Full on entertainer

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

Barfi

Genre: Romantic comedy

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana D’Cruz, Rahul Garg, Saurabh Shukla, Rupa Ganguly, Bhola Raja Sapkota

Director: Anurag Basu

Being screened at theatres near you

KATHMANDU: Love has no boundaries. Once a person is in love, life becomes more meaningful and beautiful — this is what Barfi depicts. And director Anurag Basu has captured the moments of love and romance in a colourful way. The movie has bittersweet incidents that take place in Barfi’s (Ranbir Kapoor) life.

Barfi, a deaf-and-mute young boy but full of energy, lives with his father in Darjeeling. His actual name is Murphy named after a radio brand by his parents. But while he tells people his name, they tend to hear it as ‘Barfi’, thus, he is called Barfi.

Barfi determines his close ones in unique way — he cuts a lamppost and stands still with a person in some distance away from the point where the lamp post would fall down. The logic is if the person stands with him while the lamp post falls down, Barfi believes that s/he is going to be with him forever. He does this test to Shruti Gosh (Ilenna D’ Cruz) his first love, Bhola (Bhola Raj Sapkota) his best friend, and Jilmil Chatterji (Priyanka Chopra). Meanwhile, the story moves forward in a narrative form where every character talks about how Barfi has created a special space in their hearts.

The scene where Barfi is chased by inspector for kidnapping and robbing bank will make you laugh.

Barfi annoying people with his silly acts — like pinching, combing hair, cycling and doing whatever he feels like doing has been portrayed so beautifully that it has made the movie worth watching.

The settings of tea garden of Darjeeling, crowd of Kolkata, the market place with Goddess Durga’s life sized sculptures in the backdrop, are beautifully shown.

All the characters have played important roles to move the story forward. Even without any dialogues Kapoor will impress you with his naughty mood and his actions speak more than words. Whether he is sad or happy, angry or anxious, his actions have very well defined his moods. You cannot imagine any other actor in place of Kapoor.

Chopra as an autistic and an unconditional lover has done justice to the character where she is portrayed as totally unglamorous. Still, she will charm you through her character. On the other hand Cruz as Barfi’s first love has left some mark in the movie. Sapkota, as his best friend, is realistic who is always shown helping Barfi. Though he appears in a few scenes only, he has done an okay job.

The songs and background music, especially the tune of the accordion, will buzz in your mind even after getting out of the theatre. Three cheers for the director on exploring the unknown world of deaf-and-mute.