Film review: Gulabo Sitabo

Gulf News

Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana take you into old Lucknow in ‘Gulabo Sitabo’  Full Article here: https://gulfnews.com/1.72008117  See more at https://gulfnews.com/videos

Transcript

00:00This is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News Tabloid

00:03and this weekend on Amazon Prime, I saw the movie Gulabo Sitabo.

00:13It stars Ayushman Khurana and Amitabh Bachchan in lead roles,

00:17is directed by Shujat Sircar. So you know him from movies like Piku, Madras Cafe, October

00:24and he's made some very interesting films and Gulabo is his first digital release.

00:29So it went straight to digital before it hit the theatres because of the coronavirus lockdown.

00:36Here's what I loved about the film.

00:38Director Shujat Sircar draws you into the world of old Lucknow.

00:41So one of the best parts about this movie is that it immerses you in those dilapidated lanes

00:47and it introduces you into a world that you're not really familiar with.

00:50If you're not from Lucknow, that's one of the best things that I enjoyed about the movie.

00:54It's to see Amitabh Bachchan's character and Ayushman Khurana's character.

01:00Both of them are from the lower middle class.

01:03Gulabo Sitabo takes you into the world of Banki and Mirza Sheikh.

01:07So Mirza Sheikh is this cranky landlord from old Lucknow.

01:12The mansion belongs to his wife but he seems to think that he's waiting for her to kick the bucket

01:18so that he can somehow acquire the mansion and live happily ever after.

01:22He's under this mistaken illusion that he will one day strike gold by selling off the mansion.

01:29And then there is the squatter who is played by Ayushman Khurana.

01:34He's this tenant.

01:35And what we see in the first half of the movie is them sparring, verbally sparring

01:39and getting onto each other's nerves.

01:43They are grating as personalities.

01:45This is one of the movies where the characters are not adorable one bit.

01:49In fact, if you look at it, they don't grow on you.

01:53They are distasteful.

01:54Their petty greed and their very selfish and self-centered nature is a big turn off.

02:00But that's what makes the movie tick in a big way.

02:04Because if you look at it, you know, you forget that you're watching Amitabh Bachchan on the screen.

02:10And that's a very difficult thing to do because you know him from the baritone.

02:12You know him from the deep voids.

02:14But here, he's got a prosthetic nose.

02:16He's hunching.

02:18And he's such a torturing old man that whenever he hears any news,

02:23he tries to stumble and he actually has a giddy fit.

02:26It's also interesting to note that it's not just the men who have the spotlight in this film.

02:32If you look at the women, they have a lot of agency in a Sirka film.

02:35So to see Srishti Srivastava play Guddu,

02:38who is the smarter sister of Ayushman Khurana's character, is also very, very empowering.

02:44The fact that she uses her sexuality to gain points, to brownie points,

02:49is something very, very interesting.

02:50That here is a small town girl who's very sure about herself,

02:54who's much smarter than her brother.

02:55And this movie explores that kind of gender divide

02:59and makes it seem okay if the woman is smarter.

03:02It's done in a very subtle way.

03:04And that's one of the interesting parts about it also.

03:07And then there is, of course, Bachchan's wife, the sprightly 95-year-old Begum,

03:14who's also a very interesting character.

03:16I mean, she's got so much spirit. She's kind of like a wild child.

03:20In fact, the climax is also interesting.

03:22So do stay for the climax.

03:24Even if the first one hour bores you a bit, stay with it and you won't be disappointed.

03:30It's Amitabh Bachchan who's a revelation in this movie

03:32because it's interesting to see that he has not lost his comic timing.

03:36And the physical comedy also lands.

03:39And there's Ayushman Khurana.

03:40I have to tell you, this man is doing such a good job in experimenting with roles.

03:45Even for a minute, he's mildly pot-bellied.

03:48He's not the brightest bulb in the class.

03:50And also, you see that his sisters are way more smarter than him.

03:53But he seems to make his shortcomings even not so palatable.

03:57Yet, it's very convincing.

03:59So full marks to Ayushman Khurana and Amitabh Bachchan

04:02for breathing life into this story.

04:05Um, I have to warn you that this movie moves at a very incredibly slow pace.

04:11It moves at such a languid pace that for the first one hour,

04:14I have to admit there were times when I nodded off, I think.

04:17And then suddenly you realize, okay, there is gold to be had.

04:20Let's stay invested.

04:21So that's something that you have to train your mind to say that this is a very slow film.

04:26It will take time for you to get transported into the world of Mirza Sheikh and his,

04:32you know, and his greedy nature.

04:34You can also see his pettiness and how he allows that petty nature of his to dictate his life.

04:41In fact, there are times when he doesn't realize how distasteful that man is.

04:44So that, that was really good as well.

04:47So the pace is a letdown, but the story is very interesting.

04:50If you give it time, perhaps the characters may grow on you.

04:55I'm going with three out of five.

04:57For my full review, go to Gulfviews.com.

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