Comedy satire has great performances, but doesn’t get out of cruise control

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Vijay Raaz, Brijendra Kala, Shrishti Shrivastava Director: Shoojit Sircar

GULABO SITABO became the first major Bollywood film to be released straight onto a streaming site and recently had a world premiere on Amazon Prime.

The latest offering from the acclaimed team of director Shoojit Sircar and Juhi Chaturvedi is a comedy satire that is set in an old Lucknow mansion.

Amitabh Bachchan plays a bad-tempered landlord in a constant battle with his tenant, played by Ayushmann Khurrana, who is not willing to vacate the property.

What follows is essentially a story of struggling individuals trying to make the best of what they have and finding themselves battling outside forces.

What starts off as an interesting premise has witty one-liners and engaging performances from the entire cast, but you soon realise it isn’t really going anywhere and is just a gentle ride that won’t offer up any surprises.

Bachchan delivers a great performance, but is so unrecognisable in his make-up that he becomes disconnected from audiences, and now after a few films of doing it, Khurrana’s bad-tempered everyday man has a seen-it-before quality.

Both lead characters become greater than the story and while this has worked before, it doesn’t help Gulabo Sitabo. The movie comes across as a lightweight version of better films on a similar subject.

Fans of the lead stars will take away most from this film, while others are likely to get distracted as it plays in the background. Watch this film with lowered expectations and don’t expect it to come anywhere close to Sircar’s brilliant Piku or even recent winning releases starring Khurrana.