Coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown have surely changed a lot of things for the Bollywood film industry. Many filmmakers have decided to release their films digitally and the first major film to get a direct-to-digital release is Shoojit Sircar’s Gulabo Sitabo.
The movie starring Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana has started streaming on Amazon Prime Video today. It tells the story of Mirza (Amitabh Bachchan) whose wife Begum (Farrukh Jaffar) is an owner of an old mansion in Lucknow named Fatima Mahal.
Mirza is always fighting and arguing with one of the tenants Baankey (Ayushmann) as he only pays Rs 30 per month as the rent. While Mirza further decides to take the legal route to get the tenants out of the mansion, Baankey supports a government man from the archaeology department who promises that instead of the old mansion the tenants will get a house. Now, it’s Mirza vs Baankey, and this takes the story forward…
Writer Juhi Chaturvedi has surely come up with a good story, but well, she fails to write an engaging screenplay. The film starts off well and there are a few scenes in the first few minutes that will make you chuckle. But then, the movie totally goes haywire and the screenplay looks jumbled up.
Shoojit Sircar, who is known for making slice-of-life films, has done a decent job here with his narration. But with the not-so-great screenplay, even he cannot give a good film to the audiences. One of the best elements of the film is the cinematography done by Avik Mukhopadhyay. The essence of Lucknow has been captured beautifully.
Talking about performances, Amitabh Bachchan shines in the film. He is amazing, from the way he talks to the way he walks, the actor has nailed it as Mirza. Ayushmann Khurrana is good in his role and gets the lisp part very well. Srishti Shrivastava is excellent as Guddo and steals the show. Farrukh Jafar, Vijay Raaz, and Brijendra Kala are good in their respective roles.
Overall, Amitabh Bachchan is the saving grace of this Shoojit Sircar’s directorial. It’s an average film and it is Big B’s performance that takes it a notch higher.
Ratings: 2.5/5
Watch the trailer here…
