Gulabo Sitabon
I waited so long for this one and it doesn't disappoint at all.
Be very clear that this movie has 3 protagonists. Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurana and the Haveli.
The screenplay has so much good spilling out of it.
It is so nuanced, that it thrilled me. The covert humor, the laughs when you least expect them.. trademarks of a Juhi Chaturvedi writing.
Consider the opening shot where the avaricious landlord removes bulbs from their holders to save electricity and sell them. Just a few seconds and you immediately know that you are looking at a miser and it's so funny.
Amitabh Bachchan has been morphed into this hunched over sorry little old man. He IS Mirza.
It is a complete credit to the skill of this stalwart that at no point do you feel you are watching a man with a heap of prosthesis on. Each time you see him, you see only the man doing something more abhorrent than before. He is the Grinch and Scrooge rolled into one. I mean come on, he actually makes a kid spit out pieces of mango that she had taken from his wife's plate and he steals their bed linen too. He waits unabashedly for the death of his wife and is abominable with everyone, and yet one doesn't want to see him bested by Bankey, his tenant who is clinging on to his room in the haveli.
The last time I saw such a brilliant landlord- tenant relationship was in Tanu Weds Manu Returns, where Mohammad Zeeshan Ayub takes on Kangana Ranaut's family.
The haveli has been shot beautifully and is a grand old lady. The dialogues are beautiful. Consider this, a man is asked "aaj bahut dino baad tapke" His reply is epic, "Pak gaya tha, toh tapak gaya" 😂😂😂😂
Mirza's wife is played by a ninety year old actor, Farukh Jafar, Oh man! she is good and just as she deserves, she gets the top billing in the opening credits, even above Amitabh Bachchan.
Loved this from the team.
Brijendra Kala and Vijay Raaz are good as always and so is Ayushmann. The problem is that the story is of the haveli and Mirza and so attempts to create offshoots for them in the storyline, are just distractions.
There is Shrishti Shrivastava as well, who as Brijendra Kala says is "Very good". She and Vijay Raaz play out a scene where the importance of dental treatments is underlined. 😂😂😂😂😂
There is another character called Pandeyji, who is the unabashed Shakuni and his one-liners are not to be missed.
The background score is very effective and the saxophone is well used to contribute to the naughtiness and mischief of a scene.
I particularly liked the song Madari.
Ek baar Pucca dekhna is wali ko.
And in case you were wondering,Gulabo and Sitabo are two puppets who are always fighting.
I enjoyed it more when I let go of the angst of not getting to watch this one in the theatre.
Do let me know if you were able to guess the climax.
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P.S. their is a strong commentary on the working of the archaeology department and also on its nuisance value. Do I hear an objection coming?
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