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Join UsStar Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Vijay Raaz, Brijendra Kala, Srishti Shrivastava
Director: Shoojit Sircar
What’s Good: The film is super-charged by an AA battery (Amitabh, Ayushmann) & their masters Shoojit, Juhi surely know how to puppet their Gulabo/Sitabo
What’s Bad: Expectations! Don’t rush in the film thinking about what you’ll get because trust me that’ll work as a buzzkill. Just go in, enjoy and come back with a smile!
Loo Break: 120 minutes of Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana orchestrated by Shoojit Sircar. Period.
Watch or Not?: 120 minutes of Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana orchestrated by Shoojit Sircar. Period.
User Rating:
We understand the concept of Gulabo and Sitabo through a puppet show in the start, in which the puppeteer recites the story of these two puppets. We’ve Mirza (Amitabh Bachchan), husband of Fatima Begum (Farrukh Jafar) who’s the owner of the haveli in Lucknow (mansion) they’re living in.
They’ve housed multiple tenants in the haveli, out of which Baankey (Ayushmann Khurrana) is the following no rules, paying no rent since years. What starts as the tom & jerry banter between Mirza & Baankey, turns into a matter which attracts the archaeology department as well as hotshot builders to get that haveli at any cost.
Gulabo Sitabo Movie Review: Script Analysis
Juhi Chaturvedi pens a world limited to a few restless souls whose lives revolve around one single haveli. Their single motto is to be profited because they’re somewhere connected to the haveli. It’s a novel concept but somewhere while penning the right script, Juhi misses her trademarked spark. Her writing is wonderfully backed by Mansi Dhruv Mehta’s production design (majorly just the haveli).
I understand forced humour could’ve killed the idea of the script, but keeping it dry for a very long time doesn’t help either. There are many such scenes which come and go leaving you to imagine why it was without a funny line/incident. I know it’s cliched and won’t at all match the theme of the film, but I wanted the banter between Mirza and Baankey to be more on the lines of Kader Khan & Govinda.
Gulabo Sitabo Movie Review: Star Performance
Amitabh Bachchan’s Mirza is a very difficult character to portray at multiple levels. First, he gets into the physical structure of the character and not for a moment makes it look like a caricature. Second, he adapts the weird accent and makes sure that each and every dialogue is heard crystal clear. Mr Bachchan does everything effortlessly and when you’re being labelled as one of the greatest actors of all time, there are performances such as these backing that claim.
This would’ve been a pretty one-sided match if not for Ayushmann Khurrana. It’s definitely a mixture of Juhi Chaturvedi’s pen and Ayushmann’s impeccable talent to act, but he manages to delve if not surpass the stark shadow created by Bachchan. The babbling accent works amazingly well with the character and also helps to give a certain character to his lines.
Vijay Raaz is criminally underused! You don’t cast Vijay Raaz to make him underplay his character. He deserved better lines and a better role. You just can’t expect from him to come on screen and not say anything funny. Brijendra Kala, too, is on similar lines when it comes to getting good lines. He tries to add his usual quirks in between the dialogues, some work, some don’t. Srishti Shrivastava emerges as the surprise-takeaway for me. Her natural presence adds value to the scenes she’s in. One of the best finds in recent times.
Gulabo Sitabo Movie Review: Direction, Music
Gulabo Sitabo Movie Review: The Last Word
All said and done, Shoojit Sircar and Juhi Chaturvedi will capture you in the haveli for 120 minutes and make you watch the drama unfold. ‘Drama’ being the keyword here! Watch it for some mind-blowing performances & the rustic mood created by Sircar.
Three stars!
Gulabo Sitabo Trailer
Gulabo Sitabo releases on 12th June 2020.
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