This Puppet Show is worth watching

Movie: Gulabo Sitabo

Cast: Amitabh Bachhcan, Ayushman Khurrana, Vijay Raaz, Farrukh Jafar, Shrishti Shrivastava

Rating: 3.5/5

"Sometimes to earn pennies, people tend to miss out on a fortune"

The movie starts with a shot of the once-famous ancient puppetry art form from UP - Gulabo Sitabo. Here Gulabo is a man's mistress while Sitabo is his wife, and both of them are always at war.

The movie then introduces us to the miser and greedy Mirza (Amitabh Bachchan) who is trying to earn pennies in any way possible and Baankey (Ayushman Khurrana) who is Mirza’s tenant for a very long time and has no intention of leaving the house ever. They both live in Fatima Mahal which belongs to Mirza’s wife Begum and is over a 100-year old mansion. Fatima Mahal represents the state of the historical buildings in a historically rich city like Lucknow. It also represents the decay of the Gulabo Sitabo art form and how it is slowly becoming a part of the past which will be forgotten soon.

The story then moves along with Mirza and Baankey trying to outwit each other in every way possible. Mirza wants to own the mansion and is waiting for his wife to die while Baankey is finding ways to evade rent and continue staying in the mansion with his family.

The greed of both of them to stake claim to the mansion shows the dark side of humans where they fall to any level to stake a claim on something that is not their own.

The cursing and fighting between Baankey and Mirza is beautifully executed without any cheap language or vulgar dialogues. Their exchanges are filled with the local Hindi dialect of Lucknow. The dialogues exchanged between them are very well written and perfectly executed by the two tremendously talented actors.

To earn immense money at one go, Mirza starts making plans to sell the mansion to a builder, through a lawyer Christopher . On the other hand, Baankey attempts to save his place in the mansion by making a deal with an Archeologist Gyanesh (Vijay Raaz), who tries to lure the tenants with false promises.

As the fight progresses, it is shown that Baankey (Gulabo) and Mirza (Sitabo) are just puppets who are being controlled by Gyanesh and Christopher respectively.

Parallelly the city of Lucknow is wonderfully captured in its grandeur and decay. Even the story of Asaf ud Daula (the creator of the city of Lucknow) is quoted to inspire the other tenants to fight for their right to stay put in Fatima Mahal.

Fatima begum (Farrukh Jafar) is shown as the only person who is truly connected emotionally to the mansion which was gifted to her by her father. It shows how the mansion is "Priceless" ( as quoted by Gyanesh) for her.

In a playful scene, Begum mocks Mirza's failed attempts to own the mansion by flashing her bandaged fingers.

The director gives us a unique satire with the backdrop of the old city of Lucknow. He immerses us into the world of Fatima Mahal with some beautifully shot scenes inside the sprawling mansion. But he does under-utilize Ayushman Khurana's character which lacks depth.

The screenplay by Juhi Chaturvedi perfectly sets up the movie for the climax with some wonderfully colorful personas. She creates a beautiful character out of the decaying grand mansion - Fatima Mahal.

The brand of comedy is unique, witty and works for the story. But in pursuit of giving us a satisfying climax, her screenplay falters and we experience minutes of uneasy chaos on the screen to wrap up the movie.

The cinematographer (Abhik Mukhopadhyay) is the real winner of the movie. He captures the beautiful old city of Lucknow and its bylanes and makes it a vital part of the story. Strikingly, he tends to use two-point perspective shots to capture the scenes of the movie . This is crucially visible whenever he frames the characters moving in the upper floor lobbies of Fatima Mahal, and the shot emphasizes the presence of the massive Fatima Mahal. Even in a scene where Mirza is seen walking with a balloon in his hand through the typical Lucknawi archway, the shot acquires its finesse from a two point perspective.

The overall performance by the acting ensemble is solid. Amitabh Bachchan gives a very memorable performance as the irritating and despicable Mirza, and he is perfectly complemented by the performance of Ayushman Khurana. Ayushman perfectly masters the lisping and effortlessly blends into the character of Baankey. As always, Vijay Raaz and Farrukh Jafar give powerful acts. Srishti Shrivastava (who we noticed in TVF series Girls Hostel) turns to be the surprise package as she gives a superb performance as the fierce and strong Guddo.

The movie shows us how greed blinds people to such an extent that they begin fighting for something that is not theirs, and in the process end up losing everything. The last scene beautifully captures how people miss out on the bigger picture to earn small gains.