Billu

What a wonderful movie this was. The only drawback is the flashy songs of Sahir Khan (Shahrukh Khan). Irfan Khan performed so well in this movie that it leaves you stunned. Shahrukh Khan was his usual, nothing special. Lara Dutta did a good job in this movie.

The movie is very emotional. The last half an hour or so is very emotional. You can't escape from shedding tears. I think the movie should have stayed simple and all the flashy songs and dances should have been spared from the movie. They were nothing but distraction from the core story.

Billu (Irfan Khan) and Sahir Khan meeting should have been explored more. It would have been good for Shahrukh if he had played the role of Billu Barber and someone else should have played Sahir's role. Irfan Khan and Lara Dutta stole the show. the movie belongs to them.

What could have been an excellent satire is brought down by poor writing and Priyadarshan's lousy direction. 'Billu' required some heavy editing. All the sequences with Shahrukh Khan in the first half (including those horrible item numbers) could have easily been left out as they provide nothing. His appearance in the second half was enough. The so-called comic scenes are typical Priyadarshan, which is irritatingly loud and seriously needs toning down. The mob sequences and Billu's attempts to meet Sahir are overdone and repetitive. The ending is melodramatic, which is typical of Priyadarshan films. All the songs are poorly executed and, with the exception of the last three songs ('Marjane' being the best), they are horrible to listen to. Shahrukh Khan plays himself. Nothing new there. Lara Dutta is decent and she looks the part. But, it is Irrfan who manages to rise above the poorness of this movie. He is quite exceptional as the down to earth almost out of work barber and is the reason to watch 'Billu'. Asrani and Om Puri are good in their roles. Rasika Joshi is cast against type and she too turns in a decent performance. The rest of the cast (including Rajpal Yadav) are terrible (which is usually the case in Priyadarshan's films). To sum it up, the best thing about 'Billu' is Irrfan Khan who makes what would be an otherwise bad film to mediocrity.

Billu Barber, this year's most expected release from the Red Chillies Banner simply turns out to be an ordinary watch. Directed by Priyadarshan, who's known for his Malayalam remakes in Hindi yet again fails to mark the everlasting impression on the audience. Billu Barber definitely looks like a sincere effort to make everyone like the movie. The movie starts off with low pace and just when you feel the movie is catching pace,the curtains are down.

Billu Barber's protagonist Billu(Irfan Khan) is a petty barber from the village called Budbuda who struggles to earn every penny but still somehow manages to make a living supporting his family. He's simple, humble and a character that everyone in Budbuda loves. His destiny changes when, the film-star Sahir Khan(Shahrukh Khan) lands in Budbuda for the shooting of his film. Billu is then pestered by his children to go meet him,to whom he had once said Sahir Khan was his childhood friend. Things go out of hand when the news of Billu being the childhood friend of Sahir reaches every corner of Budbuda. Billu then refuses to accept the fact that he once knew Sahir, assuming that he wouldn't recognize their childhood friendship now. He's then mocked up by villagers for making such a fool of himself. The things leading up to him meeting Sahir Khan is for you to watch for yourself.

Billu Barber's heart and soul is Irfan Khan. He's quite stupendous in the very first commercial movie that claims to put him as the main lead. His funny, serious and emotional shades are quite perfectly done. He's bang on with his performance as always. The highlight of the movie is the acting of Lara Dutta who plays Billu's wife. This is when you actually come to know, how important the script and the character are in making an actor give his-or-her best. Lara Dutta is extremely good giving her career best in BB. As always,Screenplay and dialogues of Billu Barber are something that's a little carelessly done as compared to the previous release of Red Chillies OSO that scored almost in every department. Shahrukh Khan does his bit of acting convincingly. The actors like Rajpal Yadav and Om Puri are let down with ordinary dialogues, who still try creating humor that goes totally unnoticed. The movie lacks the energy that a typical Shahrukh Khan movie usually tends to generate. The special appearances by Deepika, Kareena and Priyanka is good but lets you forget as continue watching the movie. Though the money is spent lavishly on the sets, the film fails to deliver the expectations of the audience. The Music of the movie is not appealing either. Billu Barber scores an mediocre rating in every department.

I will go with 6 out of 10 for Priyadarshan's Billu Barber.

Not a must watch. But go with no expectations and you might not be disappointed.

The story is simple, but performances of Shahrukh Khan and Irrfan Khan are what makes the movie worth watching. The songs, even though not related to the story, are very entertaining and make the movie more fun to watch. The ending was predictable, but the performances saved the movie.

Billu's wife looked way too beautiful to pass off as an average village girl. I'm no Bollywood fan so I did not know who the actress was. Throughout the whole movie, I kept thinking "how on earth did this super hot girl end up with this average looking man?" In the ending credits, I saw Lara Dutta. Miss Universe Lara Dutta!

If you have some extra spare time, this movie is good enough not to waste it.

First time i watched the movie it lacked subtitles so i depended on my poor Hindi and emotional body and facial expression. The movie lacked depth to me in its first parts. Till it reached the climax the quality of emotions got some depth. Second time i viewed it my impression got better. The first part was classic Priyadrashan movie which i don't like AT ALL. Most of his films don't leave any mark on me and they slip out of my mind. I was surprised that SRK chose him for such a story that depicts a moral and values we are in desperate need in these days. However, the shooting and photography is brilliant and eye catching. I am a fan of Irrfan and Shahrukh so i got my fill of both. But the last part of the movie meant much more with adequate understanding. I actually cried a lot, especially parts where Sahir recites similar stories of his youth that overlap with shahrukh's himself. I still feel more Irrfan was required, more passionate and sorrowful but i guess its a priyadrashan movie anyway. watch it for the scenery, watch it for Irrfan and SHahrukh.. Lara dutta does a good job too. for once two hours are not enough for the story.