Gulabo Sitabo Movie Review: A well-intentioned film which works on account of utmost patience
Updated on: 13 September, 2021 12:00 AM IST |
There are no second thoughts when one speaks of filmmaker Shoojit Sircar. Whether it’s a film about infatuation with bodily fluids (Vicky Donor, Piku), a political thriller (Madras Cafe) or a tragic drama (October), Sircar and his long-time collaborator, writer Juhi Chaturvedi are masters at delivering content that appeal to the head and the heart.
Which is why ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ comes across as a speed-breaker in the duo’s erstwhile smooth ride.
Mirza (Amitabh Bachchan) is a 78-year old man, whose quest to live thrives on his relentless greed to acquire the dilapidated, familial mansion, inherited by his wife Fatima Begum (Farrukh Jafar). He is resentful and scornful because he has to deal with ‘termites’ in the guise of tenants, who’ve infested his object of fancy. Leading the tenants and his prime nemesis is Baankey (Ayushmann Khurrana), a flour mill owner and a school drop-out, whom Mirza loathes as the young lad’s pittance drives him up the wall. If Baankey is unable to pay up the rent, Mirza plots ways of acquiring monies from him by selling off whatever his hands can lay on. Mostly light bulbs. Baankey is equally bitter by his shortcomings. He is ridiculed and belittled by his mother and three sisters, especially the eldest, learned one Guddo (Srishti Shrivastava) whom he needs to fend. Derived from a folk street puppet show involving two puppets named Gulabo and Sitabo, the men are Lucknow’s Tom and Jerry, constantly bickering and always at the end of each other’s wits in a never-ending game of one-upmanship. In the midst of their quarrels, stands a crumbling mansion as a muse, craving for affection, even as the men lust after her for more selfish reasons. Stakes are raised higher when either sides seek help from more crucial players to their flocks. Christopher Clark (Brijendra Kala), a lawyer who specialises in property disputes in Mirza’s stride and Gyanesh Mishra (Vijay Raaz), an officer from the Archeological Research Center, who is hell bent on proving that the mansion is a potential heritage site.
On a technical note, much is there to be enjoyed about the film. Starting with the cinematography by three-time National Award winner Avik Mukhopadhayay. Lucknow is shot so skilfully, it isn’t just a mere backdrop in the film, but an integral character arc propelling a great chunk of the story. This isn’t a sanitized travel-brochure image of the city, but one looking for a hint of colour as it see-saws between tradition and modernity. Even through its muddled bylanes, it invites you to beam, ‘kyunki aap Lucknow mein hai’. Chaturvedi’s story at the core is based upon one of the cardinal sins of the human mind, gluttony. But the living conditions of the characters in the plot, integrated by the costume design by Veera Kapur and Mansi Dhruv Mehta’s production design, convince you why their actions are led by greed and desperation. The dialogue mines laughs from the integrity reserved even for the most miserable curses. In a scene, Jafar’s Begum with all the respectability tells her husband, ‘Toh jaiye, mar jaaiye’. The laughs, however are short in supply. I never thought I’d chuckle so hard at the clanking of a microwave oven. It’s the screenplay though which indulges far too much in the quarrels of the men, that derails the train. It also tries to fit in a commentary on how our everyday squabbles can affect the course of the society at large. At roughly two hours and four minutes, little is happening to keep you invested that by the time, you make it to the climax, your patience has withered.
Which is a shame because the film otherwise has a lot to offer through some arresting performances, led by a stellar cast. Bachchan loses himself to Mirza. Sporting a hunch, untidy clothes, a long beard and a nose, the size of an apple gourd, Bachchan makes Mirza affable, despite his scheming, unscrupulous tactics. This is a man who is not going to let his age dictate his intent. Khurrana to his best interests, takes the backfoot and allows his senior co-star to do the heavy lifting. As Baankey, the actor emotes the misery and self-loathing that gets concealed within his disregard and shamelessness. Raaz and Kala add the right amount of callousness to their parts. But as is the case with most of Sircar’s works, the ball eventually lies in the court of his women. Jafar as the ailing nonagenarian is an absolute hoot. Equally acidic and unapologetic are Srishti and Poornima Sharma, who plays Baankey’s girlfriend Fauzia. These women shatter the perceptions that the privileged, city-bred folks hold about their lives in heartland India.
Eventually, ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ is weighed down by an overdrawn screenplay. This requires patient viewing and I promise you, there is much to be enjoyed. Maybe, it’s also an unintentional reminder on Sircar’s part that we keep our expectations in check. But isn’t it okay to be greedy for a satisfying watch?
