In the most different times, Two Actors gears up to keep us in our homes by bringing a Sweet and Smooth Dramedy. The Greatest Actor of the Century, Amitabh Bachchan, and the If Nobody did it I’ll do it Actor Ayushmann Khurrana comes together for a journey, a story.
Gulabo Sitabo is a Story of a Mansion, Fatima Mahal, named after Fatima Begum(Farrukh Jaffar), owner of the Mansion and the wife of Mirza Chunnan Nawab(Amitabh Bachchan). Mirza loves his Fatima Mahal so much that he waits for his wife to die so that the Haveli becomes his property. Mirza is a crooked, greedy and grumpy old man. The movie actually starts with a scene where Mirza is seen stealing a light bulb and selling it at a store. Mirza is seen doing this many times in the movie and it’s very funny to look at. In comes the character of Baankey(Ayushmann Khurrana), who is a tenant in Mirza’s Fatima Mahal and is also not behind in greediness when compared to Mirza. Baankey is living like a ‘termite’ who refuses to leave the Haveli and doesn’t pay the rent. One day when Baankey demolishes a brick wall in the Mansion, Mirza moves to get Baankey out of the Haveli in a legal way and finds a Lawyer for the task, Christopher Clarke(Brijendra Kala). On the other hand, Baankey shakes hands with an ASI Officer Gyanesh(Vijay Raaz) who intends to declare the Haveli a Heritage Site and promises to provide at least LIG Apartments to all the tenants living there. From here the real tussle between Mirza and Baankey starts and a story of the greed of Mirza, Baankey, Christopher, Gyanesh and others picks up its pace. What happens with the Mansion is something to be discovered in the second half of the Movie.
Amitabh Bachchan, as always, is a delight to the eyes on the screen. The Superstar plays the character of Mirza with ease and looks effortless in doing so. Every trait of Mirza, be it his Crooked nature, his Grumpiness, his Love for the Mansion, is played by Amitabh Bachchan with absolute class. I cannot find more words than say it is a Classic Amitabh Experience.
Ayushmann Khurrana played Baankey with all his might. The Dreamgirl Actor Excels here in bringing the Character of Baankey to life. Ayushmann is a Delight to watch in every scene.
The supporting cast containing Brijendra Kala, Vijay Raaz, Srishti Shrivastava(Guddo), or be it Ananya Dwivedi(Neetu) all have played their parts brilliantly. None of the characters is out of place and compliments the story accordingly. Farrukh Jaffar played her character of Fatima Begum Beautifully, however, I felt there could be some more scenes of her and Mirza in the story.
The Writer-Director Duo Juhi Chaturvedi and Shoojit Sircar have done a fantastic job putting together the story and painting it on the screen. The Movie has a smooth path all the way from the beginning to the end. The movie does drag itself in the first half setting all the characters’ base but picks up pace in the second half and is worth the sluggishness bore in the first half. The movie features some really smooth and sharp sequences in both halves.
Capturing the Beauty of the Mansion, Lucknow and all the characters is Avik Mukhopadhyay who has done a very good job behind the well-done Cinematography.
Shantanu Moitra’s Background score is appealing, but the songs are not chartbusters in my view.
All considered Gulabo Sitabo is a very entertaining watch. The Movie is a very good satire on personal and professional greeds. This is the first Bollywood Movie released on an OTT Platform, so if you’re already subscribed to Amazon Prime Video do watch this, it is a definite time killer(isn’t it just the thing we want in these times).
The movie gets 3 stars from me.
