Gulaabi

Gulaabi (2024) : Movie Review -

Abhyang Kuvakekar has done some pathetic services to feminist cinema lovers with his latest Marathi flick, Gulaabi. From the title, it gives vibes of a pinky affair like "Barbie," but in reality, it's even more outdated than the toy, and even those little girls wouldn't cuddle it. Gulaabi is a freaking boring film, and the second half makes it literally unbearable. I was praying to God, saying, "Dear, please finish this soon." And it wasn't just happening. Annoyingly boring would be a perfect word here. Moreover, it's neither pink nor blue with its girlie/feminist themes, so what's left to be watched there? Nothing.

The film is about three women: Madhura (Mrunal Kulkarni), Dr. Gauri Apte (Ashvini Bhave), and Riya (Shruti Marathe). Madhura is somewhat 30+ and is still single and therefore lonely and unhappy. Gauri is married to a doctor for 25 years and has a daughter and leaves for a Rajasthan trip to take a break from her job, which was earlier planned as her vacation to celebrate the 25th anniversary. Riya is an event planner and an overly modern girl who believes in dating a different guy every day with no commitments and the burden of marriage. Riya has to travel to Rajasthan for the recce of a pre-wedding. These three come together in Rajasthan and become friends, but it's only the beginning of a new journey where these three have many secrets to reveal from their personal lives.

Gulaabi is a badly written film with very outdated ideas. The screenplay makes it tedious and tiresome because there is nothing that can hold you for 2 hours. One has to keep his brain out to carry this affair for 2 hours, and at one point, you lose both brain and patience. No need to talk about the production value and framework because there ain't any. It's even more soapy than a daily soap. It's also very loud with its dialogue, which shouldn't be the case with any film. You have educated and smart characters, but they don't behave like it. Riya is an event planner but can't plan anything in her life. Madhura is a professor but has a lower IQ than any college student. Gauri is a doctor and behaves like an abnormal child with her decisions. That's not how you present smart and highly educated ladies of our society in movies. Rubbish!

Speaking of acting, not a single actor tried anything. Mrunal Kulkarni proves that she can look better and more beautiful than young girls even at this age, but the maturity of the character is missing. The dialogue delivery of all three actresses is terrible, and as mentioned above, it's a loud film, so it sounds horrible. Shruti has done better in the past, and this was even weaker than her daily soap performances. Ashvini Bhave has a legacy back from the 90s, but with roles and performances like this, she is letting her fans down. Suhas Joshi has nothing else at this age, so she is doing decently with such roles. Abhyang himself acts but fails just like its direction. The rest of the supporting fails too.

On the technical fronts also, Gulaabi is a poor film. The cinematography is substandard, as you can see the same top views of Jaipur's locations and side angles of the actors. The music is there only to add more to your boredom, and the background score is hardly noticeable. Abhyang Kuvakekar first writes a bad film and then makes it worse with his direction. The entire setup, characters, emotions, and their dialogue-all of it looks so fake and artificial that it seems like rough footage from a documentary and not a feature film. This kind of filmmaking was not acceptable even in the 80s; how can we have it in 2024? Simply unbelievable.

RATING - 3/10*

It is a story of three women. They all are well educated and financially independent. They have different family backgrounds, and different outlook towards life. Each one has her own problems with relationships. They meet at a tourist hotel. Some chance events and their support to each other helps them overcome their problems.

The film gives us message that caring about oneself is not being selfish, and getting out of a toxic relationship is a correct decision.

Photography is good and creates a fresh atmosphere. The actors are good. Most of them are well established actors. Music is not memorable.

Expectations was high because of these 3 ladies...story and subject is really good but movie is third class...direction of movie is third class.. sequence of scene is absolutely illogical..I don't understand why story writers and film makers confuse people about story...I am still unclear about Riya's love story...I think makers and actors should watch the movie properly before release...these people always speaks that the marathi movie don't get theaters...bhai aise movie banaoge to log aapko kese bardasht karenge...we likes marathi movies but please maintain Darja...and all the best for new director...