Gulabo Sitabo is making news in the Headlines and most of us must have already watched this movie by now, while munching on our favourite homemade snacks at the comfort of our home, is specifically, one of the inspirational movies with meaningful life lessons to learn from.
Set in Old Lucknow, ‘Gulabo Sitabo’s is a social satire on greed & a domestic drama that revolves around the lives of two men & their never-ending fight – Mirza (Amitabh Bachchan) – A grumpy old self-appointed guardian of Fatima Mahal (The Haveli) and a team of tenants grown wild, led by Baankey (Ayushman Khurana). A slowly decaying haveli in Lucknow is where much of the action plays out. Complicating matters further is a canny character (Raaz) who works for the archaeology department, an opportunist lawyer (Kala), Baankey’s family comprising of his mother and sisters, and most importantly Mirza’s cranky wife Fatima Begum (Jafar), who out-scowls him, and everyone else.
As they keep devising schemes to bring each other down, a bigger conflict arises and leaves them with crucial life lessons. The movie draws several incidences that primarily revolve around one’s greed and desires to have it all. The film’s portrayal of society is funny and hits us all with its moralistic theme & reflects upon important life lessons to swear by.
Life Lessons to Learn from Gulabo Sitabo
1. Greed can’t be graded
This movie is certainly based on an age-old moral story of greed. While greed is bad, it is the only thing constant in the hearts of all the characters in the movie except the main owner of the Fatima Palace – Fatima Begum (wife of Mirza). While she is enjoying the time of her life, trying new hairstyles, dying her hair, partying, her husband is busy finding ways to assure that he becomes the sole owner of the mansion and nothing interferes with his dream of having the love of his life. As the movie ends, no one gains anything and they all face their own fates of misery and shame. Greed leads to nowhere in the end!. Life always teaches a lesson. Mirza is rendered devoid of property, wife, haveli, money and friends at this fragile age of 78.
2. Command respect and not Demand it
Gulabo Sitabo Movie clearly depicts how one can command respect only by being empathetic towards others, respecting people and above all being caring towards his own immediate family. The movie gives a subtle message that does not make people respect you for money and material possessions but for your character and goodwill.
Mirza is a canny, pseudo owner of the Haveli, with the sole motive of mutating the property in his name after the death of Begum. No one including the tenants respects him due to his never-ending selfishness, drive for greed, carelessness towards his wife, love for material things & lack of empathy. Even when Begum, is unwell, he presumes her death and starts preparing for her death in anticipation of usurping the haveli.
3. Do not marry for money, marry for love & companionship. Love will find you back.
When choosing our partners in life, love & companionship shall be the lone reasons to get married. Mirza chooses to marry begum who was 17 years elder than him, blinded by her title and her asset. On contrary, Begum chose Mirza over her ex-lover Abdul Rahman for her love for Mirza. She was even abandoned by her orthodox relatives for marrying someone 17 years elder than her. She also put an end to her ambition of settling down in London with her ex-lover, as she decides to marry Mirza. She even continued to believe in Mirza, when Mirza decided not to bear children in this relationship, to be an undisputed claimant of Haveli. Whereas, Mirza, driven by his materialistic hunger, failed miserably as a good husband, a companion and caretaker, ultimately to spent the rest of his life alone without haveli, begum, friends and children.
While Begum, married for love and ultimately found her love and respect back as she remarries her ex-lover. The movie ends with Begum celebrating her birthday with her new husband with all the powerful people marking their presence at the most happening party in the town.
4. Never underestimate the power of women
The women in the film are determined and assertive, pointing out male inadequacies without a shred of trepidation or self-pity. Begum, a 95 years old lady is a strong character and enjoys her life. She belonged to a rich family of Nawabs in Lucknow. During her youth, she had affairs, had the audacity to marry someone who is 17 years younger and chose to live with her in her own house at that time when all of this was considered taboo and even resulted in a social boycott.
Begum, even at this old age is seen enjoying her life, colouring her hair, getting dressed, and even partying. She is the real owner of the Haveli and is seen bailing out her husband financially while asking him to not show his face for a few days. Begum, even outsmarts her husband when she senses him taking her fingerprints on the property documents. She is educated, aware of her rights like that of divorce and conscious of her surroundings. Her audacity is worth applauding as she elopes with her ex-lover, remarries him, and transfers the title of Haveli in her ex-lover’s name while stripping Mirza of all his rights on property and marriage by divorcing him at an age of 95.
5. Fight as a team and have a social support system
The film is a tragicomedy about two men who essentially want the same thing – the security and permanence of owning their homes – yet they fail to empathize with each other’s situation and in the end both lose, with not even a single new penny in their hands. Conversely, if all the tenants and Mirzas would have worked as a team for saving their mansion, life would have been much easier, if not the end result.
The movie, also hints to us, how having friends and family to fall back upon in unfavourable times is important for survival. Mirza fails to secure a social support system in the form of family and friends. While begum leaves him for some other person, he also was betrayed by his friend, who chooses to sell him to a real estate tycoon Mun-Mun Ji for some extra money. Mirza finally finds himself standing alone in the end.
6. Value your heritage and be grateful for what you have
Mirza is shown selling the Haveli antiques like the grandiose chandelier, old lamps, and rustic throne-like seat at throwaway prices to earn some minuscule amount for satiating his never-ending petty greed. While these items find a place in posh showrooms with expensive price tags only to be refurbished & resold to someone who respects art and heritage, Mirza is ripping his own haveli of the heritage he should be proud of. He is shown to be an ungrateful old man blatantly chasing his only aim of owning the haveli. He is as unhappy and ungrateful as one can be.
7. Communal harmony has always been an integral part of Indian society
The film also comes with the subtle but admirable message of communal harmony where people with different religions are interacting and coexisting together. The movie shows how Muslim owners have Hindu tenants, in the old city of Lucknow with frequent and subtle sounds of azaan and pooja in the backdrop. The movie also shows how a Christian lawyer, takes up the case of a Muslim landlord, and how the social interactions are taking place in our society without even a single mention incidence of religious differences. The diversity in our society, the peaceful coexistence of different religions and their integration is beautifully depicted and is one of the major life lessons to look out for.
8. Old and poor people are vulnerable strata of our society
The movie clearly demonstrates equally important evidence of how the Old and Poor people are vulnerable strata of our society and are frequently exploited & bullied by those who are rich, powerful and opportunists. Poor tenants are fighting against Mirza to secure their dwellings. And Mirza is fighting with everyone around to secure his property. One thing in all this is common- all of them are exploited by opportunists like the property lawyer, the archaeological survey of India officer, and the real estate tycoon. It can also be easily seen how sadness and desperation can easily breed due to old age and poor economic conditions. They need to be protected from exploitation and discrimination.
9. It is high time to revive the dying art forms like puppetry
The movie is named after the old folklore of two puppets- Gulabo Sitabo (Gulabo Sitabo Puppets), destined to be each other’s sworn enemy fighting over some invisible man (apparently Sitabo’s husband & Gulabo’s lover). The Gulabo Sitabo puppet Story dates back to the early 1950s, in the state of Uttar Pradesh when puppetry was one of the dominant sources of entertainment. (Read the full history of Gulabo Sitabo).
One of the initial scenes of the movie brings forth a reference to this interesting story through the most popular silver screen and reminds us to revive this dying art form by respecting and promoting practising puppeteers who are on the verge of extinction. I hope that this movie will ignite the audience’s interest in this beautiful & entertaining art and save it from fading into oblivion.
These are a few of the life lessons from the movie Gulabo Sitabo which really hit my mind with a strong impact. I am sure you must have your own takeaways and life lessons from the Gulabo Sitabo. Please share in your comments other life lessons which made a strong mark in your minds.
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