Black Barfi or White Barfi

Whenever I go watch a movie that deals with topics that requires a certain level of maturity, from not only the filmmaker but also the viewer, I always shudder. I am as nervous as when I am next in line at the dentist, not knowing what to expect. A certain gentleman called Bhansali dealt this emotional scar and the movie was Black.

Some of us cynical entertainment seekers walked out of the cinema after Black, feeling very guilty. We didn’t have tears in our eyes when Rani helplessly wailed, we didn’t feel for Shernaz Patel as she delivered her dialogues in pain, nor did we appreciate Bachchan for his Ayatollah scream fest. In fact some of us had to use cotton buds to save us from becoming deaf which ironically, may have helped us identify with the movie. In the weeks to follow after the release of Black, I was deemed someone who didn’t understand the nuances of good cinema. After all I had the gall to rate Bachchan’s performance in Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Boom as more likeable than the loud one I had just witnessed in Black. I was told to stick to the senseless ‘Sallu’ movies and never enter the domain of intelligent cinema. Thankfully all that has changed in the past few years. Sallu won hearts of the intelligentsia with Dabangg and Bhansali couldn’t even get himself to watch Saavariya and Guzarish, let alone his driver or other intelligent cinemagoers.

So when I got down to watching Barfi, I didn’t know what to expect.   

I like Anurag Basu. I thought Murder was path breaking, Gangster was one of the better movies of its times and I really would have loved Kites, if only Hritik and Barbara had played deaf and dumb.

The way Basu has dealt the cards in this film is very ‘Life is Beautiful’ or ‘Cinema Paradiso’. I use these films in vain just to showcase my 'good-cinema' knowledge lest everyone thinks I can only compare this sweet, tear-jerker to a Babul or a Bagbhaan.

His characters in Barfi are well etched. Their respective interactions and how it moves the story forward is also something that definitely deserves applause. In Barfi, he also creates a magical environment, though not something you haven’t seen before. Kolkata or Darjeeling have been equally well presented by Pradeep Sarkar and more recently Sujoy Ghosh, but he covers the length and depth of a location with motion - a cycle, a tram, a run, a walk, a car or even a train.

But like overacting and over dramatization, there is also something called over directing, which throws the film from the realm of a tight emotional entertainer to you looking at your phone every now and then to see if someone has messaged. This encourages even an average cinemagoer to behave like he has spent years in an edit studio to suggest he would have chopped a few scenes.

The uneven length of the film also causes the music to be very inconsistent. Not that the songs are chartbusters, but the ups and downs could have been avoided. I would blame this on Basu again, as the music needed to fill a lot of blank spaces, whether required or not.

My ‘Kamzor Kadi’ or in Black parlance, the 'Rani Mukherjee' of this movie was going to be PC. She had the power to ham the film out of the park. I had to watch my reactions only because in these days of political correctness, even accusing PC of overacting would be considered anti-establishment. But I heave a sigh of relief and am happy to say that she and I have survived. She is mildly irritating, but that again is because of the length of the role than it deserved and not a dent on her acting skills, which is encouraging as she can now give up her singing career and focus on what she is really good at. 

The other female lead Illeana is beautiful. She was chosen for this reason. On any other day this role would have gone to Zarine Khan. But fortunately for us and unfortunately for Zarine, Illeana can act. So she is allowed to carry the narrative of this film, which she does quite effortlessly for someone who is making her debut in Bollywood. 

But the real reason Barfi doesn’t submerge to the depths of a Black is Ranbir Kapoor. He carries the film and how! He is the son Bachchan should have had. He is the Virat Kohli of Bollywood. He is Hritik's second thumb. For he can do no wrong. And thanks to his slapstick dramatics(whether Chaplinesque or Raj Kapoor), his expressions and overall energy, he manages to save the film. Between him and Saurabh Shukla they keep the movie real.

I walked out of Barfi a little bored, with no tears but still feeling better than I had felt after watching Black. But then I am the average senseless cinemagoer who doesnt understand the nuances of good cinema. So I will just say, “Ranbir is Barfi! Agar aada ghanta shorter hota, toh mast picture banta!”

Agnee Pat on the back!

Let me start by saying that I was nervous when I went to watch this movie. For starters I am not a big Hritik fan. I hate the fact that despite having two thumbs he is the most desired actor of today. I have two pretty decent looking feet but no one gives a damn. It also hurts that he is pretty picture perfect, great dancer and probably the only actor to have done a range of characters from a king in a period film, to a superhero to a disabled character. So far Hritik 200-Me 0. The only place I win is I have a slightly better vocal range than he does. Lets admit it, his voice sucks! Think of all the movies you(I mean guys) have like Hritik and it has been movies where he hasn't acted dumb, spoken like a high school girl who has just been kissed for the first time, or for that matter just kept quiet or speaks less - Fiza and mission kashmir for starters, the second half of Lakshya and when he was under water in Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara. So I was pretty sure that the success of Agneepath was inversely proportional to the number of lines Hritik had in the movie.

The second reason I was nervous was that I would obviously compare this to the 1990s movie. Yes, Unfair, blah blah, whatever! But I was bound to. So a vision of Hritik in a wet suit shaking Sanjay Dutts hand and then handing his coat to Archana Puran Singh saying ‘Sardi lag Jayega!’ gave me nightmares prior to watching this movie. I was also told by a reputed reviewer that Priyanka Chopra hams in a hangover from Kaminey. I now booked a seat closeset to the exit so I could make a dash if it headed in the direction of Don2.

So with these fears I watched Agneepath. Not once but twice - Only to dig mistakes after mistakes to ensure that I could proclaim that the original was better than this one. In this case though Karan Malhotra 2–Me 0

What makes Malhotraji's Agneepath stand out is that it is larger than life. That's it. It may not be great cinema, its not even brilliant in parts, but its a true tribute to the 80s bollywood film. Like all 80s movies, Malhotra saab has understood the strengths and weaknesses of each of the actors and thus extracted the right performances out of the situations given.

Throw away logic, a larger than life villain, a evil bad guy, an avenging hero, a wailing mother, a comic heroine, and a school going sister and bam! This could be any 80s movie starring Bachchan or even Dharmendra. But Karan Malhotra gives you that and something else – Hritik and he doesn't speak much. Hritik is an absolute beauty to watch in Agneepath. He must have shat his pants when someone told him he is playing bachchan. Mohit Ahlawat did shit his pants and you could see it in his expressions right through RGV ki Aag, but then I digress. Hritik has the charisma, the stubble and the muscle to carry off a vengeful gangster. Even his hair is made to look gorgeous.
Before I fall in love with him, I will turn to the other delight of this film, Rishi Kapoor. Hats off to the man, who's entry scene makes you cringe. Its almost like casting Hugh Grant as Hannibal Lector. But Rishi as Rauf Lala pulls it off brilliantly. He is mean, nasty and everytime you think, he is going to turn into one of those Pran type character roles, he churns out a Ranjeet.

Sanju Baba as Kancha Cheena is very 80s. I would have liked a subtler performance – like Danny from the original, but I was impressed with the consistent hamming. He didn't disappoint. I just wish he didn’t say everything four times. I did get it the first time.

Thank god they got rid of Mithun’s Krishnan Iyer character. I was thinking Riteish Deshmukh, Ali Zafar or even Imran Khan might suddenly leap out as a surprise. But luckily Malhotra Sir didn’t get carried away. That would have meant 25 more minutes of hamming
The one question I did have for Dharma is why didn’t they cast Om Puri as the cop in the original. He was brilliant!

PC was pretty irritating. I would have lost PC and given one more scene to Katrina. She could have been the Parveen Babi…but then that’s just my fantasy speaking

My biggest disappointment though was the mother Zareena Wahab and the sister. They were the hook and the hold. They were Nirupa Roy and the Farida Jalal. They were the reason the hero exists. You get the drift.
Here I thought Malhotra Uncle didn’t give enough for me to run with. The sister wasn’t endearing enough and I didn’t feel for the mother.

My only other gripe is that if they had edited even 25 minutes of the film, dropped a few verses of the songs and some bits of scenes, I really think this would have been a classic.

As for comparisons with the original, I actually think as an entertainer, this was much better and for a 80s buff like me, I loved the masala….