We (the sister and I) just finished streaming Gulabo Sitabo on Amazon Prime Video and we wanted to come on here and share some of our thoughts about the movie.
Starring Amitabh Bachchan as Mirza, a 78-year-old, cantankerous, greedy man, who also happens to be a petty thief. Mirza is married to Begum, 17 years his senior, and owner of the eponymous Fatima Mahal, a sprawling Edwardian era mansion in Lucknow, which has now fallen into total disrepair. Mirza manages the 3-4 tenant families that live in different parts of Fatima Mahal and he makes a bit of pocket money by stealing bulbs and cycle bells as well as quietly (without Begum's knowledge) selling off antiques and furniture from the house itself. Mirza is in love, not with his wife, but with his haveli and is biding his time till Begum dies, leaving, he believes, the haveli to him. He lives in the hope that he will, finally, be the owner and not just the caretaker of Fatima Mahal, the object of his dreams, affections and obsession.
Ayushmann Khurrana is Baankey Rastogi, a flour mill (atta chakki) owner, illiterate, with the responsibility of three younger, sassy sisters and a widowed mother. He is one of Mirza's tenants at Fatima Mahal, paying the princely sum of Rs. 30 a month, which also he doesn't pay for months on end. Baankey is, mostly, angry and frustrated with his life. His sisters sass him, his girlfriend undermines him and sasses him constantly and he is desperately trying to keep his out-of-control life afloat. The only sense of control Baankey has is when he denies rent to Mirza and engages in verbal banter with him, giving the movie its name of Gulabo Sitabo, who are supposed to be two women, who constantly bicker and try to one-up(wo)man each other- a popular Lucknowi puppeteer folktale.
It is the jugalbandi and banter between these two similar yet different characters that sets in motion the core conflict in the film. Mirza is waiting for Begum to die and do as he pleases with his haveli and its pesky, upstart tenants. Baankey doesn't want to pay rent to a landlord, who has done no maintenance and, instead, steals their bulbs on a regular basis. It is this classic landlord vs. tenant conflict that is taken advantage of by various nefarious elements, leading to much drama and hilarious moments.
The Good:
1. Amitabh Bachchan as Mirza is just as spectacular as you'd expect the veteran actor to be! The man fully sheds his superstar persona and shape-shifts into Mirza- a disheveled, bent over with age, with a huge nose, thick glasses held together with tape, always shuffling around old Lucknow, greedy and looking to make a quick buck.
Bachchan gives Mirza an impish quality along with a heartrending innocence, which completely breaks your heart! While Mirza is greedy (for the property and wishes his wife dead) and petty, he is also sort of kind hearted, mischievous and extremely gullible. You don't end up feeling too sorry for him because he is so greedy and petty, but he still does tug at your heartstrings as he ambles around that old mansion asking his Begum for pocket money and looking for things to sell.
This is Bachchan's genius. He takes this easy-to-dislike or dismiss character and infuses it with so much humanity and heart. This is his movie and Mirza shines in every frame! Watch this movie just for Mirza!
2. While Ayushmann is competent and good as always, bringing Baankey's lower-middle class angst to life, his is not the character that stays with you at the end of the movie. He does hold his own against Bachchan, but his character was not given that much to work with in the first place. He portrays Baankey's helplessness and anger quite well as well as his moments of sass and banter with Mirza, but, like I said, there is not much more to this character.
3. This movie has an amazing supporting cast! From Vijay Raaz's Archaeology Officer role to Brijendra Kala's Christopher to Farrukh Jafar as Begum... each and every supporting character is well etched and they do a wonderful job bringing their roles to life!
4. The writing is pretty good too. The movie revolves around the classic UP idiom of do bandaro ki ladai mein billi roti le gayi, which translates to the cat running off with the bread whilst the two monkeys were fighting over it. Don't want to give too much away, but this idiom is central to the movie and its events.
The Not-so-Good:
1. The pace of the movie is inconsistent, which reduces engagement, especially, in the first half of the movie. The first half is sort of indulgent, building the context and spending a little too much time (and repetition) on character building. We get it, Mirza is greedy yet oddly sweet and gullible, Baankey is also greedy but burdened with responsibility and struggling to get by. We did not need multiple instances/ events driving the same point home over and over again! The movie's pace becomes supersonic in the last 10-15 minutes with multiple things happening. It is like, you are driving along very, very slowly on a not-very scenic route and then suddenly, you are whizzing by at 100 kmph just as the scenery started getting interesting! Disappointing!
2. Also, this is not a movie for everyone, which is tragic because almost one hour into the movie, we are not sure what the core conflict of this movie is going to be, which can lead to disinterest and viewers clicking out of it and not watching the rest of the movie.
At the one hour mark you are still wondering what is this movie going to be about! Is it Mirza vs. Baankey? Is it Mirza + someone else vs. Blankey + someone else? Or is it something totally different? Is it Mirza + Baankey coming together to resolve something? We were pretty sure it was the last option and continued with the movie after a 10 hour break.
Since this movie has released on Prime Video, the viewer has multiple reasons to click out and a movie with a slow, ponderous, repetitive first half is not very OTT friendly.
Finally, if you give the movie time and get through the slow first half, you're in for a treat. The movie's subtle humour, the Lucknow-isms, the wonderful characters, great performances and the climax are well worth sticking around!
Personally, we loved all the visuals of Lucknow as we've lived in the city for five years and really enjoyed our time there! Seeing Mirza's acquaintances care about him, look after him and be nice to him in spite of his cantankerous, flawed nature is, pretty much, as Lucknow as it gets. The best hearted people live in that beautiful city!
Watch this movie. Give it time. You'll end up chuckling a lot and, maybe, even loving it!
Rating: 4/5
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