A cozy household setting on Prabhat Road takes you to a family where a mother and sister feel answerable for everything that happens, from kids to food to running the household. With a touch of nostalgia, Madhura hardly acknowledges her presence in her household. She lives with her mother (played by Suhas Joshi ) who is both lovable and sarcastic at times. Until her lovable brother Shishir ( Abhyangh Kuvalekar ) discovers something amiss with Madhura and books her on a trip to Jaipur. In an attempt to take unwanted thoughts off her mind and get her smiling and carefree again.
The character of Madhura is powerfully, sensitively yet with familiarity played by no other than Mrinal Kulkarni. Radhika Deshpande plays Neha, Madhura's sister with familiarity.
Parallel, another story about Gauri (Ashwini Bhave) a doctor leading a happy growing medical career, feels bouts of emptiness invisible and unacknowledged and a closed chapter of her life. The screen does light up when you see Ashwini Bhave playing the role of a doctor. Only, to lead to darker times in a trip which is to be. The reason for this is only revealed later in the film. Her daughter, played by debut Ruchi Jail, is quite convincingly portrayed. Gauri too is on her 25th anniversary trip to Jaipur with her husband (played by Shailesh Datar ).
An event planner and ever-bubbly Riya (played by Shruti Marathe) plans to go to Jaipur to plan a royal wedding. And the plot of her life takes serious turns in the Pink City. I loved Shruti Marathe's character, Riya. She played it with utter flamboyance and a heart-touching sensitivity.
But by small incidents hilariously put together in the story, all three women bump into one another in Pune. And then stay at the same hotel in Jaipur.
The story of the film Gulaabi revolves around friendship and relationships and is beautifully crafted in detail by the director Abhyangh Kuvalekar who also plays a character in the film.
Self-compassion by women who have reached the middle of their lives is beautifully depicted in the film. Their hesitation in decisions and emotional acknowledgment, and a tale of travel, makes them stronger. Guys doing a solo trip is indeed common, but women, taking time off and spending some time on self-analysis, are poignantly portrayed in many small emotional moments. These moments are not rushed and each character's life unfolds slowly with its maze of confusion and crying and acceptance of wisdom. While the other friends try to make sense of the confusion and bring some emotional solace to the other, Gulaabi is a story rich in emotional depth.
The film takes you on a visual treat of Jaipur with the drone shots and the Hawa Mahal. The cinematographer Salil Sahasrabuddhe has done well to elaborate on the essence of the city, and the by-lanes and the Sai-Piyush driving music push the setting of the film from mindfulness to a more energized chemistry of characters, enmeshed in their playfulness, sorrow, and explorations of their emotional depth. The art director Mahesh Kore has maintained a fine balance between traditional and modernity.
If you remember the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting where Robin Williams counseled an astray Matt Damon; Gulaabi too, will support you with its emotional tools to return to a normal or fuller life. I found Good Will Hunting entertaining, and supportive, and talking about health in broad terms. Which Gulaabi does too. I found the counselor's cameo quite a contributive. The cinema of Gulaabi with analysis throws confused circumstances, and the choices that these characters take or break so slowly are painted with such poignance and naked emotions, that the story is a familiar one, and the choices so many, that a person just halts their existence. Gulaabi asks you to keep moving. And enjoy positivity, love, and affection for all men in women in the middle of their lives. Tinder dating bold individuals is not always immoral and wasted.
Men too often fail to talk about their relationships, which is with compassion portrayed by the character Nikhil (played by Nikhil Arya.) Nikhil is also Riya's boss and he and Riya have been planning the Jaipur trip together. Subodh Bhave and Mughdha Godbole also provide support to the whole story. Pooja Purandare plays Shilpa, the beau of Gauris's husband.
The music of the film is peppy, soulful, and powerful by Sai-Piyush. Rahul Deshpande delivers soulfulness to the track Safar. Not to add the film is hilarious and highly entertaining with dialogues that will have you in splits. The dialogues are slick. Gulaabi is here to stay. There is a thin line between being preachy all over and actually drowning the message and showing events that matter and maybe suggesting a solution in a fleeting moment, which perhaps stays for eternity and Gulaabi succeeds in doing it beautifully. The only thing which I felt needed work is in two scenes. One of the characters just casually walks off the camera. Overall, the director Abhyangh Kuvalekar has provided food for thought and entertainment at a warm pace which is here to stay.
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Deepak Sinha is Editor-of-all-things at RAD TIMES and loves chatting stories and bringing out theatre and entertainment industry ideas for the youth and young theatre goers. Over the span of last 5 years he has reported on theatre in Pune, Mumbai, Delhi , Bengaluru and on the Broadway. Some of the newspapers he has contributed to are My Theatre Cafe, IBT TIMES ( Australian Edition as Entertainment Writer ), Loud applause. Some of the notable writers he has interviewed are Shanta Gokhale, Padmashree Ruskin Bond and Devdutt Pattanaik.
He organizes TEDxconferences and has been on the core team of TEDxPune for last 7 to 8 years handling community, conference curation and logistics.
In the world of modelling he has won local pageants like Phoenix Style Icon' 23 ( Runners Up Group C).
He represented Maharashtra-Mizoram at Mr. India Supranational 2023 and won a sub-title.
Very nicely articulated. Make me feel like to rush for the movie.