Gulabo Sitabo- a classic piece of story-telling with stellar performances. A 2020 savour now streaming on Amazon Prime

Gulabo Sitabo Review: A cast ensembled to deliver just the best. A lockdown saviour. And a director, who is known for his “grabbing attention thorough his story-telling” skills. “Gulabo Sitabo” is not just another typical Bollywood saga. With subtle yet eloquent writing and amazing performances by the cast in an off-beat movie will keep you engaged almost throughout. Now, almost throughout is brought up considering the pace that goes slow, which although compliments the mood of the movie and focusses on the little things, might be felt fatigued by some. Bollywood is coming up with content driven movies and this one sure took us to ride down the beautific and rustic Lucknow.

Gulabo Sitabo, a paradigm shift in Indian Cinema: The first Indian movie to be officially released on Amazon Prime with a stellar cast bringing the everyday sweet story to life. Gulabo Sitabo saw the amalgamation of two fine actors- Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushman Khurana, with supporting just as good as the two.

Literal Reference of Gulabo Sitabo: The title gains reference from the traditional glove puppet from Uttar Pradesh, which traces its link to the 17^th century. The names are given to the two heroines in the show, Sitabo-the Over-worked spouse and Gulabo- the mistress of the same man. The two are at constant loggerheads with each other.

Cast of Gulabo Sitabo: This film directed by Shoojit Sircar, boasts of the cast chosen wisely, and certainly delivers what was expected of them

Amitabh Bachchan: Playing a cranky septuagenarian named Mirza who is waiting for his wife to die so he could have the “Fatima Mahal” to himself. Mirza is a desperate money-minded man, with no love for anyone. He is hostile towards his many tenants who live for pennies in the more than 100 years old Mahal. He steals petty items and sell them for money.

Ayushman Khurana: The dusty vermin as Mirza calls him. He goes by the character name Baankey. Baankey is the second protagonist in this light hearted drama. Fighting his won struggle of keeping his twisted family running, maintaining his love life alive and his daily wrangle with Mirza over petty things.

Supporting Cast of Gulabo Sitabo:

Vijay Raaz as Gyanesh Shukla

Brijesh Kalra as Christopher Clark

Farrukh Jaffar as Fatima Begum

Srishti Shrivastva as Guddo

PLOT of Gulabo Sitabo:

The story revolves around Fatima Mahal, a dilapidated huge residence, whistling its days to the archiac and the constant relatable feuds between Mirza and the tenants. The humped Mirza has been eyeing on the Fatima Mahal for the longest time. He and Baankey are on constant loggerheads complaining about Baankey paying a meagre amount of Rs 30 as rent that he hasn’t paid in 3 months. The movies pays heed to the little things making it all the more relatable. From Mirza stealing bulbs of his tenants in exchange of money to cutting power makes him the perfect landlord of his age. The drama unfolds with the hostility between Mirza and Baankey, when Baankey in a fit banks the wall of their crumbling bathroom and causes it to create a big hole causing a havoc in Fatima Mahal. This act leads to topsy turvey of events inviting an archeologist to survey the Mahal, a lawyer to engage in the assistance of Mirza. Baankey and Mirza derive two teams holding up against each other. What emerges the audience into it  more here is the engagement of women cast especially Guddo, who is intelligent, gung ho, pro active and a complete badass. She does not shy away from toppling men, and finding her way out. Baankey’s girlfriend is another character who pushes him to stand for himself at the same insults him for his present condition. The escalation of matter shows Fatima Begum in bits ensuring she forms a very important part of the plot. The typical household with withered walls, old fashioned way of life in the heart of Lucknow. The story unfolds and brings crackling characters to life potraying their agendas for Fatima Mahal with a lot of wit in store. Shoojit Sircar is known for his attention to detail direction, and it is what exactly happens in the movie. Every little detail is given importance. Every time Mirza hear money, even with the age he is running, he dis-balances, his yes pop out. His wishful thinking of Fatima Begum, who is elder to him, to die for the greed. His constant nagging with Baankey, relating the plot to the on the extinct art of Gulabo Sitabo puppet. The pace of the movie has been disliked by a few calling it a snail walk at times. But, the story is more than just its pace, it’s potraying an art on screen and doing justice to all its characters with attending the minutest of detail.

Gulabo Sitabo, released on Amazon Prime on 12th June 2020, and is running successfully.