Gulabo Sitabo (2020)
Gulabo Sitabo is one of the most earnest, effortless and full of heart movies to come out this year. It is dark, it is humorous, and it is a tale which can be foretold over chai. A tale of enmity, binding, greed, loss and love. Shoojit Sircar weaves magic with the direction into a concrete script and screenplay written By Juhi Chaturvedi. The other shout out goes to the cinematography as it engulfs into dilapidated mansion and by lanes. Already marred in controversy over the OTT premier, we should be glad that they went ahead with the release because it’s one movie that everyone should watch.
Ayushmann Khurrana and Amitabh Bachchan brings these characters to life as if they were meant to play these roles. Their chemistry and banter remind of every haggling pair you see. Their descend into greed are so well captured that in the end all you want to do is embrace them. They are supported really well by the supporting cast of Srishti Srivastava, Brijendra Kala, Vijay Raaz and almost everyone leaves an impact. Though the pace of ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ was a bit languid but that is what added to the flow of the story and brought the shades of the characters to light.
However, this goes as a personal ode, the strongest character is city of Lucknow. There are countless families, living in old Havelis still paying rent that was set 70 years ago. Everyone wants to one up each other, everyone has time to meet for chai and listen to your life’s woes and everyone knows someone powerful. Gulabo Sitabo captures the subtle emotion of the city in more than a perfect way.
The city’s by lanes with fallen hopes and crushed dreams conjure a world of their own with puppeteers and ramshackle Mushiaras that still happen. As the last shots looms over empty havelis, you don’t want to let go of the characters you have connected so deeply with. All you want is to tell them that things will be alright and maybe they will.
Gulabo Sitabo is not a typical Bollywood movie experience. It is not bustling with melodrama or dancing. This movie has a soul and the director beautifully manages to bring that into the screen. Gulabo Sitabo certainly lost some of its opulence because of it’s digital release on ‘Amazon Prime’ Nevertheless it’s character study and unfussy consonance makes ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ worth watching on any platform it is available.
So here is to Hope, Humour and Good Cinema.
HOPOZO Metre: 3.5/5
