Gulabo Sitabo (Movie-Amazon Prime) - Review - 3.5 stars
As a kid, growing up in Lucknow, I had watched the travelling puppeteers who went from locality to locality entertaining the kids who gathered around. One of the most popular stories enacted was the that of Gulabo and Sitabo. The puppeteer sang a ditty while these two hand-held puppet characters clapped and hit each other with their tiny wooden hands. Each of them, in turn got the upper hand till they both fall down tired in the end. It was a rustic show and quintessentially Lucknavi in character. (See the link below). This puppet show embodies the essence of the story of the movie. Just thinking of this as the title of the movie should earn writer Juhi Chaturvedi and director Shoojit Sircar an extra half star in the review sweepstakes.
The Gulabo-Sitabo in the movie are Mirza, a cranky but lovable, bearded old man somewhere in his late 70s (Amitabh Bachchan) and an uneducated flour grinding shop owner - Baankey (Ayushmann Khurrana). Despite his near penury, Mirza has management control (or more accurately ‘non-management’ control) over a dilapidated and crumbling mansion in old Lucknow - Fatima Mahal - which is actually owned by his reclusive, slightly delusional wife who is 17 years older than even him. Baankey, is his tenant in the mansion and has been living in a small portion of Fatima Mahal, with his mother and sisters, paying a pittance as rent. Despite being alone, his advanced years and stooped back, Mirza has an obsessive desire to gain ownership of Fatima Mahal from his wife by hook or by crook, and throw out Baankey and the few other tenants from the house. He is willing to do whatever he can to achieve that. Baankey is equally determined to stay put where he is, with no increase in rent.
The story revolves around comic acerbic arguments between Mirza and Baankey (conducted in Lucknavi rather than Punjabi French), the duo’s machinations at out-thwarting each other and Mirza’s peccadillos for pocketing a few extra rupees.
If one compares Gulabo-Sitabo to Shoojit Sircar’s earlier successful ventures with the same cast (Piku with Amitabh Bachchan and Vicky Donor with Ayushmann) it falls short, not as much in directorial authenticity but more because this story does not have as much to offer. Nevertheless, the movie is quite entertaining and worth watching. Both Amitabh and Ayushmann excel as expected. Those of you who are from Lucknow will nostalgically relate to the settings, outdoor street shots and the general look and feel of the movie.
The film will also be remembered as the first (?) Bollywood movie to be released during the pandemic directly on an OTT platform (Amazon Prime) without waiting for the theatres to re-open post the lockdown.
Link : Watch a : Gulabo-Sitabo Street Puppet show
