Gulabo Sitabo Review: Light domestic drama with ingenious comedy
Shikha Chaurasia
Pune, June 13, 2020
Director- Shoojit Sircar
Story, screenplay and dialogue- Juhi Chaturvedi
Cinematography- Avik Mukhopadhayay
Cast- Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Vijay Raaz, Brijendra Kala, Shrishti Shrivastava, Farrukh Jafar
Shoojit Sircar’s Gulabo Sitabo is a light domestic drama with ingenious comedy. The plot of the movie is set in Lucknow where several tenants and the owner live together in an ancient haveli known as Fatima Mahal.
Amitabh Bachchan (Mirza) plays the role of a 78-year-old man who is a sourpuss and considers the haveli as the soul and love of his life. While on the other hand, Ayushmann Khurrana (Baankey Rastogi) plays the role of a poor and uneducated tenant with a big family. Ayushmann Khurrana owns a flour mill and the meagre amount of money he makes is not sufficient to run his big family with three sisters and a mother. The movie depicts an unending comic battle between the tenants who have considered Baankey as their leader and Mirza who keeps demanding more rent from the tenants, especially Bankey because he pays only Rs 30 as his rent while others pay more than him.
The movie picks up its pace when Ayushmann Khurrana aka Baankey, breaks the wall of the toilet and there is a tiff between him and Mirza who demands that he should pay for the damage he has caused. Just when the two lead characters squabble becomes a routine, the entry of the two other prominent characters Vijay Raaz (Gyanesh Shukla) who is an archaeologist and Brijendra Kala (Christopher Clark) who is a lawyer crisps up their fight.
Although the dialogues and acting was natural, there were places when it felt like the characters were trying hard to hit the laughter chord. The first half of the film may seem to be slow, however it paces up in the second half of the film when things start to take a different turn and end up with a surprise which leaves all the characters stunned.
Cinematography and background score of the movie
The cinematography is artistic, simple and natural which captures all the undertones of the emotions, situations and the location. The background score of the movie is very subtle and folksy. It is always played at the right moment which accentuates the comic parts of the movie.
Performance
Amitabh Bachchan’s acting was splendid and his presence on screen was overpowering and natural. He has perfectly blended with the role of a curmudgeon old man. Also, the prosthetic big nose on his face gives him a comic appearance which is very prominent and noticeable throughout the movie. Ayushmann Khurrana’s performance too was enjoyable and his dialogue delivery with a proper lisp and a Luknowi accent was sturdy.
Apart from them, the rest of the cast has also given a congenial performance.
To sum it up, it is a distinctive movie with a different story which is worth watching.
