Gulabo Sitabo is the first mainstream film to release since Covid-19 through Amazon Prime Video. Amitabh Bachchan and director Soorjit Sircar reunite after they created screen magic in the Piku and Pink and they pair with new-age superstar, Ayushmann Khurana who was directed by Soorjit Sircar in Vicky Donor, in this slice of life film is aromatically flavoured in true Lucknowi style.
A cute puppet show introduces us to the film’s character, Mirza (Amitabh Bachchan), husband of Fatima Begum (Farrukh Jafar) who’s the owner of the Haveli in Lucknow (mansion) and Baankey (Ayushmann Khurrana) is a long term guest who is not paying rent. What starts as a cat and mouse race between Mirza & Baankey, turns into a tale of how a Mansion attracts the archaeology department and builders who want to take over this Haveli for their personal gains.
Amitabh Bachchan’s Mirza is a very difficult character to portray. He does everything so effortlessly and owns his label as one of the greatest actors of all time, from his voice modulation to his dialogue delivery and physical transformation and cartoon-like nose he delivers a sincere performance. Ayushmann Khurrana is an impeccable talent and manages to match Amitabh Bachchan in this film, he also delivers dialogues with a slight lisp to give his character some variation from their roles and maintains this throughout the film effortlessly. They develop wonderful screen chemistry.
Shoojit Sircar, whose filmography includes like Vicky Donor, Piku, Pink and Madras Cafe surprises audiences with a tale as unique as this, he creates beautiful scenes for the actors to deliver great performances. Writer Juhi Chaturvedi writes this gem with flare and adds hints of her style into the narrative. The music was underwhelming and did not match the level of storytelling. The locales and this Haveli is the perfect setting for this tale.
Gulabo Sitabo is a wonderful experience for solo or family viewing on Amazon Prime. It is a pleasure to watch Amitabh Bachchan continue to create screen magic and merge forces with the modern-day hero of cinema, Ayushmann Khuranna.
Rating: 8 / 10
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