Gulabo Sitabo Review: Only if you are a fan of Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana go for it, else can be avoided.

Film: Gulabo Sitabo

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Vijay Raaz, Brijendra Kala, Shrishti Shrivastava, Farrukh Jafar

Director: Shoojit Sircar

 

Rating: 2.5 star

 

When you have actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana in one frame, one does expect intriguing storytelling. The recently released Gulabo Sitbao on Amazon Prime Videos directed Shoorjit Sicar written by Juhi Chaturvedi has pinned our hopes high but nonetheless, this satire comedy falls flat miserably. 

 

In a nutshell, Amitabh Bachchan as Mirza is the owner Fatima Mahal in Lucknow, while Ayushmann Khurrana as Baankey Sodhi one of the tenants in the haveli. The lead cast is supported by five other families who take the narrative ahead. The two and a half-hour dramedy (comedy plus drama) gives us an essence of Lucknowi culture and the day-to-day issues that the protagonists go through.  What makes you stay through the film is the message that is put across by the makers that it's okay to desire a lot in life but extreme greed doesn't take you anywhere.

Amitabh Bachchan as a greedy Mirza is all over the movie, he does a fine job but what lacked in his performance was, the overdone prosthetics that failed to show his expressions, his nose was predominately distracting.

If its an Ayushmann Khurrana films, the stakes are high, but with a script like this, there wasn't much for him to do other than fight with Mirza onscreen. There was a lot we expected and wanted to see. There wasn't anything to keep us engaged for two hours. He did his extreme best to pull off as the distressed Baankey.

Srishti Shrivastava's Guddo, as one of Baankey's sisters, does justice to her role in the film. Vijay Raaz and Brijendra Kala's comical, quick-witted act is commendable.

The lacklustre script keeps on grinding the same issue, and banter for two long hours, at one point you feel disconnected. The film could have been crisp and short. The dialogues too fail to pack a punch.

Only if you are a fan of Bachchan's work then Shoojit Sircar's 'Gulabo Sitabo' is your pick. Watch it for Ayushmann Khurrana's flawless performance. There is a lot of expectation from Shoojit Sircar looking at his body of work and films in the past. But there is a certain kind of disconnect with the masses. It lacks the touch we have had with Sircar's films.