Barfi gives "Kuch Meetha ho jaaye" a whole new meaning

The movie puts a smile on your face as soon as you enter the cinema. Its a beautiful cinema experience that is almost like the Sunday morning tea or a cozy blanket on a cold morning in the hills and appropriately enough the movie is shot in the hilly landscape of Darjeeling.

Although the movie involves a deaf and mute boy and an autistic girl in the backdrop of 1970s where this was considered a disease, the story is NOT about the hardships of people with special abilities but primarily about relationships. And trust me when i say this - each emotion is so well captured and each frame speaks a story on its own. Even though the protaganist hardly says even a word in the movie, yet your eyes are always glued on to the screen. Its very rare in today's world that cinema speaks to you without words and yet leaves a lasting impact.

The movie is about the life of Murphy - who calls himself Barfee as he cannot pronounce his name, played by Ranbir Kapoor. He’s a happy-go-lucky deaf-mute boy in Darjeeling, always playing pranks and running from a local cop (Saurabh Shukla). Barfi falls in love with a pretty Shruti (Ileana D’cruz), who is already engaged and cannot be with him. Later His life finds new meaning when he’s saddled with his childhood friend Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra), an autistic girl belonging to a wealthy local family, who he tries to kidnap to gather money for his ailing father.

The great thing about the movie is the simplicity of its characters. The whole cast performed brilliantly - Ranbir steals the show as the silent protagonist and adds so many shades to a rather simple character. Both the ladies in the movie have acted outstandingly especially the new comer Illeana D'Cruz, who shines as the lovely lass in love with Barfi, and conveys both love and pain through her expressive eyes. Priyanka Chopra gives a career-best performance as an autistic child never going overboard and keeping the character believable and very likable.The best thing about the actors was that they never made any of the character look caricature-ish or stereotypical, which most such stories tend to do.

One of the best scenes of the movie is when Barfi is conflicted and irritated about the fact that she chose another man yet wants to wish them well. In the next scene, Barfi wordlessly acknowledges that he is not a good choice for her by gesturing towards his torn pockets, his ripped shoe, his inability to hear or speak. At that point your heart goes out for him. And towards the end the scene where Jhilmil is calling Barfi and he's walking away and cannot hear her calling, Shruti is conflicted as to whether to tell Barfi and lose him to this girl or to keep walking and have him for herself, is performed so beautifully by the expressive Ileana.

There is a lot of old school charm in most funny scenes in the movie. They are chaplin-esque in nature and since these have been imitated several times on cinema all over the world, its difficult to make these moments look fresh. But Ranbir makes is seem enjoyable and charming with his acting skill and not surprising so considering his grandfather Raj Kapoor was considered Charlie Chaplin of India.

I cannot even begin to talk about the cinematography and photography as i was left speechless by the sheer skill. Each moment leaves a feel good smile and lasting emotional lump in the throat because it is so well captured, so beautifully portrayed that i can only stand and clap for the Art team of this movie.

Its not without its flaws and the storytelling becomes too slowpaced for my liking and flashbacks are somewhat confusing sometimes. But the overall effect of the movie is so beautiful that you ignore whatever was wrong about the movie and admire the sheer skill shown by the actors and the cinematographer. The beautiful moments far overweigh the flawed ones. Everyone who would come out of the theater will have a smile on their face.

Acting by the cast: Outstanding
Direction: Superb
Cinematography & Photography: Fantastic
Overall Impact: Beautiful Cinema Experience

Rating: 8.5/10

This Spider weaves deep webs

Writing a review after a really long time... Rusty fingers Eh..

If you are not a fan of the other spidey movies like me... then u are gonna love this movie and even if you are a fan, you still might like the movie. To tell u the truth Andrew Garfield as Spiderman looked lame misfit to me in the trailers as Toby seemed to have more mysterious personality which suited the portrayal of a nerdy confused Peter Parker. But I was pleasantly surprised with Andrew's performance as he added depth and silent charm with his personality and solid acting . 

Its the same old story of a young nerd who is bullied and his journey after being bitten by a spider, punishing bullies to finally saving the world, but each frame still feels so different that it feels refreshingly original. Despite being familiar with the premise, I still watched with full attention. Infact the movie starts with background to Peter Parker's early life and story of his parents which was good way to start a already know plot. Yes, its a little slow paced compared to fast paced action packed previous spidey movies, but at the same time much more mature & grown up portrayal of the spiderlike superhero


Andrew Garfield plays the character with a silent charisma and a lot of emotional depth and unlike Toby, this Peter Parker is not as nerdy as shown in previous movies. Infact in opening 10 mins i was wondering where the trademark Peter nerd Spectacles were. Emma stone as Gwen is way better a girlfriend portrayal than a icy expression-ed Kirsten Dunst. Their chemistry is sparkling and you want them to be together. Especially the scenes where he shares his secret and uses the web to catch her and swivel her towards him or the scene when he looks into her eyes before he throws her out of school window to catch her n save her. Don't wait for Irfaan's character with baited breath... he will be off screen before u know it


Its no avengers w.r.t action but still worth your time. Watch it for charming chemistry of the leads and Garfield's new approach to Peter Parker role. If this was facebook i'd say "LIKE" 


Rating: 7.5/10

Story is the real hero in "Kahaani"

The impact that i got after coming out of the cinema - Solid direction, Solid acting & Solid story.

Kahani starts with a story of Vidya Balan playing the helpless Mrs Bagchi, who has arrived from London in search of her missing husband Arnab. With a good-hearted rookie cop helping her in her search, Vidya walks through all corners of Kolkata. But all leads go cold – the guesthouse he was staying at, the National Data Center where he'd been assigned, even the Indian immigration authorities have no records of Arnab Bagchi. Giving out any more of the story would be letting out spoilers and it needs to be enjoyed while watching it.

The whole movie is shrouded in mystery and everytime it seems like you figured it out, the plot thickens. Sometimes the movie crawls at a casual pace but the twists and turns in the story keep the mystery alive right till the last scene. The story is so refreshingly original and shooting in real locations in Kolkatta adds a lot of character to the movie. The camera captures kolkatta so passionately that you fall in love with it.The movie wasn't about Kolkatta but it sure gave us a flavor of Bengali life. The cameraman deserves a pat on the back for paying attention to little details in portraying the story and capturing each moment vividly. The scene where Vidya falls off the platform to the approaching train was spectacularly captured. The movie is woven so well together that most times, i cant put my finger on what was better - the performance, the story or the art direction.

The star of the show was Vidya Balan who displays a quiet elegance about her acting and yet is instantly likeable as a character. But the real hero of the movie is the script/story (and the writer) which managed to be completely original and edge-of-the-seat gripping. Its very rare to find such good scripts on celluloid and great characters which add the real weight to the story. Each character in the movie stood out on their own whether it was creepy smiling assassin Bob Biswas or the simple good hearted rookie policeman Rana or even the chotu who does odd jobs at Vidya's hotel. Its amazing how little things from the movie like - daak naam & Bhalo naam and characters style of Bob Biswas have already become a part of Indian parlance after the movie.

Double thumbs up for the director, story-writer and Vidya (not bidya ;)), watch it for a superb story and a solid movie-making style.

Rating: 8/10