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!”