paromita ganguly

The plot is cliché and the acting is terrible. It's a terribly ill casted movie with a weak plotline.

Yesterday was movie night with family and accompanied by some home made noodles and chilli chicken we watched Gulabo Sitabo over Amazon Prime. I am shocked at the poor reviews this movie has earned from several movie review sites. The story of this movie is a moral one with laughless mirth and points a finger at the eyes of those who know "the price of everything but the value of nothing". Soojit Sircar challenges audience to follow through patiently and only after watching the full story can you understand what just happened. The plot reminds me of the kind of stories that Munshi PremChand or Roald Dahl may have written,small seemingly mundane description of events and surroundings piling up until a twist that jolts open sleepy eyes. These stories are very common in old cities like Calcutta where people occupy old houses, pay a few paises in rent and never move.This story set in Lucknow has a haveli, a sassy begum who inherited it and who stole my heart with her smartness and IQ, even though she is 95 and forgets with whom she eloped several decades ago. Then there is one of the embittered tennants Baanke (Ayushmann) who has several mouths to feed and refuses to pay his 30rs. rent and there is Mirrza, Begums husband who walks with a stoop and limps too, but dreams of owning the haveli one day but which can happen only when begum dies. The last few shots of the haveli all by itself after occupants left, and of Aayushmaan Khurrana, looking on, as his ex gf leaves or of Mirza looking at a old, dirty and dilapidated room where he is to live, is so beautiful and so sad. The amazing cinematography does justice to the enchanting city that Lucknow is. This is a story of very very common people who think in very common ways and in trying to get the better out of life end up losing the bet to it. Acting wise nothing to say it is so stupendous by everyone. Amitabh's low gruff voice,was a struggle to hear and understand clearly, not sure if that was because of watching on laptop. I think most people gave up on the movie, is because the trailer promises comedy and comedy it is but not the normal slapstick or cocky humour kind of. The background score was subtle to the ears during the film but is so apt for the screenplay. This movie has humour that probably God and lady Destiny laughs at, and the screenplay doesn't roll out everything right at the start and the audience has to patiently follow on, to make something out of the stooping and limping Mirza's endeavours, complicated by an ASI officer (vijay raaz) sniffing around the heritage haveli.