There were two main reasons why I wished to see BARFI after watching his promotional trailers. One it was the Raj Kapoor kind of a silent Chaplin act perfectly done by his talented grandson Ranbir Kapoor and two, the gorgeous Ileana D'Cruz making her debut in a Hindi film posing as a Bengali girl. Hence I entered the theater with these limited expectation of mine and then came out largely satisfied with a pleasant surprise which was not at all expected, quite honestly.
The delightful surprise was that contrary to all the praises being showered upon Ranbir Kapoor in so many high star reviews in the media, for me the film was more a milestone achievement of Priyanka Chopra than the over-publicized classy triumph of Ranbir. Undoubtedly Ranbir is there with one of his career best performances as the dumb and deaf boy who falls in love with an autistic girl. But truly speaking, I found the depth missing in his written character throughout the film which resurfaces and touches you deep inside only in the last 20 minutes and not before that.
Now basic reason behind this perception of mine is that first of all BARFI has a confusing and less focused script which keeps wandering between comedy and sympathy in an imbalanced manner. Plus the story has many more avoidable angles of greed, murder and mystery which take the focus out of its main theme and you feel distracted. In other words, both before and after intermission it is more like a collage of different comic scenes which get the complete support from its actors, cinematography and background score. So you do enjoy them till they last on the screen but still don't get a collective major impact of the movie in the end as always seen in such ventures having a lovingly emotional conclusion.
The soundtrack of the film has been widely appreciated both by the reviewers and listeners. But here too I found the lyrical beauty of the songs much ahead than their melody part, which could have taken them to a different height altogether. So for that matter, it isn't a METRO and I personally feel that one might enjoy the lyrics as mere poetry much more than the songs recorded for some special situations. However I did enjoy the title track and the ghazal on the screen as it made a better impact together in the script.
Taking up the most talked about feature of this movie i.e. its performances; I strongly feel that it is a wrongly publicized project giving all the emphasis to only its one lead character, taking the limelight away from all the other deserved candidates in the film. May be its a strategy planned by the makers to sell it as a Ranbir Kapoor movie (which is sure going to get them sure shot buyers and viewers), but for me BARFI is arguably a Priyanka movie much more than a Ranbir Kapoor film. In fact Priyanka surprised me as a shock since I was never expecting such an authentic and touching portrayal of an autistically challenged girl by the lady who has come a long way from an International beauty contest winner model turning into an actress. Her performance in BARFI is undoubtedly her career best till date and I would even like to rate it a step above than Ranbir too because of a basic reason.
Ranbir Kapoor in BARFI, as revealed in its promos is simply exceptional and there is no second opinion about that. The boy reminds you of two great masters of their art, Raj Kapoor and Charlie Chaplin with his single act. But his outstanding performance is mainly dependent upon all the comic sequences with which he regularly provides the much needed laughter in the film based on such challenging characters. The viewers enjoy watching him mostly because he is more or less entertaining them with his novel face making techniques, innocent gestures and Chaplin- like sequences. But Priyanka doesn't get that kind of comfort zone in her character and that's what gives her an edge over the more likable act of Ranbir posing as Barfi.
Completing the triangle there is another extremely talented girl from the South, Ileana D'Cruz, who straight away announces that she is much ahead than many reputed Hindi film actresses both in the terms of beauty and talent. Supporting the three, there is Saurabh Shukla in his famous form, Rupa Ganguly with her sensitive approach to life and other actors who add their own sparkles to the film with their small but notable acts.
Director Anurag Basu once again shows his regained abilities which were simply not there in his KITES. With BARFI he has bounced back strongly hitting a big score but still it cannot be called a clear century from the veteran in my opinion. Continuing with his trademark musicians visible in several scenes, the director has extracted some milestones performances from his lead actors and has made a largely satisfying project which is sure to get appreciation from all corners. However personally I found Anurag at his best only when Ranbir, Priyanka and Illeana get together in the film till its final sequence, which actually is the most impactful part of the movie as I felt.
To conclude, BARFI is indisputably one of those few films which do have some exceptional, career best performances given under a fine direction. But it still somehow fails to generate a collective impact on the viewer in the end, missing the target with only a small margin.
Yet, there is one message which I always take back home after watching movies made on such differently abled characters
and that's giving "A BIG THANKS" to the Almighty above, for blessing us with a sound mind existing in a sound complete body. So do watch it and remember to give your own thanks to the One Above as the end credits start rolling.
