Shoojit Sircar hits the sweet spot of filmmaking

Gulabo Sitabo (Amazon Prime)

Direction: Shoojit Sircar

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana

Rating: 4/5

There are scenes in this movie that I have never imagined Bollywood would have. In one such scene, Ayushmann Khurrana is seen operating a flour mill and going about his daily business as a poor man, and the great Amitabh Bacchan is running a horse cart. 'Gulabo Sitabo' portrays that side of the society where rudeness is the norm and standing up for yourself means to step on someone else’s shoulder.

The story takes place in Lucknow against the backdrop of an unmanaged and debilitated mansion that many love and want to keep as their own. The real owner of the mansion is a begum who’s approaching her final days. Her husband Mirza (Amitabh Bacchan) just wants her dead, to make the mansion his and also to throw out all the tenants of the mansion who pay meagre amounts as rent. Baankey (Ayushmann Khurrana), a tenant who is trying hard to make ends meet can’t let Mirza do that. What ensues is a war-like situation between the tenants and Mirza. It is a perfect allegory for the famous puppeteer’s story of Lucknow, ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, where the mistress of a rich man and his wife are about to start a dirty fight before the cheering crowd.

Amitabh Bacchan is so believable as Mirza, just as Ayushman is as Baankey; their chemistry really steals the show and I can only hope that they make more films together. And when Juhi Chaturvedi’s excellent screenplay meets Shoojit Sircar’s direction, the movie becomes a great piece of filmmaking. Shoojit’s craft has improved over the times and this could be his best work yet.

There are so many elements to this movie that remind you of classic British comedies, where pain is both pathetic and laughable. The story really draws a difference between classes and genders without placing them starkly in contrast. The story portrays life as an unending series of battles against life, a slice of life Bollywood is generally blind to.

The mansion stands as a metaphor for Mirza’s youth, which is crumbling before him, something he always loved but is now out of his hands. The mansion also represents Baangey who would eventually become Mirza without him noticing. The power of women as the sound of logic that men often ignore owing to their egotism is also symbolised through different aspects of the film. I would recommend this movie to everyone who’s willing to look at Bollywood through a different set of lens.