And the gender inversion of Uttar Pradesh’s Gulabo-Sitabo puppetry tradition is one of many unobtrusive ways in which this one-of-a-kind film cocks a snook at convention. The music is as mischievous and thoughtful by turns as the story itself. Irrespective of which one your mind turns to, Gulabo Sitabo is gloriously entertaining, folksy fun, not the least so because of the prominence accorded to Amma played with panache by the octogenarian actor Farrukh Jafar, the attention to detail in the writing of an array of eccentric supporting characters, and the richness of the language used.Ĭinematographer Avik Mukhopadhayay’s shots of Amma’s haveli are a thing of beauty. The protagonists’ battle over a piece of property while displaying no affection for Amma, the woman to whom it belongs, is open to multiple interpretations. Gulabo Sitabo's irritable, warring male leadsĪmitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana star as Lucknowis warring over a decaying haveli in director Shoojit Sircar’s philosophically inclined Gulabo Sitabo written by his regular collaborator, Juhi Chaturvedi. Visually spectacular in scenes where Saxena is airborne, with some lovely music to boot, Gunjan Saxena is inspiring and uplifting. Not surprisingly, when it was released on Netflix in August, the film earned the IAF’s wrath for its portrayal of prejudice within the Force. It scores with its honesty about Saxena’s reason for choosing her profession, its matter-of-fact approach to the IAF rather than canonisation as is the wont of most Hindi war films and its refusal to translate patriotism into ugliness or loudness in keeping with the current establishment-backed dominant public discourse. Written by Nikhil Mehrotra, Sharma himself and Hussain Dalal (who is credited with additional dialogues), Gunjan Saxena is surprisingly low-key for a film about the defence services and an actual recent war. Janhvi Kapoor plays the titular protagonist who is passionate about flying, joins the Indian Air Force (IAF) and stays the course in the face of morale-crushing patriarchy and humiliation.
A biographical account of a pioneering Indian combat aviator, first-time director Sharan Sharma’s Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl does what few Hindi films have done before: it examines the social conditioning and pressure that influence women’s career choices, casual misogyny in daily life and extreme misogyny at workplaces. Janhvi Kapoor plays the titular heroine seen here with her father (Pankaj Tripathi) in Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil GirlĪnother debutant delivers. Saumyananda Sahi’s brilliant cinematography and Bigyna Bhushan Dahal’s true-to-life sound design complement each other in Eeb Allay Ooo! to capture a Delhi of cringe-worthy contrasts, with imposing buildings housing the powerful elite of the capital, secluded residential areas inhabited by society’s upper crust and noisy, congested, decrepit back alleys occupied by those like our hero who keep the homes and workplaces of the privileged running and safe.Įeb Allay Ooo! feels as real as if it were a reality show or a documentary feature. The film is a blistering commentary on the Big City’s use-and-throw attitude to poor migrant workers who are treated as expendables although their services are indispensable. Their work is challenging and dangerous since on the one hand the beasts could turn violent, while on the other hand their every move is watched by both animal rights activists and religious folk.Įeb Allay Ooo! ’s title is drawn from the sounds the protagonist (Shardul Bhardwaj) is taught to make by his mentor to scare away these primates. Vats tells a story – written by Shubham – of Lutyens’ Delhi’s ‘monkey chasers’ whose job it is to ensure that the simians do not harass bureaucrats and politicians. Shardul Bhardwaj in a still from Eeb Allay Ooo! | FacebookĪfter creating waves on the festival circuit in India and abroad in 2019-20, debutant director Prateek Vats’ poignant Eeb Allay Ooo! came to theatres here in December 2020.