Barfi!

Written and directed by Anurag Basu would typically give you a “don’t know” feeling if and when you had considered what Barfi! would be like. Isn’t it? What with his previous debacle with Kites. One can never predict what our man is capable of. But with Ranbir Kapoor and the trailers, one would have expected a good fare.

The only worry in my mind was the 4.5 on 5 rating that India’s #1 tabloid had given the movie yesterday. That is something you can never trust. I was expecting a good story with a stellar performance from Ranbir and Priyanka. And that’s exactly what I got. Definitely not a 4.5 on 5. Closer to a 3.5 on 5 as a movie ergo 7 on 10 by my scale.

Add to that, the music from Pritam was also different – but then again it will probably be a matter of time before you are told that it was ripped off from the music of some exotic Central African country. Till such a time, I think we can enjoy the very classic 60s tunes made in a very jazzy fashion.

Murphy (Ranbir Kapoor) aka Barfi! is a twenty something (one can only assume) young man somewhere in 1972 in Darjeeling. A gorgeous tweenager, Shruti (Ileana D’Cruz) enters his life and Barfi! is floored out of his wits. He maybe a deaf mute but his eyes say a lot. And in a matter of a few hours, he proposes his love for Shruti. But, as luck would have it, Shruti is already spoken for by Ranjit a college senior and the engagement is three months away.

Simultaneously, a story is developing between Barfi! and Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra). Jhilmil and Barfi! grew up together. Jhilmil is autistic and responds to only her Daju who runs a home for special kids. When Barfi!’s father needs to be operated for a kidney failure and all attempts to raise money fail, our hero decides to play along with a kidnapping that’s gone wrong. He uses Jhilmil to get the 7K required for the surgery.

If I were to wear my critic’s hat then I thought a few things were really bad in the movie. To begin with, from the first frame itself, Ileana’s make up is atrocious to say the least. Ditto for the young cast who were required to look like they were 70+. And there were several over the top sequences. Lastly, it could have done with at least 30 minutes of scissors.

But on the good side, Anurag Basu manages to keep you glued to the screen for nearly 2.5 hours. Amidst all the tears (Cannot deny that I shed a tear or two), the story definitely touches you in the right places. The performances pretty much seal the deal. Probably the best performances of the year to date. Ranbir maybe in line for a back to back. Piggy Chops flirted with some overacting but was very good overall - may not bag the best actress thanks to Miss Balan but will run her really close.

Barfi! may not be the movie of the year but it will definitely be in the top 5 of the year to date. My top 5 in that order would be Gangs of Wasseypur, Vicky Donor, Paan Singh Tomar, Barfi! and Shanghai. Make it a part of your weekend for certain. And carry some tissue paper. You are bound to need it.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZxrao3zou4

Always Kabhi Kabhi

Dear Roshan Abbas – When someone makes his first movie it should ideally be an original story line. If not there should be at least some semblance of originality if not completely original. But ripping off an entire Hollywood flick to the extent that it has been – GAWD!!!! Have some shame. We are definitely an Indian audience but we definitely have our resources to watch Hollywood flicks. Plus the DVDs of High School Musical 1, 2 and 3 have been sold as a box pack for over 2 years now. You have actually made Anu Malik look like a walk in the park. Copy dude. But copy well. At least respect the original to the extent of replicating it well. Each and every frame of your debut flick has been so tackily shot that after 15 minutes it doesn’t seem funny. And your talk about speaking to the Gen Y or Gen Next or whatever you want to call them hasn’t really worked. There were enough and more kids between 13 and 19 who were in the hall and actually struggling to get through the first half. By the time the 2nd half started they were already contemplating an exit and planning the next hour and half in advance.
And Roshan – the script is also written by you. Now why would you put in dialogues such as, “IIT aur MIT mein sirg ek akshar ka farak hai” (The difference between IIT and MIT is only one alphabet) and “Life me koi keyboard ka shortcut nahin hota hai. Isse google nahin kiya ja sakta. Isse experience kiya jaata hai” (Life doesn’t have a shortcut key on the keyboard. You cannot google it. You have to experience it). Of course there was one good dialogue somewhere in between which said, “Is generation ki nazar tab jhukti hai jab SMS milta ho” (This generation will bow its head only when it receives an SMS). Quite deep I must say Mr. Abbas.

And do kids start drinking like fish at the age of 17 these days and walk into school with hangovers the size of Mt. Everest? Gawd if that is true then we sure are headed for some trouble soon enough. What the hell is the local government talking about an age limit of 25??????

And then there is the cast of when the guys are probably the saving grace. All students of the St. Marks College. Decent debuts from Ali Fazal (Shortcut Sam Sameer) and Satyajeet Dubey (Taariq Einstein Naqvi). And the Brazilian beauty’s follow up movie has 20 times as much dialogues as the first one. She spoke 2 lines in the first one and she speaks 40 lines in this one. So that’s progress. Bringing up the tail is the pocket rocket Zoa Morani (Nandini “Nandy Bull” Oberoi). The lead cast has a meek attempt for support from the rest Pritika Chawla, Navneet Nishan, Akash Khurana, Lillete Dubey, Satish Shah & Ashwin Mushran (Why do you take these roles really???). The ever reliable balance cast of Manoj Joshi, Mukesh Tiwari & Vijay Raaz are solid as always. Most of the music is also quite uninspiring. Net Net, Always Kabhi Kabhi is quite a waste of 2 hours if you have seen High School Musical. If you haven’t seen HSM then I suggest you watch it and not waste your time on AKK. It’s a 3 on 10 from my side thanks to a couple of songs and a couple of good performances.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi558275865/