Directed By - Anurag Basu
Starring - Ranbir Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz, Priyanka Chopra, Saurabh Shukla, Akash Khurana, Ashish Vidyarthi, Roopa Ganguly, Jishu Sengupta
The beauty that lay in Chaplin's films was that so many emotions were conveyed through absolute silence. A flick of the eyebrows here, a shake of the legs there and Chaplin lit up the screen. There was a underlying positivity in his films despite their sometimes negative plots. Basu brings back the magic of that era with his simple yet startling gem called 'Barfi'.
'Barfi' is about a simple, happy go lucky deaf-mute boy named Murphy (kapoor) who is called Barfi (due to his inability to pronounce his name properly) and spans 60 years of his life. We see him as an old man at the start of the movie who is on his deathbed. A call is sent to shruti (D'cruz), Barfi's close friend who is in kolkata. On her way to Darjeeling she starts narrating the story of Barfi's life. We are brought to 1978 kolkata where barfi is arrested on kidnapping and robbery charges. There is a flashback in the flashback where Barfi reminisces about his life in darjeeling and the events that brought him to this positiion. We are now taken to 1972 Darjeeling where Barfi first meets Shruti, a soon to be married girl whose father's transfer has brought her to Darjeeling. Sparks fly, but the romance is short lived as Shruti ends up in two minds regarding her future with the boy who is a Driver's son. Then thrown into the picture is Jhilmil (Chopra) an autistic girl from a rich family who also happens to be Barfi's good friend. The rest is for the audience to see ( not because its a suspense, but because its irritating to type so much out in a cyber cafe).
The cinematography is a standout. Whether its the peaceful terrains of Darjeeling or the hustle-bustle of Kolkata the camera builds up one beatiful frame after another. Earlier this year we had seen a wonderful potrayal of Kolkata from the eyes of Sujoy Ghosh. Basu's Kolkata is a bit different. While Ghosh's potrayal of the city was full of suspense yet imbibed with warmth, Basu's potrayal is serene. Kolkata is shown almost like an old world palace - distraught yet stunning.
Basu's direction has to be the finest work we have seen this year. Sorry Sujoy Ghosh but Basu just might steal your show. Backed by a superior screenplay Basu infuses elements of Chaplin and Romanticism to deliver a film which pans out like a beautiful poetry read on a windy day. Its almost impossible to believe that this man could have ever made something as dismal as 'Kites'. Back to his form, its seems good days are ahead of Basu.
Special mention to Pritam and Arijit Mukherjee for some of the most wonderful melodies we have heard in a long,long time. The background music helps in building up some vital scenes. In a movie which is silent for a large part the music has to be fantastic and the music director delivers that perfectly.
Special mention to Pritam and Arijit Mukherjee for some of the most wonderful melodies we have heard in a long,long time. The background music helps in building up some vital scenes. In a movie which is silent for a large part the music has to be fantastic and the music director delivers that perfectly.
Of the cast. Ileana D'Cruz shines as Shruthi Ghosh. The character is a defining force in Barfi's life and the southern star pulls it off with elan. The scenes with her and Kapoor are the best. The scene where Barfi explains to her the large divide between them is breathtaking. Not a single word is spoken in that scene. As they say, silence speaks for itself. Priyanka Chopra as the autistic Jhilmil is fabulous. She never once allows the character to become a caricature and infuses childlike warmth in the character so much so that you find yourself smiling everytime she enters the screen. The supporting cast is great too particularly Akash khurana, Vidyarthi and haranath Chakraborty. But the film totally belongs to ( and i have never meant it more) Ranbir Kapoor. There is a reason why this young man is steadily climbing the steps of success. His filmography has to be the most unconventional for a bollywood star. Kapoor as barfi makes you cry with him , laugh with him all in all enjoy the ride with him. Its an outstanding performance. The boy will yet again sweep all the awards. Its an absolute joy to watch Kapoor pan out his histrionics on screen. Watch out 'tigers' and 'raj's' the kapoor scion just might overtake you in the near future.
Barfi is the kind of film that has 'awards' written all over it. Anurag Basu shows to us that simplicity will always keep you ahead of your contemporaries. It's a must watch.
Rating - 9.2/10
