This Amazon Prime released Shoojit Sircar movie is a visual treat with its old Lucknow visuals, complemented by its witty dialogue by writer Juhi Chaturvedi. This Quixotic comedy is not to be missed.
Muzaffar Ali’s classic featuring Rekha as Umrao Jaan was set in Lucknow
There was an era in Hindi Cinema when directors were celebrating the decadence of erstwhile Lucknow, as in Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan, and its declanation in Ray’s classic Shatranj Ke Khiladi, or other classics such as Gaman or Junoon. No surprise there, as the primary language of this cinema being Urdu or Hindi there was a wealth of literature these parallel cinema filmmakers, as they called, could explore.
But as the 80s and 90s dawned and the onus shifted from content to entertainment, filmmakers settled for characters settled for a pan Indian underdog character that sang and danced through the movie till in the end his morality reaches its zenith and he settles the scores with the goons with some dishoom dishoom. So song, dance, clapworthy punchlines followed by punches if that is not rich content what is!
But with the digital age and a learned audience, the demand for diverse content has renewed. And it is no wonder that movie makers are looking at India’s hinterland for their stories, especially in Uttar Pradesh.
And so here are the titular Gulabo Sitabo, the two metaphorical puppets who think they are writing their own stories unaware of a larger system pulling the strings from behind. They live in the shadow of a once glorious civilisation for which they have neither a reverence nor anger. Like most others, they just want to make do.
Amitabh Bachchan’s Chunnan Mirza Nawab cares for neither of those titles which were most likely bestowed on him for free with his marriage to his once-rich now-ailing begum. Instead he is the termite that is slowly corroding the grand Fatima Mahal by selling its invaluable antiques for a throwaway price.
But this termite is countered by a leech in the form of Ayushman Khurana’s Baankey Rastogi who has been dodged the meagre thirty rupees rent since last seventy years, (Since, Baankey seems young we must assume this skill is inherited). This cat and mouse drama could only get interesting with the entrance of a dog, or two, an archaeologist and a lawyer, who are quick to detect ignorance and profit.
Amitabh Bachchan has always been a great performer carving a niche with his subtlety even in the loud Eastman-era of Hindi Cinema. No wonder in such a nuanced character he shines, adopting the mannerisms of the shaky, aging Mirza with ease. If Mirza stands for old dying Lucknow, Ayushman also adapts to the clueless Baankey Rastogi who has clue about the world beyond his home and his flour mill.
This movie helmed by director Shoojit Sircar films shines as much through its signature cinematography as it does with Scriptwriter Juhi Chaturvedi’s dialogues, who seamlessly weaves humour into this existential tragedy. Shoojit Sircar who has a diverse set of cinema in his oeuvre ranging from the war drama Yahaan to the hauntingly beautiful October, has been a consistently incredible storyteller throughout.
It is a look at India on the periphery where people have not caught up with the world (anyone is hardly seen using a cellphone, which these days clearly is a necessity more than a luxury,) and end up being tossed around by bureaucracy. Ultimately, the crumbling mansion becomes a metaphor which reveals itself as the unmanageable juggernaut that India has become where even people who claim to love her, would sell her for meagre profits, and leave her for greener pastures.
Released digitally on Amazon Prime this comedy is not be missed.
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