Ala Barfi’s Review!

By Amy Sandra

Before any reviews on the movie ‘Barfi’, I would like to present the credits for the same. Barfi is smitten, oh! I mean, written and directed by Anurag Basu, known for ‘Bollyhits’ such as Murder, Gangster, Life in a Metro among others that would be quite pointless to mention, especially now that Barfi Ala. The music score is by Pritam, who has also given us hits such as ‘Bheegi Bheegi’ from Gangster and the incessantly singing, ‘Pritam-hit’ band in the movie ‘Life in a metro’. The movie casts Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D’cruz as the main leads.

Barfi is set in Darjeeling and Kolkata and brings with it freshness and colours, respectively. The story is narrated and the protagonist, Barfi, a mute and deaf boy since birth, is played by Ranbir Kapoor who falls in love with Shruti (Ileana D’cruz) and is himself found to be, not-so-instantly, stalked and loved by ‘Jhilmil’ the autistic childhood friend (Priyanka Chopra). There is more to ‘Barfi’ than just being caught up in a love triangle. There is freedom, there is humour, there is pain, there is hope—all this and more that beautifully traps Barfi every single time and leaves the two women and many others around captivated by the life he dares to possess, despite some unfortunately failing to experience the ‘incognisable’ magic. Barfi, fearlessly and enigmatically, only knows the language of sense that throws in a paradox and challenges all. This is not it, the movie brings back the rib-tickling and heart-warming times of the classic, comedian/actor, ‘Charlie Chaplin’, flawlessly emulated by Ranbir Kapoor.

Priyanka Chopra has a remarkable side to her, besides the ‘bam on glam’. She undoubtedly knows her power in the movie. It is evident that she likes completing her ‘homework’ with perfection. Ileana D’cruz is fresh, delectable and real, and that compliments her confused, introspective and observant narration in the movie. Saurabh Shukla, the tormented sub inspector of police, is seen breathlessly chasing Barfi and his antics only to bring himself to ridicule that is nothing more than classic comedy. Roopali Ganguly (Shruti’s mother) is like old wine and is a tangible support. The sets, costumes and style are pure 70s and exudes the charismatic drama and the teasing pace of the era. It is too simple to be complicated.

Though every character has a sad, miserable, dysfunctional side to him, there is not an ounce of hopelessness and grief created within, unlike other movies made on special people. And that, my friends, is the beauty of the film.
I left my seat with a smile and not a sigh!

Yes, the movie gets a 9/10 leaving that one mark for improvement, only to sound modest.