Gulabo Sitabo Analysis

Gulabo Sitabo

Directed by: Shoojit Sircar

Written by: Juhi Chaturvedi

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana

Exclusively on: Amazon Prime Video

The core of this film lies with the character of Mirza, played by Amitabh. He is an old man, who still has that greed for money. Mirza might seem like an unlikeable character, but I believe we all have a part of Mirza inside us which we are unwilling to admit. I felt bad for him when at the ending, he didn't want to do anything else because he has lost his purpose in his life. It's not entirely about the mansion and the money, it's also about something he lost which he plotted for his entire life. This film also talks about how people brought up in a certain socio-economic background can't somehow estimate what their worth could be, it's a question of their ambitions. He sells his antique sofa for 250/- at the end and when we know the actual worth of the sofa, it's utterly heartbreaking. Amitabh's performance was brilliant, it has similar arcs to the character he played in Piku; he is unlikeable till the ending and something inevitable happens to him at the ending which makes us forgive him. 

The milieu is captured very well, cinematographer Avik Mukhopadhyay lets the shadows stay, he doesn't fill them with lights all the time. There is a constant theme music playing, which sets the tone of the film and it's that of a breezy comedy drama. The physical drama is also captured very well with long takes, especially the scene where they announce that the tenants have to vacate the house and they fight over the cash, the drama is amplified with the use of sound and it being a long shot. It feels like we are watching the hussle happening from one of the nearby houses. Mirza not being able to stand properly, he picking himself up is a brilliant physical gesture which tells us two things; one about how determined Mirza is to get that mansion in spite of his physical inabilities and two it's also a funny take on how in spite of it reminding of his inevitable death, he isn't living his life and is running behind something which he can't take with him after he dies.