Star Cast- Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Vijay Raaz, Brajendra Kala, Shrishti Srivastava and Farruk Jaffar
Genre- Drama
Rating- ***
POEM ON CELLULOID!
Jyothi Venkatesh
Set in the present day Lucknow, Gulabo Sitabo is a stinging social satire about two impossibly peculiar human beings- Mirza Chunnan Nawab (Amitabh Bachchan), who stays in a dilapidated mansion an one of his tenants Baankey Rastogi (Ayushmann Khurrana). The mansion has seen many dramas unfold over a century of its existence, but still has a final act left as the drama of the battle of ownership unfolds, with a priceless lesson to teach the viewers.
The inspiration for the title comes from the two puppets that appear at periodic intervals – Gulabo and Sitabo, which are constantly at loggerheads. Located in Lucknow, the 100-year-old mansion Fatima Mahal is in shambles and almost in ruins, and home to multiple families who pay a measly rent ranging from just 30 to 70 rupees. Baankey, according to Mirza, one ‘pest’ of a tenant, who neither leaves nor pays the rent on time. Angry 78 year old landlord Mirza is an abuse-hurling, prank-pulling man who harbors only one dream his whole life, that of becoming the legal owner of the mansion, which his wife legally owns.
Gyanesh Mishra (Vijay Raaz) is the officer of Archaeological Survey of India (Lucknow Circle), a wily public servant who senses that the dilapidated haveli has the potential to become a national heritage property and convinces Baankey how this plan will work best for him and the other tenants. Christopher Clark (Brijendra Kala) now steps in to fight for Mirza’s case, as his lawyer to resolve property woes. As far as performances go, definitely it is Amitabh Bachchan who proves that he is seconds to none when it comes to leaving an indelible mark with his performance while Vijay Raaz scores. With his thick beard and even thicker glasses, crouched shoulders and a limp in his walk, he simply wades through his tough performance. Though Ayushmann Khurrana does not have any scope, he puts in a suave performance and has his own intriguing moments while it is Shrishti Shrivastava who renders an excellent performance as Baankey’ sister Guddo, who has no qualms to check in at a seedy hotel to satisfy the government servant’s carnal desires. Brajendra Kala, as the lawyer makes his presence felt while in a small role as Mirza’s wife Fatima Begum, Farrukh Jaffar is brilliant.
Three-time National Award winner Abhik Mukhopadhyay is a wizard at handling his camera, with almost every other frame reeking of Lucknow’s old-world charm –its decaying but beautiful mansions, cycle rickshaws running across the narrow lanes of the city. Shantanu Moitra’s original score makes you sit up with quirky tunes that come with deep, meaningful and honest lyrics by Dinesh Pant, Puneet Sharma and Vinod Dubey.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video without a theatrical release, this first ever release on OTT is a stirring social commentary, a satire on the psyche of mankind and how greed serves as a guiding force in one’s life and ruins you. To sum up, though it is not a masterpiece and may not cater to the front benchers, with its slow and lazy pace, it is nevertheless a poem on celluloid that tugs at your heart with a poignant social issue
