Movie: Gulmohar
Stream on: Disney Plus Hotstar
Release date: March 3, 2023
Form: Manoj Bajpayee, Sharmila Tagore, Amol Palekar, Simran, Suraj Sharma, Utsavi Jha, Santhy Balachandran And Kaveri Seth
Director: Rahul V. Chittella
Gulmohar was released digitally on Disney+Hotstar on March 3, 2023, and if you’re looking for an answer to what to watch this weekend, you may have just found one. Directed by debutante Rahul V. Chittella, the web movie revolves around a family in Delhi called the Batras. Although they look like the typical affluent family on the outside, they all have secrets from the past. Even though they have managed to hide their fears, anxiety and insecurities, a turn of events in their lives exposes all the trauma. The film lasts four days in which the family has to leave their parental home of 34 years. The opening lines in Sharmila Tagore’s trailer ‘jahan hum paida hote hain, jahan hum palte hain woh shayad naseeb ki baat ho sakti hai. Lekin hum jahan bante hain uski lakeerein hum khud kheenchte hain’, pretty much sets the tone for what the story is about. Add to that Manoj Bajpayee’s ‘Iss ghar mein sab saath the, ab sab bikhar rahe hian. Sab yaad toh rakhenge?’ and you know where you stand in 2 hours 11 minutes from Gulmohar. Check out the Gulmohar review below.
Watch the Gulmohar trailer video here:
Involved story
Gulmohar is intricately woven around the ties within a family and the different baggage they carry. Good, bad and ugly, families see it all throughout their lives and the well-written script does justice to bring out the different emotions in Gulmohar. The story is captivating and the cinematography makes it too intimate allowing you to become a part of the Batra family and the good and bad times they go through. Like the Gulmohar Tree, whose shallow roots make the plant vulnerable to high winds and storms, Gulmohar tells the story of characters divided by generations and ideas, and how they are shaken as the past comes to seek them.
Recognizable characters
You could see yourself or someone you know well in at least one of the characters. The various fears, frustrations and feelings passed on by each of the family members are as close to reality as possible and that makes the story and characters strike a chord right from the first few frames themselves.
Appropriate cast and performances
Assembling an ensemble cast that is also one where there are not one but four loyal members and have younger, lesser-known faces share screen space with them is no easy feat. One of the many challenges is to give everyone enough screen time to grow on the audience so that the viewers know who they really are and feel what they are going through. And Gulmohar gets the dynamics perfectly in order. It brings together people like Sharmila Tagore, Manoj Bajpayee, Simran and Amol Palekar along with younger actors like Suraj Sharma, Utsavi Jha, Santhy Balachandran, Kaveri Seth among others and yet does justice to all these characters. Sharmila and Manoj as mother and son who disagree more than agree are a joy to watch. Their range of emotions as their lives change forever after discovering a devastating truth is one of the highlights.
Nothing forced
Gulmohar could very well have been a series as you never get tired of watching the Batras go through life’s sharp twists and turns. Speaking of the length of the film, the script is tight and even as the family fluctuates between the mistakes of the past and the consequences of the present, there is no unwanted drama. The reactions you would see are real and relatable, leaving no room for unnecessary forced situations or scenes.
BL verdict: At a time when large, thriving families have been replaced by neutral families or the now-popular DINK (dual income, no child) couples, Gulmohar emphasizes the importance of family and how closeness to loved ones can solve much of today’s stress. and age. We highly recommend putting this wonderful family entertainer on your must-watch OTT viewing list this first weekend in March 2023. I’m going with 4 stars.
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