★ 8 / 10
Gulmohar" is a drama that thrives on the
Hemant S
"Gulmohar" is a drama that thrives on the more realistic elements and emotional wires that connect a family, and is refreshing in that aspect. There have been…
"Gulmohar" is a drama that thrives on the more realistic elements and emotional wires that connect a family, and is refreshing in that aspect.
There have been a few predecessors in the genre, specifically the more recent "Jug Jugg Jiyo" (2022) which was more of a comedy, tilting on more slapstick than the drama, "Dil Dhadakne Do" (2015), a more serious film but inclining on romance and songs, "Khosla Ka Ghosla!" (2006) one of the critically acclaimed entries adequately interspersed with humor and of course "Monsoon Wedding" (2001), that has been a field of inspiration for Rahul V. Chittela's full length feature debut.
"Gulmohar" does stand on its own strength. It all starts on a night when a joint family headed by a matriarch, Kusum (Sharmila Tagore) succeeded by her only son Arun (Manoj Bajpayee) celebrates a night to bid farewell to their haven of years, Gulmohar. Events roll down after in a natural flow, constructing the narrative of the film.
One of the few names that stood out starkly for me while the title credits rolled up was Siddhartha Khosla – who created music for the very emotive English series, "This Is Us". The film paces through quite smoothly and without wasting much time. Though it was a task to pin point and label the relationships right from the first scene, some deduction and guessing is plausible there. Khosla's music does indeed form an important bone in the narrative.
The key factor that drew me to watch "Gulmohar" was the amazing cast of actors that had been pulled together. Manoj Bajpayee, Sharmila Tagore, Amol Palekar, Suraj Sharma, Simran and even Vinod Nagpal in a brief but essential role. All from different generations in the industry of films and equally credible in their own domains, and I feel they deliver in their own parts.
Especially Manoj Bajpayee, who in my view shoulders a role that lends him a canvas to deliver intensity, subtle touches of humor, candidness and a few more notes in the spectrum. He shares a great on screen chemistry with Simran as a couple who have stuck by each other through happies and woes of marriage. Sharmila Tagore and Amol Palekar are still as good at the craft as they were in their heydays. And there is a wonderful sprinkling of new comers and rising actors in the ensemble including Kaveri Seth, Jatin Goswami, Utsavi Jha and Santhy Balachandran.
One might say Suraj Sharma was a bit too much in the background, especially after his dream debut in "Life Of Pi" (2012) and string of successful ventures, including the series "Homeland". Though I feel he still delivers a great act in a story that divides focus on a variety of characters in a limited time.
Through the movie, I did feel fear that the story would have picked parts of "This Is Us", and Chittela does draw inspiration (those who have seen "This Is Us" will recognize the familiar parts) but to his credit, he blends those inspirational moments naturally into a very Indian context and wins there big time.
It may or may not tug on your strings, but in the end it is a concise, well filmed and acted feature.
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★ 10 / 10
One of the greatest Bollywood films which has
Sayan M
One of the greatest Bollywood films which has no such like "Tadka Masala" and "Item songs", no action or bed scene, but it will bring you face to face with…
One of the greatest Bollywood films which has no such like "Tadka Masala" and "Item songs", no action or bed scene, but it will bring you face to face with reality, the pragmatic mirror of our modern society where we've no control over modernity but we're controlled by it.
Time changes everything, and we should adopt the changes with time, as they come out with every single character in this film, but it doesn't mean sacrificing basic human nature.
Hats off to this film.
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91%
TOMATOMETER
· 11 reviews
76%
AUDIENCE
7.6/10
6K
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