When I first saw the teaser of Gulabo Sitabo, I had developed a sort of retraction for the movie and I can't explain why or what?
Maybe it was Amitabh Bachchan's over the top prosthetic make-up or a touch of repetition in Ayushman Khurana's performance, I somehow did not have a positive vibe.
When I was asked if I would watch the movie on Amazon Prime on June 12, I seriously had no excitement, which is unlike for a Shoojit Sircar movie.
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Gulabo Sitabo derives its theme from a popular roadside puppetry show of the same name, whose origin can be traced back to early 17th century erstwhile Allahabad.
Gulabo and Sitabo are traditional glove puppet theatre from Uttar Pradesh where Sitabo, is the worn out, overworked spouse and Gulabo is the scintillating mistress of the same man.
They both desires for the same thing, in their quest to achieve it they often find themselves in conflict situations. In the end, however, both are left empty-handed.
With Amitabh Bachchan representing Gulabo's character and Ayushman Khurana representing Sitabo's, this Shoojit Sircar directorial ends up as a confused tale of sorts.
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The stars of the movie, according to me, are Vijay Raaz and Brijendra Kala and they are brilliant in every frame.
They get into their characters with ease and brings out the best of it, which, however, was lacking in Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushman Khurana's performance.
Raaz and Kala show us that one needs to perform a character and not act it out.
Gulabo Sitabo is excruciatingly long and few scenes and dialogues could have been easily edited out.
The poor suffers, the rich enjoy and the middle-men always manage to extract honey from both the rich and the poor.
This, in sort, is everything about Gulabo Sitabo and the message has been indeed well expressed but only after several failed attempts.
Bachchan stealing a bulb in the first scene and telling Ayushman Khurana of selling an antique chair for Rs 250, which was later shown to be price at $1800, are two scenes that define the movie in a nutshell.
For Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushman Khurana fans, sadly Gulabo Sitabo has nothing to offer much.
The movie is all about the supporting casts, who turn out to be the best performers instead of the two prominent lead actors.
Partha Prawal (Goswami) is a Guwahati-based journalist who loves to write about entertainment, sports, and social and civic issues among others. He is also a published author.