Soundtrack
The album was composed by the duo Nadeem-Shravan and lyrics were penned by Sameer. The whole album attained tremendous popularity. The film's soundtrack album sold twomillion units, making it one of the year's top ten best-selling Bollywood soundtrack albums.

The film's biggest hit song was "Judaai Judaai", also known as "Mujhe Ek Pal Chain Na Aaye". It was copied from "Sanu Ek Pal Chain Na Aave" by Pakistani Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. "Meri Zindagi Ek Pyaas" is a copy of "Meri Zindagi Tera Pyar" - an iconic collaboration of Noor Jehan and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, penned by Khwaja Parvez.

The song "Pyaar Pyaar Karte Karte" features a sample from the Scatman John track "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)".

Reception
A critic from New Straits Times wrote that the film was "delightful" because of "its elements of comedy and drama, as a well as a good moral lesson to boot".