Gulmohar

Gulmohar is a drama film directed by rahul v chittella.

Manoj bajpayee and sharmila tagore are the souls of this film. The chemistry and the acting crescendos that happen between the duo is marvellous. So much of these two legends are still untapped, i feel. Simran as arun's wife plays the mediator wonderfully. Stuff has hit the fan and she is the calmest and subtlest of all. The rest of the characters in their roles are perfect.

This film gets the relationships and its complexities on point. When a major conflict is discovered, all the relationships are put to a test. Arun, on his hurtful resentments with his mom ends with a heartfelt closure. But not every relationship gets a closure is the major crux. Arun and his son's conflict is still unsolved yet they choose to be together and have fun. The love between the cook and guard was the best executed. How one's illiteracy and unworthy of someone can fuel jealousy and futile ego is brilliantly shed light upon, without villainizing them. The lesbian angle is touched on the surface though. It required more depth.

The cinematography is outstanding. The use of natural light and light yellow hue provides warmth. The music is soulful and artistic. The use of bgm is minimal.

The screenplay thought engaging lacks pace and sometimes warmth too. The angle of adi's startup feels overwrought and tiring. Similarly, arun's mom's flashback portions is also half-hearted. Needed better writing.

This is a wonderful film which has a lot of warmth and good vibes. You will surely love it.

Gulmohar focuses on dysfunctional family's last four days in their home before they shirt permanently to their new homes and lives respectively. Hidden truth, insecurities make their way out as the family members try hard to keep it together. It indeed is a touching concept to dwell into a family's attachment to the house they grew up in. Gulmohar has several endearing characters and their internal conflicts highly relatable.

The short coming is how much it relies on dialogues to convey the emotions, to an extent they tend to touch the surface of several conflicts. It is indeed the Veteran actors who effortlessly get into the skin of these characters and elevate each of these scenes. One wishes the conflict point within the family with respect to the written will was much stronger, especially the final conversation between Sharmila Tagore and Amol Palekar.

I am going with the extra rating solely for the reveal in the end about Pondicherry. Otherwise I definitely wished the conversation between Sharmila Tagore and her grand daughter to be more real. But the attempt to make the flashback more emotional, it limits itself in handling the sensitive moment. The screenplay has it's flaws but the lovable characters turn this into a decent watch.

Gulmohar is a beautiful film. An emotional family drama with some lovely performances and dialogues. It's truly a delight to watch Manoj Bajpayee, Sharmila Tagore and Amol Palekar together in one film.

Bajpayee keeps reminding us that he is one of the best we have. Such a moving performance. Outstanding! It was a pleasure watching Sharmila on screen after a long time and she is excellent. In fact she along with Bajpayee pretty much stole the scene. It is a delight to watch Amol Palekar even while playing a grey role in this one. We have hardly seen Simran Bagga in Hindi cinema and she is so good. All the other actors including Suraj Sharma are fine too.

Overall this one is a must watch especially if you crave quality family dramas. Rajiv Chittella makes an assured debut as a director.

Gulmohar The last 4 days of the Batra family as they move out from their home of many years and shift to another city.

While they are staying in a single house there are differences and friction with many of them not in talking terms.

As the movie starts with a party you are immediately engrossed in whats happening in the family as you get to know each of the characters and their secrets as it unfolds.

Debutant director Rahul has a good mix of stalwarts and fresh starcast who do an excellent job in elevating the movie.

Manoj - He is the soul of Gulmohar. He brings multiple nuances to the character with eye to details which is a treat to to watch. His connect with his biological father, his bonding with his wife simran, his connect with his mom, his stained relationship with his son. Manoj is in full form. Watch him try to stop a fight between his watchman and supervisor and in the end hitting the watchman, thats superb acting. Also the scene in the end here he embraces his mom waiting with open arms will make you cry.

Sharmila - A comback after many years, she gives everything to the role. She is superb.

Simran - She was the surprise package with a towering performance. A sthe person who holds the family together she is great. Her scenes with manoj are scene stealer. Hope she gets to do more of similar strong roles.

There are some more stand out performances worth mentioning: Suraj Sharma stands out in his role.

Jetendra as the watchman Reshma as the house help.

Manoj Bajpayee in an interview said that he is very proud of this movie and I can attest to the fact that this is a wonderful movie with beautiful performances, music and vibes.

If you are craving for a movie that's somewhat thematically similar to Kapoor & Sons or Monsoon Wedding, this would fit right in there and yet Gulmohar creates its own space for itself though it's not new.

I loved the performances by every cast member and it felt natural. The music was amazing and it elevated the scenes and the emotions that were being portrayed.

It's not a perfect movie. There are some elements which feel they were not necessary to the screenplay or maybe seemed a bit forced to attract the Gen-Z audience to Disney+ Hotstar especially the storylines with the 2 Batra kids. But Suraj and Utsavi acted well.

I first thought this could be some psychological thriller looking at the poster but it was actually a emotionally heavy feel good movie. I would definitely recommend to watch this film!