Barfi!

I was not actually very keen to watch Barfi. The trailers intrigued me enough to go for it but till the last time I was unsure if it would be any good. And then on a boring Friday I found myself waiting in queue for a 3.05PM show. And I do not regret my decision.

Story/Theme: I'm not sure how to tell the story without giving anything. Let me then take the help of IMDb here.

Three young people learn that love can neither be defined nor contained by society's norms of normal and abnormal

Actually, giving any more would spoil the movie for you.

Character Development:Once in a while there comes a movie which consists of characters not stars. But, it takes a master to make his puppets grow in the short span of 2hrs and 33mins and make people feel the change. Barfi is such a movie where you could observe the characters changing with time, maturing, being tolerant to each other with passing time. Though Barfi is the central character of the movie still, Jhilmil, Shruti and Inspector are well crafted and given ample scope to go through changes. Anurag basu gets full marks from me here.

Direction: Day by day directors are understanding the value of freedom and Anurag Basu once again proved that. Even though having powerful stars and big banner for his last movie Kites various restrictions took away the artistic freedom from him and we got a flop movie. This time he showed what a master director he is. Look at the character of Barfi. How beautifully its crafted. His mannerisms, gestures, postures all are shot with utmost care. Then take Jhilmil's character. An autistic girl. Who gets tangled in the Barfi's life. They fall in love and discover love in their own way. It had the risk of being a "Koshish" anyday. A lucrative trap for making a tearjerker, emotional serious drama but Anurag Basu took the risk of walking on rope here. He subtly showed the pain of the characters through comedy. And there he wins hands down. Then there is Shruti and confused normal person. Who gets lost in the world of few 'abnormal' persons and never survived fully. And, hats off for choosing Saurav Shukla as Inspector. He's a revelation in this movie. Other supporting casts are also good but coming out of theater I bet you would remember only these. And, the subtle touch of live background score...an intelligent touch :)

Screenplay: The movie narration does not go in linear motion. We get jump cuts, flashback within flashbacks and stories from different key characters. I don't know if many would appreciate such story telling. Screenplay is neat, dialogs are few and far between. Silence plays a bigger role in this movie.

Acting: I'm speechless here. Every actor seemed to be acted in this movie considering this is their last chance to prove themselves. Ranbir proved his level in Rockstar already...but Priyanaka just took reinvented herself. A very strong but sidelined character she played here. The focus was never on her but whenever she got scope she just marveled it. Kudos to her and Kudos to Anurag Basu to show us what Priyanka could do. Barfi for Priyanka is going to be what "Jab we Met" is to Kareena. Then, the next gem of the movie is Saurabh Shukla. Another brilliant performance. Ileana as Shruti also did well.

Cinematography: The movie is a visual poetry. Every frame is such beautiful that reminded me "Raavan" by Santosh Shivan. After a few searches I found out the man behind this poetry and he is Mr. Ravi Varman. Just remember this name. Because if you watch the movie you are obvious to search who was the man behind camera.

Songs and background score: Songs are good, specially "Main Kaya Karoon". And, nice melodic background score. Best thing is the story does not stop when the songs happen. The songs just help enrich the moment on-screen.

Editing: In theater few were complaining about the length of the movie. I on the other hand think its the way it was meant to be. Such movies are best told in slowly, like a poetry. Such that every scene, every dialog leaves mark in your mind.

Verdict: Reading this far it might seem its nothing but a romance between two invalids and Anurag Basu emotionally blackmailed you in the movie to love it. But what I've not told you is how much laugh riot it is, how this is even a thriller or how beautiful this movie is. All in all, a movie that gives the pleasure of listening a complete story. A movie to watch with your family. A movie where if you take your girlfriend does not stop saying "how cute!"

Go, watch Barfi!. Watch the best movie of 2012.

It does not revolutionize Bollywood in any way nor is it an example of superlative cinematic brilliance. There are flaws, and lots of them. But, at the same time it's a lesson in the long-lost art of simple filmmaking without being pretentious. The effort is so genuinely heartwarming that it comes out through the characters in the film. I've been extremely critical of Ranbir Kapoor in the past. Maybe he is dumb, but he can surely act! In Junior Kapoor, we do see glimpses of his grandfather. His goofiness is so bloody infectious. He does not play the sympathy-card, he just lets the film carry him along instead of trying what Bollywood heroes desperately try to do - to carry the film on their shoulders. The character is central, not the hero. One of the very few Hindi films I've seen where the audience connects with the character, and not the hero. Ileana is effortlessly sweet and quite unexpectedly brilliant. Saurabh Shukla delivers a standout and stellar performance. The strength of the film lies in the characterisation - so under-toned, and pitch-perfect to counter-balance the trappings of melodrama. The cinematography is breathtaking and so is the music. The visual imagery adds to the emotional quotient of the film. The earnestness of Anurag Basu does suffer a blow because of the predictability of the plot since the temptation of repetitiveness unwittingly underwhelms the magic created in the first half, and, of course, the disappointing performance of Priyanka Chopra. Instead of under-emoting, she overdoes it. Somehow she goes retard trying to portray an autistic girl. Don't judge this film through the prism of cerebral dissection and critical analysis. For once, listen to your heart, not the critics.

India's official entry to the Oscars - Barfi! might as well have been an acronym for: Breathtaking (cinematography), Astounding (acting), Ruthless (breaking of stereotypes about the disabled), Fantastic (music), and Invigorating (feeling in your heart as you leave the theater).

This is essentially a love triangle between Barfi (played endearingly by Ranbir Kapoor), a hearing and speech impaired son of a poor chauffeur, Jhilmil (played brilliantly by Priyanka Chopra), an autistic girl almost abandoned by her rich parents, and Shruti the narrator of the tale of love (played convincingly by debutante Illeana De Cruz), the soon to be married tourist visiting Darjeeling along with her parents.

The writer and director - Anurag Basu uses non linear storytelling to traverse between 1972, 1978, and 2012 Darjeeling, Calcutta, and little known places of Bengal as they three protagonists try and grapple with Love and its various heart rendering implications to their lives. For a film with hardly any dialogs, 'Barfi!' amazingly manages to say a lot, using a combination of sign language, facial expressions, first person narration, and sometimes simply stunning silences to convey a gamut of emotions.

Several sequences stand out for their sheer brilliance, be it Barfi's reaction at Shruti's choice of her fiancé (Jishu Sengupta in a small but significant role), Shruti and her mother's (played beautifully by the veteran Roopa Ganguly) exchanges on certain choices in Love, Barfi and Jhilmil's night in the forest illuminated by fireflies, Barfi's cutting off of the lamp posts to test the loyalty of his friends, Jhilmil's fantasy about getting married as she watches a 'Chau Dance' in a village, Daju's (Haradhan in a superb supporting role) tear stricken face as he finally accepts Jhilmil's fate and let's her go, the unfolding of the photograph's at Shruti's house to finally reveal the truth about her entire life, and lastly, the finale. All these, and many more, are sure to be etched as a memory, not in your mind, but rather in your heart.

This film shows how one can find happiness in the small things in life, and how disabilities, be in financial, mental, or physical can never really appear as a handicap to an otherwise soaring spirit that does not know how to give up on life. This film reminds us that falling in Love is natural, while staying in Love a decision that must be taken with the heart, rather than the mind. And finally, this is a film that tries, without trying too hard, to help you understand that the language of Love does not necessarily require the wisdom of words.

One might argue that certain portions of the film are 'inspired' from other films. For example, certain dialogs between Shruti and her mother might remind you of the Notebook, certain mannerisms of Barfi as he tries his best to escape the bungling cop (played aptly by Saurabh Shukla) cause you to recollect sequences from the films of Charlie Chaplin, while the way Barfi tries to entertain Jhilmil & Shruti remind you of Singing in The Rain and Mr Bean. Yet, Barfi manages to stand on its own for the way it interprets these classic scenes and the logicality of their inclusion in the proceedings.

The Hair and Makeup department, however, especially when it tries to show the same actors playing aged characters, is the only one that takes a slight dent. Yet almost everything else manages to come together in unison to more than compensate for this slight glitch. And it does so, at numerous places managing to make you think, smile, cry, and sigh, sometimes all at the same time, and in quick succession.

Watch it for the performances (especially that of Ranbir and Priyanka), the vision of the director Anurag Basu and cinematographer Ravi Varman, the terrific score of the music director Pritam Chakravarty, and last but not the least for the innumerable ways in which Love has been expressed between the characters. Trust me - this is the perfect example of art that can forever stay in your heart.

Barfi is that gem which has the capacity of making blood in your heart rush just like children rush through the school gates at the ring of bell. All you have to do is to open yourself and let it do the magic.

It offers everything that is there to take from a pure cinematic experience: real characters, genuine relationships, a simple yet poignant story and a soulful score. It offers much more th an this if you can indulge yourself into it a little more. It has acting that connects you straight with the characters and makes you feel for/with them; each frame is a lyrical composition not only by the presence of colors but through their absence as well, the screenplay is such that it either allows the emotions to be overwhelming or would take you out of the scene (completely depends on the viewer).

I can only wish to visit the Darjeeling of 70's as portrayed in the movie and I am sure Basu would not have had any problems filming the Kolkata part of the movie as it is the only city which has majority of its elements from that period still intact (No pun intended). Basu has always been good at using earthly elements in his scenes and he reinforces that here too. The manner in which rain, texture of clouds, stones, bright sun have been used to complement various moods in scenes is just exemplary.

What makes this movie a winner is the unending list of scenes which will make you laugh, cry and sometimes do both at the same time. Dialogue through expression and enactment has been integrated so beautifully in the movie that you sometimes forget that you are watching a movie where two of the protagonists are incapable of communicating conventionally. It's a movie which celebrates one of the most prized feelings of each human being: the joy of being loved, through a story of people who could have easily decided not to embrace it. Priyanka is at her uninhibited best and Ileana plays her bit to the tee. Needless to say that no other present day actor could have done justice to the role of Barf!

Visit http://imnotafilmcritic.blogspot.in/ for more filmy experiences!

I went into this movie with very high expectations and guess what Anurag Basu did it again.

I am always a fan of movies which are slightly different from traditional bollywood style where hero heroine and villain engaged. This movie was comic most of the times and lovely.

The message I liked the most was "Follow your heart" Well movie can't be good until the actors do their job. Ranbir, Priyanka and Illena were spot on. Though a lot of credit to be given to anurag basu. Most of the gags were new.

Seriously I didn't expected the story to be so twisted in the middle but again credit to Mr Basu, the way he streamlined at the end.

Fantastic.

People this is definitely one of the bestest movie released in bollywood. Lot of intelligent directors are doing great job, kashyap, basu etc.

Must watch 10/10