Richard Anderson

(2013-05-22 01:08:20)

Let the moment take over...

Sometimes, when you least expect it, something comes along and touchesyou in a special way. Barfi is exactly that bolt out of the blue.Walking in, not sure what to expect, a comedy or an overdone dose oftear jerking tactics based on physical limitations - I came out happyto be proved wrong. While as a usual Virgo perfectionist, I could choose to pick holes inthe story - I really think this movie went beyond the usual 5 pointscale of greatness. Somehow reminds me of how sometimes we try andgrade movies with the head rather than the heart. And like RobinWilliams in Dead Poets Society - for today, lets rip out the page whichgrades poetry/movies on an x/y scale. Our hearts live on emotions andfeelings and graphs don't really do those well. For me- Anurag Basu has created his masterpiece and shared it with us.He had me in tears at so many moments (and I can feel them coming backnow as I think of some of them). The performances of Ranbir, Illeanaand most of all Priyanka created an afternoon of magic for me which theticket price will never justify! The tossing of the shoes in the air,Priyanka's calls of "Brrfii" and Illeana's always being there atRanbir's weakest moments are just some of those. I loved the poignancycreated by watching Ranbir getting Priyanka to say "Namaste" toIlleana, or Illeana's stopping when she heard Priyanka call out toRanbir - even though she knew she was giving away all she wanted forhis happiness, Priyanka's lying down near Ranbir at the end, Priyanka'spassing Ranbir's loyalty test of the street lamp - all these were justmoments which I couldn't help being touched by (even when I think ofthem as I write this now).The great strength of this movie was the fact that Basu chose to ignorethe beaten track of using the character's limitations to buildsympathy, but rather made them into characters who live a normal lifeand face the same challenges just as anyone else in the world. Thenarrative is lucid and takes us through the intermingling trail oftheir lives and decisions and leaves us asking of ourselves questionswhich perhaps we may more often choose to ignore rather than answer. The performances were spectacular by way of simplicity. Ranbir andPriyanka both ran the risk of overdoing the focus on their limitations,however they both emerge as characters who may well overshadow theirother performances. Illeana was elegant and simple and brought thedemands of society and actions under the same to the forth. Herperformance was brilliant and an excellent support foil for Ranbir andPriyanka. To my mind, Priyanka was mind blowing. The usually glamorousgirl in most roles has shown depth in her performance and I for onefell in love with "Jhilmil". Her role as an autistic was brilliantlydone, the specialists may choose to find flaws with some aspects butI'm not one of them. Her wonder-struck looks and expressions ofhappiness throughout the movie had me completely spellbound. Ranbiragain shows he has come of age and I look forward to him in many moreroles off the usual commercial formula pieces. I am very sure hisrendition of the smile creation with his hand will catch on in the nextfew days but more than that I do hope his approach to life and endlessendeavors to create magical and happy moments is remembered. The support cast did just what was needed - to me it was perfectlyorchestrated and for that Basu needs the entire credit. The packagingwas excellent and made for brilliant cinematic viewing. All in all - if you are thinking about watching it, stop thinking andwatch it - it could well be some of the best viewing moments of yourlife. It was for me. Barfi touched me in a very special manner, I hopeit does the same for you.

VIKRANT ZAROO

(2013-05-21 16:33:38)

BIG Disappointment

I was looking for a rating below 1 but option was not given butassigning 1 vote for BARFI is insulting the digit 1. NO.1 FLOP COPIEDMOVIE OF THE YEAR. It was total wastage of time and money.I curse theday i see this film why does Indian directors copy a Hollywood film .are our directors ulable to create new scripts I CAN WRITE THIS WITH MYBLOOD THAT BARFI WILL B SENT BACK TO India IN A GIFT WRAPPER. IT WILLGET ELIMINATED IN THE VERY FIRST BIGNING OF THE OscarIT IS COPIED FROM VARIOUS INTERNATIONAL FILMS OF Hollywood & U RSENDING A FILM COPIED FROM THEIR FILMS HOW COULD U EXPECT A Oscaryou should learn from a forth coming film flight of denzel washingtonthat how to make a filmINSTEAD OF BARFI PAN SINGH TOMAR SHOULD B PROMOTED FOR Oscar

Parvinder Singh

(2013-05-21 00:26:18)

A Treat for every movie-goer.

Anurag Kashyap, being Anurag Kashyap, redefines Bollywood with thetongue-in-cheek and alternative cinema kind of feel. A commercial hitas well as a critical one, the movie has a lot of insights to offer toeven an average cinema-goer apart from making you smile and cry all theway. The movie set in the 1970s, is a shown from a perspective of a deafguy,Barfi (who is very mischievous and childlike) who tumbles throughthe various realities of life and manages to find true love. The moviestars Ranbir Kapoor as the deaf guy, Priyanka Chopra as an autisticgirl, and the south Indian actress Illeana D'Cruz as a normal girl whofalls for the lead character and is the epitome of sanity in the movie.The movie is not short on gags and has a excellent story line to dwellupon. Overall, a fantastic movie particularly one of the Bollywood's bestever, India's official nomination to the Oscars, and a subtle meaningto take away with you. Two and half hours worth of treat for the eyes.

arnold kumar

(2013-05-20 13:32:29)

"Barfi!" Review

"Barfi!," from directing to cinematography to editing, is well puttogether, especially for an Indian movie. I really enjoy how the filmtends to focus on the positive as opposed to all the melodrama. Yes, itdoes get melodramatic, but not for too long. We get some beautifulshots of the scenery, but what would a technically sound film bewithout a script? This film has top notch writing with interestingcharacters and a sweet story that will melt the coldest of hearts. Thestory is pretty simple, but it is done in a unique way. There isminimal dialogue and most of it is conveyed through action, sort oflike classic movies of the past. It's cute and adds to the overallcharm of the film. However, the story is over complicated by somecontrived plot points. One in particular happens towards the end of thefilm, but for the most part it doesn't take away much from the film.Another issue would be with how the story is told, at times it getsconfusing because it jumps from brief moments of three different timeperiods. Even with some of these issues the film manages to comethrough with a sweet, touching, and charming story.Acting is top tier for the most part. Ranbir Kapoor proves yet againthat he is the new leading man in Indian cinema. His performance ofBarfi is touching yet subtle. He has a sense of charm and charisma thatbleeds onto the screen. No matter what the character is doing, youcan't help, but love him. Priyanka Chopra gives a career transformingperformance. She's usually known as the beauty queen, but here sheshows a lot of depth and understanding for her autistic character. Icouldn't believe that this is the same person. The rest of the cast isgood, but the one to look out for is Ileana D'Cruz, who made herBollywood debut. Her character is emotionally disturbed and indecisive.She's likable and we can root for her.The score and songs for this film are great as well. The score has aupbeat style to it that at the same time feels whimsical. It brings youback to an era of your own youth. The songs are equally as good. Theyare fun and super catchy. They drive their respective scene along andit helps glide over some of the melodramatic moments.Overall "Barfi!" is a fun and entertaining flick with a lot of heart.The story is well told and fairly original. The cast of characters arecolorful and their respective actors do justice to their complex roles.Music is a driving force for this film and aids in each scene. Whilethe movie can get confusing and the third act feels a bit contrived,the film's charm and sweetness more than makes up for it. I give it4/5, There's enough entertainment and lovable moments to overlook anymissteps.

ketank-480-180431

(2013-05-20 10:48:35)

Masterpiece

There are very few movies which can create an impression withsimplicity. Well, this movie does more than that !Movies now a days rely on nudism, double entendre duologue's,item-numbers or Khan power to entertain masses. Well, this movie doesit with acting, sheer acting.Barfi is an excellent masterpiece and must watch for all movie fans outthere. A beautifully crafted movie whose story travels back and forthin different time frames with small twists and turns to keep usentertained.Story is simple. But screenplay, songs ( with nice lyrics) andexcellent direction along with very very good acting - all help to makeit a masterpieceHats off to Anurag Basu and below mentioned actors to help create thismasterpiece.Actors - * Ranbir is awesome in this movie. One of the few young starswho do not rely on his muscles but sheer acting to keep us entertainedthroughout the movie. His acting keeps us laughing and also picks ouremotional chord in some scenes. * Priyanka too acts really well, withher expressions and her body language conveys a thousand words whenshown as a person with autism. We are very lucky to have an actress whocan act among all the other actresses who can only strip. * Ileana wasalso good in her debut movie and her expressions added more flavor tothe movie.* Saurabh shukla is too good.Overall message in the movie - Love only needs expression and you canbe happy only with your true loveRating - 10/10

Tomal D

(2013-05-19 17:39:38)

Treat for the Eyes

This emotionally fantastic comedy captures the moment for viewers ofmost ages. It has no typical Indian fight scene where the actor beatseveryone and wins and neither does it have any song with extremedances. The songs are intertwined splendidly with the sequence of thefilm. Ranbir Kapoor's acting grasp's everyone. Priyanka Chopra'sautistic movements where she blinks half the time she was in thepictures gives a clear view of an autistic person. Ileana D'Cruz givesa narration that would sound almost of an elderly person.It's a treat to watch and teaches everyone to take risk in life,because without taking risks, there is no meaning of life.

Vismay Harani

(2013-05-18 18:27:29)

A silent ballad!!

'Picture shuru, huyi picture shuru………………' Even before the film started,'Barfi!' gave a reason to smile. In the divine settings of Darjeeling,in its narrow streets and alleyways, the ubiquitous rail linescircuiting all over the beautiful hill station and in the hearts of thesimple minded residents (lucky them!), this movie had a feel goodquality that leaves our heart warm and mellow. Plus, I must say, whatuse is a beauty if not properly captured on a photographic film? Greatjob done by the cinematographers!! But hadn't it been due to thestellar performances of Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, this movie,inspite of the picturesque settings, might have been bland andlackluster. A poignant portrayal of an autistic girl by PriyankaChopra, I must say kudos to her acting acumen because no other actressworthy of her salt might have succeeded in doing what she had achieved.Ranbir ("Barfi!") Kapoor a.k.a. Raj Kapoor, a.k.a. Mr. Bean, achievesthrough his silence what the gun toting, expletive spewing and loudlyguffawing protagonists (be it Salman Kan or Akshay Kumar) of SouthernReplicas could not achieve - merit in their performance. Even thenewbie Ileana D' Cruz fits in the shoes of Shruti Sengupta quitenaturally. She is here to stay in Bollywood. But everything hinges onthe shoulders of the puppeteer to see through the successful executionof the act, and to use the banal phrase, Anurag Basu (Director/Writer)is a dab hand at it! Revolving around three different timelines, AnuragBasu has succeeded in making this story seamless, which if not handledproperly might have seen troubles sprouting out from every nook andcranny. Well, I won't reveal the storyline. I even hope that you won'topen Wikipedia to check out the story. Because as Alfred Hitchcocksaid, "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."Of course, he meant it for spine chillers, but the message remainsvalidated. Though slowing down a wee bit in the second half, this movieis indeed a success, as according to me it has succeeded what it hasendeavored to portray, that 'Love is unadulterated, 100% pure.'

Hamish Joy

(2013-05-18 13:25:41)

Slapstick, but dramatic at the same time; and it works!

Ten minutes into the movie, I thought it was a movie with an identitycrisis. It didn't know whether to be serious or slapstick. It hadChaplinesque chase sequences, but melodrama in places. But just a few minutes later, I realized that yes, it was a mix ofextremes - it was a no holds barred slapstick, but it dealt withserious issues like death and murder, but it worked surprisingly well.It talks about the adventures/ mishaps surrounding the life of Barfi, ahappy-go- lucky guy who lives in Darjeeling, trying to live a pleasantand cheerful life despite being handicapped from birth (he is a deafmute); how he faces love, financial problems, and being chased aroundby bungling cops for an assortment of crimes.Clear inspirations from Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton (with somesequences directly taken from the classic oldies). I also recognizedsome work from Jackie Chan, but since Jackie himself was alwaysinspired by the early Hollywood comedies, I guess overall, the tributewas to the black and white movie era.They have also used the recurring gag of actual musicians in key scenesplaying the movie's background score from 'There's something aboutMary'.It was a silent era movie set in the modern times, like Kamal Hassan'sold 'Pushpak'. While 'Pushpak' offered no reason for the silence itprojected, 'Barfi!' stays largely silent because the central characteris a deaf mute, which is integral to the plot and most of the comedysequences.Priyanka Chopra stars as the autistic girl from a rich family who getstangled in Barfi's life. The first few minutes of her appearance, Ifelt she was trying out a bad imitation of Dustin Hoffman's 'Rain Man'.Unsuccessfully. (Of course, unsuccessfully. Rain Man remainsuntouchable) But later on, her sequences were better, and felt morenatural.The key to the movie's success is Ranbir Kapoor. I always pegged himfor a decent actor, but with this movie, he has proved himself to beamong the best. The way he handled conversations in the movie was trulyastounding. He didn't use the standard deaf mute sign language, butpreferred to communicate via gestures that anybody could understand.And he did it in such a way that I don't think there's a singlesentence or sentiment that could have been missed by the audiencethroughout the movie. Also, his unspoken dialogs were done in the rightpace; conversations did not seem belabored, stretched, delayed or outof place. He even managed to bring in the right tone of the dialogsthroughout the movie. It was masterfully done.All things considered, I would give the movie 9 out of 10 stars.

kkk_smiles143

(2013-05-17 03:57:32)

invest a bit of patience, you will be paid with incredibly happy emotions

Item number, mass masala fights, powerful dialogs, duets with heroines,bare-bodies, hot scenes. Tare zameen par might be the last movie (nowBarfi) that I have watched without any of above mentioned so calledcommercial elements of Indian cinema. Barfi, can certainly be aclassic. After the movie, you do not remember story or scenes, onlycharacters emotions. Every character is a portrayal of emotions, fromBarfi to policeman. You do not realize the disability of lead pair, youonly feel love for each other. For sure you will watch climax again andagain.Though movie stands as a respectable film, some scenes were lifted fromfamous Charlie Chaplin comedies (Police door sliding scene, see-sawwith ladder on wall, Barfi wakes up on inaugural statue scene). Investa bit of patience, you will be paid with a powerful emotion ofhappiness.

kodalishanthu

(2013-05-16 14:56:55)

A Non-sense

Neither entertainment nor message, or anything else.For some time, of about 20 minutes of the film you can not understandanything except a guy trying to make some comedy(but you can not senseor feel the comedy because there is no subject) like Charlie Chaplin,with a music in the back ground like Charlie Chaplin movies. What thedirector wants to tell the viewers nobody knows. After 20 or 30 minutesonly it is got to understand about the speaking and hearingimpairedness of the male lead.All actions of the male and female leads are nowhere related to anystory, rather some story is framed to show the acting talent of themale and female leads.If the director or producer really believes that both the male andfemale leads are very talented actors(I am not saying that they are nottalented actors, but in this movie there is no story which requirestalent) it may be proved with a good story. But an attempt to show thatthey are very talented actors doesn't make a good story.I don't believe that this movie has any thing to be nominated forOscar, and if it is sent, it is gunshot sure it will remain in the lastof all entries.The reason for nominatin such movie could be a regional partiality forthe director or others.

rangdetumpy

(2013-05-16 03:27:48)

Don't worry; be Barfi...Always....

The moment you take your seat,you are greeted with a background voice &music much before the movie actually starts transferring the wholeaudience to the innocent world of Barfi,much before the actual moviecommences. At the surface level it's a simple story about a deaf andmute poor boy.He was named after the famous Murphy radio company butwithin the limitations of his speaking disability he used to utter hisname in such a way it sounded "Barfi".Thus innocent journey of jollyBarfi begins who is loved by all,bringing smile to all.He falls for thebeautiful Shruti who reciprocates but then being uncertain about thefuture of the relationship couldn't hold onto it.Meanwhile Barfi fallsfor autistic Jhilmil,his childhood friend and thus follows an cutejourney of love,friendship,hope by which the 3 lives gets intertwinedand changed forever. Basu deserves a running ovation for histreatment.Starting with present day Darjeeling we see an aged Barfigoing steadily towards a camera with the frame shifting to aged Shrutiwho starts narrating her experience with Barfi.From there the film goesback to 1978 Kolkata from where it shifts to 1970 Darjeeling.The usageof back and forth narrative has been executed with utter precision. Itis difficult to handle three time-frames in a film but Basu's treatmentmade it look effortless.I could never have expected such a narrativestyle in mainstream Bollywood and that also for a romantic film.Thefilm about two disabled characters is like walking on the edge.A slightexaggeration would have led to melodrama and that never happened.Theaudience could empathize with Barfi and thus becomes a part of hisjourney of love,innocence and above all the quest for Happiness.Thefilm tells you to hold on to your loved ones. Barfi knows hisshortcomings and has his share of insecurities.He is afraid of losinghis best friend or lady love and to test his relationship he used tocut a lamppost and stand at a distance from it holding his friend'shand.He would keep a bottle in front of them and every time the postwould fall just in front of them breaking that bottle.In this way heused to test the strength of his relationship.The sequence has beenused subtly to capture the relationship of Barfi with Shruti andJhilmil.Most of the film is silent yet there are layers of language within itwhich is left to the viewers for interpretation.The little dialogues inthe film are itself gems.One such is said by Shruti about herrelationship with her present husband that even though they could speakthe burden of words had only literary meaning but no feeling whileBarfi's silent gestures could emote more than that. The Chou dancesequence in some village of West Bengal tighten the dream and realityof Barfi-Jhilmil's life;a sequence where both loosens themselves whilethey dance insanely to the beats.The scene is a slap to man-madesophistication that bounds an individual to live against his own will.Technically the film is flawless.Poddar's production design deservesaward for recreating 70s Kolkata & Darjeeling without flaw.Thedetailing being taken care of for the continuity of shot needs to beappreciated.Verman's camera is another hero of the film.Barfi's worldis like a canvas which had been captured with apt use of variouscolours which reflects Barfi's ampleness of Life.Basu's visual imageryreflects his creative depth which get's captured by Verman's lens.Evenwhile dealing with the characters the camera angles are rigorouslythought of.Whenever we see anything through the eyes of Barfi thesurroundings gets blurred as Barfi concentrates on one person and readthem.The editing is top-notch.With a film with non-linear narrative onehas to be perfect with editing.Music is superb.With an orchestra likesetting the background music elevated the silent scenes.Pritam's musicreally helps in pushing the narrative with apt lyrics.This is probablythe best album of the year with Wasseypur. Ranbir Kapoor sealed thefact that he is in competition with only himself.His choice of filmshows his thirst for excellence.He brings Barfi to life with hisinfectious smile and expressive eyes.He has the charm and innocencewhich he uses to his favour.Ileana makes a promising debut with herportrayal of Shruti.With saree clad she looked the perfect Bengalihousewife,the epitome of love and purity.With her expressive eyes shenosedives into heart of audience.Her strive against impression andgestures with her mother shows typical human insecurity to chosebetween love and social security.Towards the climax one could feel thevacuum in her heart.Priyanka Chopra has showed her capabilities with 7Khoon Maaf and goes one step ahead with Jhilmil Chatterjee,the sweetautistic girl who is unwanted in her family and is raised at Muskan–ahome for child with disabilities.While SRK was stiff in My Name is Khanhere we see a performance that brings out the nuances of the disabilitymore naturally.Though at few scenes she kind of reacted as if she is aretard but the next moment her following dialogue complimented heraction thus looking satisfactory.Saurabh Shukla is one of the greatestalbeit under-used actors and as Inspector Dutta he shows severalemotions running over different time span.His Chaplin-esque sequenceswith Barfi bring in pure laughter which is sadly missing nowadays.Akashkhurana as Barfi's father is effective.Roopa Ganguly is sophisticatedlyrestrained as Shruti's mother and the mother-daughter relationship istoo real.Haradhan Banerjee as Dadu is brilliant.He is one of the finestactors of Indian cinema who was discovered by legendary Ray.Recently hehas been insufficiently used by Bengali film industry.Ashish Vidyarthiis fine as always.The person who played Jang Bahadur is good.JishuSengupta in a small role fits in.The whole off-beat casting went infavour of the film. Overall Barfi is a visual treat with captivatingperformance that brings smile.Surely Chaplin,Buster Keaton would havepraised Basu's effort of creating a silent world which is soexpressive.It will be benchmark for Indian love stories.There is lot tolearn from Barfi..lot to follow.Listen to your heart.And Don't worry;be Barfi..Always.

rjrenju

(2013-05-15 19:22:15)

Wow, I Juz witnessed a masterpiece..

I must say that I Juz watched a masterpiece cinema. Special thanks toone of my friend who took me to the theater to watch this movie.Initially, I was not that much interested in watching this in theater.But, after watching this, I am having no words to praise the people whois behind this great film. There is a saying that nothing can beperfect, but in this movie, I think everything was perfect. A beautifullove story, which has everything like happiness, emotions, sentiments.It will show us how to love, irrespective of being dumb, deaf, orabnormal. After wake up Sid, Rockstar etc, we know that Ranbir is agood actor. But, after seeing this, I feel that he is the Best. I wassurprised by the performance of Priyanka chopra. My God, it was extraordinary, I felt like she is really abnormal. It would be very bad ifshe didn't get a national award for this performance. Illeana was alsocharming. Overall, the film was Brilliant. I am giving 10 out of 10.Don't miss this movie..

coolmaxr

(2013-05-14 23:28:39)

An Indian Version of Chaplin's hilarious act.

A rare occasion when i watched a movie two times before i write aboutit, this was to be done because i don't want to miss on any detail ofthis beautifully crafted, excellently captured, and tremendouslyexpressed. this movie have every feeling, love, happiness, friendship,sadness, madness, innocence, comedy, jealousy, insecurity,naive,andmost of all the beautiful performances by every character in the movie,talk about music, that's there after every reasonable gap and at aproper place, so the songs go with the flow of the story. one of thepritam da's best work so far, beautifully written and sung songs. mohitchauhan yet again with title song gives the opening stroke to themovie. Talk about Ranbeer Kapoor, he has grown so much within past fewyear that no can say that this boy has his debut in 2008, watching himdoing comedy is like watching a motion pictures of Charlie Chaplin, hehas performed so well that every performance is impossible to carrywithout his. other character who left a mark are SaurabhShukla(Inspector) & Priyanka Chopra(Jhilmil) These two character neverwent under the cloud of Ranbeer, This movie had few mistakes and thereare few scenes taken exactly from some movies, like the whole characterof mother is taken from The Notebook, Her every scene is a part of thatmovie and is been played in same way no modifications had been done.The death scene in the end was also from the Notebook. few comic scenesare taken from Chaplin's earlier movies like Modern Times. thus have togive it 9 stars out of ten, but this movie is worth watching.

shubh_328-471-817687

(2013-05-14 09:38:32)

Pure , Honest and Innocent. Watch it for Ranbir and Priyanka...

It's a time in bollywood where we can see some 'heavy' commercialcinema being made such as 'Bol Bachhan', 'Ek Tha Tiger' where everyoneare just talking about those 100 or 200 crore barriers. It's now amoney grabbing fight for those hundered of crores. So why does 'AnuragBasu comes up with a movie like 'BARFI' where his lead actor or actressdoes not get to have any dialogues or lines to speak where they can getthose hooting and the whistles from the public (like the usual 'oneliners' which are religiously followed in Bollywood). Well, to tellyou, it does not matter one bit because 'BARFI' beautifully manages tohold you despite being more of a 'Silent Cinema'. BARFI is the story of a deaf and mute boy played by Ranbir Kapoor,through which Anurag Basu tries to gives us a message that, we all aresurrounded with happinness all around us, it's just that we arestrangled up so much in our daily life of artificial complexities thatwe don't recognize the little any tiny things that are capable ofgiving us immense happinness, peace and comfort. Priyanka Chopra'scharacter too is one which is suffering from a disease known as'Autism'. It's a disorder of one's neural system. Priyanka plays thecharacter of the disabled girl with absolute brilliance where we canreally feel for her. She easily manages to hold the audiences at theirperfect nerve.BARFI is mostly a 'Silent film, where almost the entire movie is innarrative, but, this really does not even slightly affects it in anybad way and therefore hats off to Anurag, Ranbir, Priyanka and Pritam(Music Director) for that. The movie has got arguably the most soulfulmusic of 2012. A movie in which you don't have any verbal connectionamong the lead actors, the music does that part in a very justifiedmanner. The bond of Ranbir and Priyanka gets strengthenend inside theminds of the audiences mainly because of the soulful music which soundsabolutely soothing to the ear.Barfi may be a movie not for everyone. The movie has its certaindrawbacks. There are quite a few moments in the film which tends tobore the audience at more than one instances. That said, it iscertainly not a movie to miss out. There are a number of sequenceswhere you will laugh your hearts out.Talking about Ranbir Kapoor, his acting skills has polished up sovividly that its so much fascinating to see. Ever since 'Rocket Singh'his skill as an actor has improved a lot. Ranbir who was just awesomein 'Rockstar' , plays this deaf and mute character surprisingly with somuch ease and charm. This is among the best performances given by bothRanbir as well as Priyanka recently. As far as Illeana D'Cruz, I reallydid'nt find her connecting with the plot of the film at any stage.Although, the screen presence of Illeana may be more than that ofPriyanka but Priyanka easily takes you away with her innocence. Thereare times when you want to see more of Ranbir and Priyanka momentsrather than with Illeana.Barfi really could have been a great film but what kills it is itsruntime. Its too long, which adds up the boredom and enables theaudiences to yawn a bit too.Well , Otherwise Barfi is certainly a must watch. You will not hate it,though its not guaranteed that you will really love it. Decide foryourself, I liked it. Its a sincere effort from Anurag Basu and histeam to present to the public one of the most pure and innocent filmfor 2012. Watch it for Ranbir and Priyanka.

Abhishek Dey

(2013-05-14 16:48:30)

Barfi! is magical and it leaves you spellbound.....

When I've seen the trailer of this movie first, I thought it would besome petty copy of some of the works by the maestro charlie chaplin.But this movie proved me wrong, yes many comedy sequences are copiedfrom chaplin movies but it is much more than just comedy it's about howthe two rather silent character (Barfi/murphy and Jhilmil) became soloud in their love. And the third character and the narrator (Shruti)also created ample space for her.This movie is a real tribute to SirCharles Spencer Chaplin.N.B. : There are some loopholes in the story, It would be better if thesequence where shruti's mother tells about her first love were notcopied from "The notebook".

Nandini Roy

(2013-05-13 22:31:49)

Mixture of all the feelings.

Fantastic locations, the era shown, reminds me my childhood.Excellentcinematography,bang on music; it goes with the era, characters,emotions,on the whole "FATA FATI". I found resemblance of few sceneswith "The notebook" movie. Glad to see "Kallu mama" Saurabh Shukla, heis as usual natural, naughty and entertaining, only change is he hasput on some more. Story line is catchy, RK's and PC's acting isoutstanding. So far, I have seen the best of both of them, in Barfi.And of course D'cruz, she is fresh and justifies the character. When Iread that Anurag Basu is the director(Kites was ???), I was doubtfulhowever Ranbir and Priyanka convinced me when I saw the trailers. Andthis time Anurag has proved again. Loads of emotions at the same time.If you are crying, in another moment you are laughing and you can'tcontrol it. Many heart touching moments.I don't know when I startedcrying along with them. Anurag has left the job of synchronization onaudience. Need to pay attention while watching. Its worth spendingtime. I loved it. Watch it.

rohan bhardwaj

(2013-05-13 16:47:55)

Stupendous! Leaves you speechless, you crave for more.

OK. The on going trend in movies: gravity-zero kung-fu fist fights,idiotic flawed stories. In the end one thought "Oh God! I wasted myhardly earned bucks on these movies". Although, I hate watching thetrendy copied albeit flawed Bollywood flicks and its been a long timewhen I saw a Hindi movie. But then, "barfi" arrives. The dominion ofRanbir Kapoor is still on. Although, he is no "khan" but that's a boonfor him. I entered the Theater with a trauma of "Ek Tha Tiger",thinking that this movie might lead the expectations. Hall isjam-packed, people whispering their own reviews, girls starving forRanbir, boys hooting for Ileana and between this hustle and bustle,movie begins. And it takes you away from the very first appearance ofthat song "Picture Shuru". The story never leaves you. Although youkeep on guessing what will happen next, but you're proved wrong in theend. People compared Ranbir's performance with Chaplin and his Grandfather, Raj Kapoor, but let me clear out, Ranbir is a part of theirclan now. Kudos! The songs leaves you with smiley tears,Ranbir-Ileana-Priyanka's performances leaves you speechless, stunned,numb. The bitter-sweet relationships of these three beautiful youngcharacters, Murphi aka Barfi (Ranbir Kapoor), Shruti (Ileana D'cruz)and Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra) will not bore you out. You won't ask foran Intermission too. It will force you to say "What a brilliantlyfantabulous piece of work". A movie for all. Even if this movie had nodialogs, a silent film, it would have been the same touchy flick. Warning: Not for the people who does not respect art.

elixir-thapa

(2013-05-12 20:50:17)

Love has no boundary.

some movies are remembered for years and barfi is one of them in Indiancinema. Barfi relies almost entirely on it's actors. Ranbir Kapoor isabsolutely brilliant. He slips into the skin of his character andbrings it to life – all without a single dialogue. His charisma, smile,facial expressions work big time. Undoubtedly one of the bestperformances of the year so far. As for Priyanka, in one of thetoughest roles of her career, she delivers a stellar performance. Neverfor a second do you realize it's her – a huge compliment for any actor.Ileana D'Cruz makes a confident debut, apart from her crooked teeth shelooks lovely on-screen. Ranbir's mannerisms deserves a special mentionhere – everything from the way he combs his hair, carries his weirdhairstyle and even the way he rides his cycle make for a fun watch.

Himanshu Manroa

(2013-05-12 05:19:21)

This Barfi! is colder than stone-cold Barf!

It's a cold Turkey! Whatever it was a chaplinesque comedy? Poeticromance? Love between physically disabled couple? Or as itself declaredin the movie "ek bakwaas jasoosi novel!" Doesn't Move, doesn't Engage,doesn't Entertain! Frankly it does nothing in its never-ending runningtime.Why do they make such films? Who story-boards them? Who and why mountsthem, sanction them? Why do production houses back it? Why do actorsget super-excited about these futile exercises to exhibit their actingskills? It's a woeful waste of great resources – the cast and crewincluded- in such self-indulgent exercises. Just pencilling in a coupleof physically disabled characters doesn't really qualify for greatcinema. Barfi! for most part of it comes across as a contrived andmanipulative effort, trying too hard to be too cute.Dear Ranbir Kapoor, we have seen enough of your range as a powerhouseperformer. Wake Up Sid, Rajneeti, Rocket Singh, Rockstar,Barfi!...phew! Yes, my friend, you are an actor par excellence, the newkid on the block, the most promising newcomer…and all that jazz! Butit's time we move beyond this audition show-reel of yours and get intosome real movies. It's time you emerge from the 'most-promising'category and actually deliver on those promises. Some real seeti-maarand in your Rockstar-lingo, some real palang-tod entertainment! Thelarger than life Khan-Akki-Devgn stuff. Or if that's too much to askfor, at least some frothy breezy romance of the Saif variety.OK, fair enough. Even if we take off the entertainment bit and startlooking at Barfi! as an artistic-beautiful work, it doesn't really cutmuch ice (much Barf in this case). The direction is too flawed, andfails miserably in trying to be too intellectual, too layered. Thedirector Anurag Basu continues to suffer from the 'Kites' hangover andassumes a back-and-forth narrative to be a great technique for greatmovies. It didn't work for Kites. And it most definitely won't forBarfi! either.The thriller bit doesn't work. The physical disability of the leadcouple appears to be too force-fitted. And finally, the end-product isa confused exercise that seems to be based out of a neverland. It goesfrom nowhere to nowhere. All the characters and situations come acrossas cardboard cut-outs, caricaturish. As if everyone out there wastrying to impress (look I can act, look I can direct) rather thanexpress.Sorry, I can't be a pseudo-intellectual and praise this so-calledmasterpiece, when I was dozing off throughout this yawn-inducing Barfi!Three thumbs down for this torture – for the movie, for the directorand for myself for listening to fake glowing reviews! The onlyredeeming feature – a superb 'Picchar shuru!' song at the start of themovie.

nirvaanin

(2013-05-11 11:54:42)

Barfi..A Class apart!!

The movie took off in a novel fashion, and certainly brought smiles tothe faces of audience, which they kept wearing till the end. Veryrarely, do you see a movie, which ends with an applause, a round ofcheer by almost everyone present (Not the, Sunny Deol or Salman Khantypes). Barfi!, for one, is a part of that privileged genre. Yes, he isdeaf and dumb, she is autistic, but the equation they share isunparalleled. Already enough has been said and written about theclassic roles essayed by versatile Ranbir, gutsy Priyanka and beautifulIleana (I loved her Bong Bahu look!), and of course the vision of craftmaster Anurag Basu (Yes, the same guy who made Kites), but I can't helpwriting even more. There are moments which leave you smiling, whichleaves your eyes moist, but in the end this movie makes you happy!How aperson riddled with so many troubles manages to stay happy and giveaway his signature smile even in the worst of circumstances, makes youforget your miseries. I know, it might sound a bit cheesy, but yes,that's the effect it has! They deserve all the accolades and theappreciation they are getting, and the audience are loving it. What Ihope is, this movie goes on to be a mega hit, just like the Singhams'and Ek Tha Tigers' and the BodyGuards',(in fact it deserves to be muchbigger than those), but as I write this I know this is not going to be.If it does, it will certainly motivate the directors, and moreimportantly the producers to invest in such scripts, the 'hatke' one's,not the so called mainstream cinema. Although there has been a lot ofsuch films making waves (along with money) in the recent past, thelikes of Kahaani, Vicky Donor, Wasseypur topping the list. Succinctly Iwould say this is impeccable cinema, completely Hollywood material.(May be I am overrating it, but then that's what I feel!)Barfi mightgive away some traces of Charlie Chaplin, Mr. Beans, or Raj Kapoor butthen what matters is, it's simplicity and silence subtly manages totickle you and touch 'that' corner in your heart! P.S: Darjeeling is myfavorite hill station, and the Chhau Dance sequence was terrific. Andyes, I hoped to see the 'Fatafati' number in the end, but alas!