At the centre of Shoojit Sircar's Gulabo Sitabo is Fatima Begum, the owner of the dilapidated haveli that becomes the bone of contention between Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana's characters. Though marketed as a film about a landlord and his tenant at loggerheads, the script cleverly puts the spotlight on its 86-year-old leading lady Farrukh Jafar. You should take the hint when her name appears before Bachchan's in the credits.

Locked in her Lucknow home since March, Jafar isn't oblivious to the praise coming her way. Tell her she is hailed as the new rockstar, and she admits, "I had not expected so much love. I have been working actively for decades. But it's only recently that strong roles are being written for actors of diverse cultures and age groups. It's up to the director and writer to utilise the actors effectively. Shoojit Sircar and Juhi Chaturvedi make Begum triumph."