Julie - 2004

Story

'Julie' tells the tale of transition of a small-town girl into a high society prostitute and her right to self-assertion.

The movie begins with a TV program in which Mihir Shandilya [Priyanshu Chatterjee], a young business tycoon and the most eligible bachelor of the city, is invited by a television host [Achint Kaur] for a rendezvous. In the interview the young man talks about his life, his success story and the mystery woman in his lovelife.

The secret woman is none other than 'Julie' [Neha Dhupia], who is a high-class prostitute. But she hasn't revealed her profession to Mihir and his family. Mihir's open and honest admission of love unnerves Julie. At the same time she feels that she hasn't become less of a human being by being a prostitute and feels the right to assert herself openly.

Julie is a girl who has been matured by ups and downs of life. When she was just a simple small-town girl she fell in love with a guy named Neil [Yash Tonk], who left her in lurch after sexually exploiting her. To start her life afresh Julie shifted to Mumbai and chummed up with her childhood friend Dinky.

In Mumbai, Julie landed in a secretarial job in a construction company where she met Rohan [Sanjay Kapoor]. Julie and Rohan developed an intimacy in short time. But Rohan had something cooking in his mind. One day he came to Julie with the offer to spend a night with a tycoon [Kiran Kumar] to bag a prized contract for their company. Shocked at the realization that people didn't see more in her than her sexual side, Julie took to prostitution.

And today, when she has begun to dream of having a future with Mihir, she doesn't want to conceal her identity and wants to assert herself in a TV interview?

The chief flaw of 'Julie' lies in its story. Julie is shown as a conscientious girl with a sense of self-esteem. Then why does this girl decide to take to prostitution after being jilted by two men? In fact, a part of the movie gives the impression that Julie actually likes her profession.

Another flaw is the deliberate attempt to make the movie more emotion-centric in the latter half.

Neha Dhupia has a well-toned body and she flaunts it at regular intervals to keep the frontbenchers glued to the screen. But the actress fails to bring out the inner dilemmas, the pain and the essence of her character of a prostitute.