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