Movie Name : Barfi
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Producer: Ronnie Screwala, Siddharth Roy Kapur (UTV)
Director: Anurag Basu
Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana D’cruz, Rupa Ganguly, Saurabh
Shukla, Ashish Vidyarthi, Aakash Khurana
Music:
Pritam
Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire
Genre:
Drama, Suspense
Rating : 7 out of 10
Recommended Audience: General
Film Released on: 14 September 2012
Ronnie Screwala and
Siddharth Roy Kapur have an uncanny knack of straddling between sensible and
commercial cinema (7 khoon maaf, udaan, guzaarish, No one Killed Jessica,
Kaminey, DevD to name a few) and merging them at times to create a lovable
film. This brings a lot of production value to Anurag Basu’s Barfi. Anurag Basu
better known for his passionate portrayal of love in various of his works (Life
in a metro, Kites, Murder, Gangster TV Serial – Tara), had to explore softer
and simpler side of love with Barfi. Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra have
been talking about Barfi being the most challenging roles they have done. There
has been a lot of buzz around the movie before its release, does it live up to
it that is the question you take along while entering the theatre hall.
Let us first give the
credit where it is due. If not for the brave new production houses like UTV who
produces a Barfi with similar value as a Rowdy Rathore, getting these stories
in mainstream Bollywood would have been very difficult. Unlike earlier movies
made with subjects like Barfi, it is a 100% commercial movie and doesn’t delve
deep in portraying the difficulties of life for a deaf and mute Barfi or an
autistic Jhilmil. It just goes out and tells the story. Thanks UTV.
Barfi is a story of a deaf
and dumb poor lad who falls in love with Shruti, daughter of a rich man who
visits Darjeeling often. Then there is an Autistic Jhilmil, who inherits a
fortune leaving her greedy father to mercy of a trust. Disappearance of Jhilmil
and her friendship with Barfi post Barfi’s breakup with Shruti forms the key
theme of suspense in the movie.
Somewhere before the
intermission a dejected Barfi, moves out of his girlfriend’s house knowing that
there was a better “suited” man for her which she and her parents have chosen.
There is an emotional outburst about neither being rich nor being “normal” from
Barfi there. An umbrella covered Shruti listening to the verbally unsaid
outpour of Barfi drenching himself in Rain. The sunlight, like other similar
scenes, is heavily diffused with dark clouds, colours wilfully cooler and actor
intuitively non-melodramatic. A subtle but crackling chemistry between Ranbir
Kapoor and Illeana D’ Cruz, great use of ambient light and tones in
cinematography, silence punctuated with violins and accordion over a lilting
piano tune – The scene more or less summarizes everything that is good about
the movie.
Post intermission however
there is another scene, where you see a Jhilmil, feeling jealous and left out
while eating at a street side Puchka (Panipuri’s Kolkata version) shop because
of Shruti entering their life again. The warm tones of artificial bulbs
lighting up the crowded frames of Kolkata (in strike difference to Darjeeling),
the infatuation of the earlier life overpowering the lovable present, a
socially unaccommodating autistic Jhilmil whose love you cannot completely relate
to, a confusion of myriads of emotions – the scene summarizes everything that
goes wrong in this well plotted and structurally flawed film.
The structure of narrative
is complicated and non-linear. There are flashbacks in flashbacks at times and
becomes a little difficult to understand at times - A complicated suspense
thriller narrative for a simple and sweet lovestory. For the love of place and
characters, the movie gets indulgent and spends too much time developing the
relationship between Shruti and Barfi. It has lots of moments to remember. Priyanka Chopra’s character, the key
ingredient that needs to change Barfi’s life and add suspense and thrill to the
story is not well introduced to the audience till intermission. The story than
rushes through the events in Kolkata but doesn’t delve deep into development of
Jhilmil’s character and her relationship with Barfi. It tries but doesn’t evoke
the same feelings that it could with Shurti. Narrative being a Mishmash
attempting to be innovative doesn’t help as well. As a result one doesn’t
relate to Jhilmil and cares less about her disappearance. The thrill goes, so
goes the emotional punch of lovestory between Barfi and Jhilmil. The crackling
chemistry between Barfi and Shruti is absent between Barfi and Jhilmil.
Eventually you seem to be caring more for a character which is not supposed to
be the protagonist.
Thus though the direction
and story by Anurag Basu and to an extent even the screenplay is polished, the
structure of storytelling does not let it come out well. Ranbir Kapoor as Barfi
is outstanding. He is successful in slowly creating the charm that is so
reminiscent of Rishi Kapoor. The first part of the movie requires him to emote
like a Bollywood hero and to perform like a Charlie Chaplin / Mr.Bean – and he
does succeed in doing that. Priyanka Chopra tries hard at times but her badly
underdeveloped character works against her throughout the film. Illeana D’cruz
looks ravishing and acts her part well. She is surprisingly confident and it is
her chemistry with Ranbir Kapoor that adds a different flavour to the movie.
Saurabh Shukla, Ashish Vidyarthi, Aakash Khurana – are like old hands one can
always rely on. Their acting and performance both are just adequate. It is
pleasant to see Rupa Ganguly as Shruti’s mother. She works like a mirror to
talk to for Shruti’s character.
Ravi Varman, who has been
known for using natural light in his cinematography, does an extraordinary job
for Barfi as well. Barfi would be a classic example of using tones to add to
storytelling. The cool bluish skyline of Kolkata with warm yellow window where
Barfi sits , the clear white diffused cool light through mist and clouds of
Darjeeling are well captured. The natural light in all scenes is filtered,
diffused, through windows, through clouds, through rains, through glasses and
it gives a distinct feel. Editing by Akiv Ali also complements the
cinematography and story but fails to cover for that basic lacuna created by
the structure of storytelling. The length of the movie though could have been
shortened. Art direction by Rajat Potdar is simply outstanding. Every single item that you see in the frame –
whether it is the little mouse in the house or the chau dance props, is used well to enhance the
storytelling. Sound design by Shajith
Koyeri gives charm to the two main locations shown. Music by Pritam (both the
soundtrack and the background score) is very well composed. Background score
with a distinct usage of Piano, Accordion and Violin / Cello gives a European
touch to the montages from Darjeeling. “Ala Barfi” and “Phir Le aya dil” in
particular are beautifully framed pieces. Shafqat Amanat Ali’s voice takes the
latter one to a different level with the added visuals.
Overall Barfi has a great
entertainment value with light hearted and charming first half. If only the
structure of the story was better managed it would have been one of the best
family entertainers you would have seen in years. Fans of Ranbir Kapoor and
lovers of offbeat stories will both enjoy the movie equally. UTV, Anurag Basu
and Ranbir Kapoor lives up to the hype created by the movie but fail to exceed
the expectation which they could have done with a great platform like Barfi.
