Why Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann’s ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ has everyone talking

Director Shoojit Sircar’s star-studded film ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana, will release directly on streaming platform Amazon Prime Video on June 12 instead of waiting for cinemas to re-open in India following the coronavirus outbreak.

Sircar’s new film is the first major Bollywood film to opt for a straight-to-digital release. “Digital medium is here to stay ... Now it’s a matter of adaptability and survival in a situation like this. India has been in a lockdown for more than 65 days now and you don’t know where this lockdown and pandemic is going to take us. Things are uncertain and are not going as per plan. I just want to move on,” said Sircar in an interview with Gulf News. Here are nine things to know about his new slice-of-life drama …

1. Director Shoojit Sircar’s latest film ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ will see two powerhouse talents in Bollywood unite for the first time in their prolific careers. Actor Ayushmann Khurrana and Amitabh Bachchan will play warring tenant and landlord, respectively, based in Old Lucknow. But their playful banter and petty rivalry as seen in the trailer isn’t the sole driving force of the film, Sircar said. “The film is beyond the warring neighbours scenario … My films are never plot-driven. It’s more about the experience of what you go through. I want you to immerse yourself is the world of ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ … It’s a different world from what you saw in ‘Piku’. Here the two come from an economically down strata and they are struggling in their lives. You will see many characters like them in the old city of Lucknow,” said Sircar.

2. ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ is one of the first star-fuelled films to opt for a straight-to-digital release on Amazon Prime Video since the coronavirus outbreak spurred cinema halls to shut down as a public safety measure. According to the Indian National Award-winning director, releasing films on digital platforms is his new reality and was spurred by their current reality facing the entertainment world post COVID-19. “I do only one film at a time and there are a lot of crew members and technicians who depend on me … Since I don’t do multiple films at a time, I need to move on and do my next film … it’s not that I didn’t want to releases it in the theatres. I did, but we could not release and I am now happy to experiment with Amazon,” said Sircar. He is thrilled that his digital debut will have a wider reach. “At 200 countries will be watching my film at the same time … So it’s a huge relief in terms of reach,” he added.

3. The title of the film was inspired by a puppet show in Uttar Pradesh that featured two puppets named Gulabo and Sitabo and how those two rival puppets trade insults. Sircar believes that the title is a ‘metaphor for his story’.

4. Bachchan took at least two hours a day to get into the look of his quirky character. The actor shared a picture of him getting a quick touch up on his prosthetic make-up, along with a fun fact on his Instagram. “The space between the eyebrows is called what? Did you know? It’s called GLABELLA!!”

5. While many may consider the on-screen union of Bachchan and Khurrana a casting coup, Sircar is more pragmatic about it. For him, he always casts actors depending on his characters. “My brief to both actors at every given point was that I shouldn’t recognise Amitabh or Ayushmann, I should only see their character … it’s not the celebrity that you should be looking for in my films. Even for my films like ‘Piku’ and ‘October’, I didn’t look at them as Amitahbh or Varun Dhawan, I wanted them to play my characters,” said Sircar.

6. Sircar is one of the few directors who writes strong roles for older actors, who are usually under-represented in Bollywood films. “Those are my observations. I have lived with a lot of older people in my own life and that’s one of the reasons why my characters in films like ‘Piku’ [were] so relatable. The ‘biji’ granny character in ‘Vicky Donor’ is still loved because in my eyes even the older characters are important and I want them to be contemporary and interesting … The characters that you see are real-life characters that I pick up,” said Sircar.

7. Sircar found re-creating the lower middle-class milieu of Uttar Pradesh challenging. “‘Gulabo Sitabo’ is about two residents in an old city of Lucknow and what happens in their general lives. We explore what they want from life and their dreams. I want you to experience that world … it’s very difficult because you have to go into the minutest details — their language, their backgrounds, the colour of their clothes … It is tiresome at some point to be absolutely authentic. But that tiresome creative process gives me joy,” said Sircar.

8. Sircar is one of the most respected directors in Bollywood. His career catalogue is filled with gems like ‘Piku’ and ‘Vicky Donor’, which was Khurrana’s first Hindi film. But it’s Varun Dhawan’s ‘October’ that holds a special place in his heart. “For me ‘October’ is my biggest success … Lots of people have gone back and re-visited the film during this lockdown. Many did not get the film during the [first] watch, but now my social media is full of comments on ‘October’ and ‘Piku’. In terms of business, ‘October’ did more business that any other film because of its low budget … But my job as a director is not give into what the box office collections are,” said Sircar. He compares his films to food. “Like food, not everyone needs to like it. You can’t make a film to everyone’s tastes. I don’t mind if people don’t like my film,” said Sircar.

9. Prior to the release of ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, its writer Juhi Chaturvedi was rocked by a plagiarism scandal, a charge denied by the team. Akira Agarwal, the son of writer late Rajeev Agarwal, claimed that the story of ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ was culled from the story that he had submitted for a contest known as ‘Cinestaan India’s Storyteller Script Contest’. Chaturvedi was one of the judges. Agarwal claims it’s his story. “My conscience is clear and so are the facts in this matter. ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ is my original work and I am proud of it. I shared the idea with the director and lead actor of the film in early 2017. I subsequently registered the concept note for the film in May 2018. I also must clarify the speculations around my conduct as a jury member for Cinestaan’s contest. I had no access to the so-called infringed script at any point in time, as alleged. This fact has been independently confirmed by Cinestaan as well … I stand by my truth,” said Chaturvedi in a statement.”