We all remember Anurag Basu's last outing. Named "Kites", the movie created colossal hype, only to be torn to bits at the BO. But this time, Basu has struck gold with 'Barfi!', starring Ranbir Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz, Priyanka Chopra and several others.
Set in a timeline shifting from 1972 to today, Barfi! is the story of deaf-and-mute Murphy aka Barfi, a jolly resident of Darjeeling, who lives a trouble-free life, until Shruthi and Jhilmill come into his life, and create a sea of change. The movie is Barfi's journey through various stages of romance, and how he manages to spread love and joy to everyone around him, till his end.
The movie, has been well scripted, and the screenplay is classic - a perfect family entertainer, which is supported greatly by neat cinematography (Ravi Verman), and exceptional music(Pritam). The only major drawback of the movie, is it's length, which tends to give you the drag feeling now and then, but what makes us look over this minus, and perhaps what makes this whole movie so worth a watch are it's performances. The life of this movie, is it's performances, and each and every member of the cast - right from the lead ensemble, to the character roles, have excelled in their roles.
Ranbir Kapoor, is perhaps the most bankable star amidst the next-gen actors of Bollywood. Movie after movie, he simply keeps getting better. If he stunned us with 'Rockstar', he manages to tug our hearts with 'Barfi!'. Priyanka Chopra, is simply wonderful in her portrayal of the autistic Jhilmill. Tollywood bombshell Ileana D'Cruz, has also pulled off an amazing performance, and special mention to the costume designers(Aki Narula, Shefalina), the art direction team for taking us back to the 70s, and the make-up unit. I swear, I haven't seen such a beautiful heroine on screen, for days, and it's proof enough that going glam isn't the only way to knock men audience off their feet. Veteran Saurabh Shukla as the comical inspector Dutta pulls off a beautiful performance, and so do Aashish Vidyarthi, Haradhan Bandhopadhyay, and the rest of the crew.
Anurag Basu has made a neat, heart-warming story, which seems to be a sure success, but we know of his tryst with Hollywood which pops up all around the movie. Since the hero of this movie, is literally silent, you tend to see a lot of slapstick Charlie Chaplin here and there, (but I guess that cliche can be overlooked), and a scene has been lifted directly off Nick Cassavetes' 'The Notebook'. But ignoring all that, Basu has delivered a cute, feel-good movie, that will leave you walking out of theaters probably with no regret. Watch it, especially for performances.
Aditya Baskaran
I loved the film inspite of the various plagiarism attacks and other stuff. The songs were good and Pritam had done a good job. I thought Priyanka was smashing than Ranbir.
ReplyDeleteJoy always,
Susan
Priyanka was so moving, in this film, that it took me a second to recognize Priyanka, in a glam avatar, for an ad. Ranbir was no less, though. While it was a good film, it has ideas, and even direct lifts, drawn from other movies.
ReplyDeleteRanbir just had to keep quiet and emote - not something great but Chopra had to somehow become an autistic individual.
ReplyDeleteAnd the plagiarism attacks failed to qualify this film for Oscar. Shame but still a good attempt. Where will India be without copying and all.
Now that is a bit too harsh. Lagaan, a rather original product, got nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. India did manage to make such wonderful films. Barfi's qualification, is a decision that is still under criticism, and will always remain to be.
ReplyDelete