Barfi!

Love needs expressions not language, it requires feelings no boundaries, it's beyond oceans beyond limits- Free and Beautiful but only few know how to live it. Barfi as its name is sweet, full of aroma, delicious and tasty. This in true sense expresses love without any language, caste, creed or color –Selfless with heart; an impeccable cinema worth watching with your beloved, friends and family.

Barfi ! Essentially is a chapter of life which has numerable good moments to recall, laugh and to love with. Every character is well placed without being dramatic with excellent music, performances, direction and screenplay.

Anurag Basu- the director has done extraordinary work in terms of narrating the story. Like 'Inception' his narrative style takes you in flashback and a flashback within a flashback to narrate a simple story in its most impactful form without creating confusions to audience. Every story has been woven perfectly till climax. Despite the destiny of characters what audience recalls some beautiful moments, cheer, laughs, true love and sacrifice. Each and every prank on screen gives you a bucketful humor and feel good factor whether it's Barfi-cop chase or Barfi's effort to impress Jhilmil and Shruti throughout the movie.

Ranbir Kapoor- Well this guy has redefined himself, and the only commercial cinema star of recent time who knows how to act dances and laugh with perfection. Whether it was 'wake up sid', 'Raajneeti'or 'Rockstar' with every movie he has successfully set benchmark for himself but with this movie he has set benchmark even for so called Khans and Roshans. The beauty of his character is despite being deaf and dump in the movie not a single moment you will realize that he even require to speak. His expressions are heartwarming and simply outstanding.

Priyanka Chopra – Luckily we have a pool of talented actress these days and Priyanka Chopra with this movie will give a tough challenge to her peers. Her expressions as an autism child are natural and clean. Her feelings for Ranbir as a lady could be easily readable and this is undoubtedly one of the best performances of her career.

Ileana D'Cruz – She is one of the best debut of this year. Extremely good looking and charming, she never gives the feeling of a debutant. She does her job perfectly as a narrator and as an actor.

Barfi is a way of life, it has potential to make you laugh without getting dirty, it has power to make you cry without getting dramatic and it has energy to teach you love for all without being a documentary. Barfi is perfect in all sense. And for those who could ask why I have written an inch away from Masterpiece ,well being a critique we always expect more than what we got but as soon as the wedding bells rings in the end it was obvious that Barfi has crossed that inch of perfection… It's a Masterpiece of Indian Cinema.

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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

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.

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!

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This is a fable, a beautifully shot, light, airy, bubbly fable. It will make you laugh. A lot. And cry, or mist up, a little. If you're still not a fan of Ranbir, you will walk away as one. And the background songs just don't stop playing in your head.

There are some deeper layers, as well. Why is it in India that we cannot take care of our disabled children ? Why do we get threatened by them, so scared of social approbation that we are willing to abandon our own flesh and blood, despite having the means to look after them ? Why is it that playing safe seems to be ingrained in our blood ? In love, 9 times out of 10, we will choose the guy who is rich and doesn't make us cry to the guy who is poor but makes us laugh ?

Ranbir, a deaf, mute, has never let this inhibit him. He is always happy and always upto something, not all if it legal, much to the chagrin of the local cop, Saurabh Shukla, who blames him singlehandedly for reducing his waist size from a respectable 52 to a mundane 42. He falls in love with the elite, gorgeous girl, visiting Darjeeling, Ileana. She is engaged to be married to Jishu, a prize catch, the dream of every girl in college. But she has never encountered anyone as free spirited as Ranbir.

Ranbir, though, is the son of a lowly driver. Who works for another elite, powerful family. Who have an autistic daughter, Priyanka. Who has been left in an old age home, Muskaan, run by the gentle, ageing, Haradhan Bandhopadhyay. When Priyanka's nana, the man who runs the house with an iron fist, but has a soft corner for his grand daughter, decides to bring her back due to his ill health, the lives of all the characters get affected and change…

The photography and the music is so good that I'm out of superlatives here. Am sure tourist traffic to Darjeeling is going to increase and the music of this film will be played many years from now, a rarity in todays world, where songs struggle for a shelf life beyond three months. Am not so sure about the editing. The flashbacks, the talking heads. Not sure they were needed in a story which was reasonably fast paced and as entertaining as this. Its almost become a fad now, to not tell a story linearly…

Ranbir is amazing. Gets every expression just right. Whether his happy face, the ridiculous expressions he uses to make others laugh, his angry 'speech', or his bewildered look when things go wrong, as they have a tendency to do with him. Ileana is stunning in western dresses, early on in the film. She is nice as the adarsh Bengali nari later on, but didn't think much of her older avatar. Undeniably a great actress. Priyanka proves her acting chops once again, conveying her battles with her inner demons appropriately

Special praise for Saurabh Shukla. The film would've been flat without his Hardy to Ranbir's Laurel. Or Bhola Raja Sapkota, Ranbir's comrade in arms and translator in chief. Or Rupa Ganguly, Ilena's mother, who understands her daughter's predicament and does what she thinks is best for her.

Amongst the moments of the film are the opening credits (set to the song 'Film shuru), the comic chase sequences between Saurabh and Ranbir. The Darjeeling scenes between Ranbir and Ileana – on the train, or cycle or even the horse. And the scene when Haradhan bawls his eyes out, when the apple of his eye, Priyanka leaves the ashram, is just touching beyond belief.

After a long time, a film which doesn't just show perfect, rich, urban people. But people who, despite their imperfections, seem determined to be happy. There is a lesson in there for all of us. More at ww.apurvbollywood.blogspot.com