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
