I have some pertinent questions to ask the director regarding this movie. They are the following:
1) Why has the movie been named 'Barfi!' when Jhilmil's character is of equal importance? The movie should have been named 'Barfi aur Jhilmil' (like Bunty aur Babli), or given any name other than just 'Barfi!' It's like ignoring the female character in the movie who has a major role to play in Barfi's life.
2) Where is the chemistry between Barfi and Jhilmil? The film lacks scenes of closeness and intimacy that we usually associate with romantic love. Throughout the film, Barfi seems to TAKE CARE of Jhilmil more than love her, and Jhilmil looks absent-minded and lost in her own world. It seems Jhilmil looks upon Barfi more as a good friend than a lover. Agreed that Jhilmil is not in a state to understand what heterosexual love is, Yet a little intimacy on screen would've helped the audience to feel that Barfi and Jhilmil do have some feelings for each other that we usually associate with romantic love. But sadly, there's no romance or warmth between the lead pair.
3) Non-linear narrative is fine, but too much of it confuses the audience. 'Barfi!' shows events taking place back and forth to the point that the audience gets confused about what's happening on screen. It's difficult for the audience to understand what's happening and feel for the characters at the same time. It's just plain human psychology. Understanding and feeling can't go together.
4) Barfi is supposed to be a cute guy. In males, we define cuteness by certain standards. Ranbir Kapoor meets almost all the standards except one, and that is: HEIGHT. One might disagree with me, but it's a general rule that guys with short height (the so-called 'shortys') are considered cuter by women than tall guys. That's the reason why actors like Aamir Khan is still considered oh-so-cute by girls despite the fact that he's approaching 50. I believe Imraan Khan would have been the best actor to play the role of Barfi. Short height DOES make a guy look cuter. I don't know why but that's how it is.
5) During 1972 and 1978, the Darjeeling toy train looked different. The bogies had smaller windows. It was much later (somewhere around 1996) that larger windows were added to give passengers a better view of the landscape outside. Yet we see the train with larger windows even in '72 and '78 in the film.
6) The local cop Mr. Dutta at one time slaps Barfi at the police station. Surprisingly, we hear the sound of the slap first and see the slap falling later. Why??
7) The message 'Cigarette smoking is injurious to health' comes on screen every time Barfi smokes a cigarette. Flashing the message once or twice was enough. Too much of it is paranoid.
8) 'Kyaa tum phir Jhilmil ko wapas ley jaaoge?' The elderly Daju asks this to Mr. Chatterjee (Jhilmil's father) towards the end of the movie. But a little lipreading shows that Daju is saying something else during the '...ley jaaoge?' part of the question. Why this dubbing glitch?
9) India in 1972 never had Sintex-type water reservoirs atop buildings. Such reservoirs came much later, during the mid-eighties. Yet we see six such tanks in 1972 Darjeeling atop Keventer's Restaurant where Shruti walks in with her friend. Why this glitch? In this age of computer graphics, those reservoirs could have been erased easily from the scene, had the director been a little mindful of the fact that he was mistakenly capturing modern-day water tanks in one of his shots.
1) Why has the movie been named 'Barfi!' when Jhilmil's character is of equal importance? The movie should have been named 'Barfi aur Jhilmil' (like Bunty aur Babli), or given any name other than just 'Barfi!' It's like ignoring the female character in the movie who has a major role to play in Barfi's life.
2) Where is the chemistry between Barfi and Jhilmil? The film lacks scenes of closeness and intimacy that we usually associate with romantic love. Throughout the film, Barfi seems to TAKE CARE of Jhilmil more than love her, and Jhilmil looks absent-minded and lost in her own world. It seems Jhilmil looks upon Barfi more as a good friend than a lover. Agreed that Jhilmil is not in a state to understand what heterosexual love is, Yet a little intimacy on screen would've helped the audience to feel that Barfi and Jhilmil do have some feelings for each other that we usually associate with romantic love. But sadly, there's no romance or warmth between the lead pair.
3) Non-linear narrative is fine, but too much of it confuses the audience. 'Barfi!' shows events taking place back and forth to the point that the audience gets confused about what's happening on screen. It's difficult for the audience to understand what's happening and feel for the characters at the same time. It's just plain human psychology. Understanding and feeling can't go together.
4) Barfi is supposed to be a cute guy. In males, we define cuteness by certain standards. Ranbir Kapoor meets almost all the standards except one, and that is: HEIGHT. One might disagree with me, but it's a general rule that guys with short height (the so-called 'shortys') are considered cuter by women than tall guys. That's the reason why actors like Aamir Khan is still considered oh-so-cute by girls despite the fact that he's approaching 50. I believe Imraan Khan would have been the best actor to play the role of Barfi. Short height DOES make a guy look cuter. I don't know why but that's how it is.
5) During 1972 and 1978, the Darjeeling toy train looked different. The bogies had smaller windows. It was much later (somewhere around 1996) that larger windows were added to give passengers a better view of the landscape outside. Yet we see the train with larger windows even in '72 and '78 in the film.
6) The local cop Mr. Dutta at one time slaps Barfi at the police station. Surprisingly, we hear the sound of the slap first and see the slap falling later. Why??
7) The message 'Cigarette smoking is injurious to health' comes on screen every time Barfi smokes a cigarette. Flashing the message once or twice was enough. Too much of it is paranoid.
8) 'Kyaa tum phir Jhilmil ko wapas ley jaaoge?' The elderly Daju asks this to Mr. Chatterjee (Jhilmil's father) towards the end of the movie. But a little lipreading shows that Daju is saying something else during the '...ley jaaoge?' part of the question. Why this dubbing glitch?
9) India in 1972 never had Sintex-type water reservoirs atop buildings. Such reservoirs came much later, during the mid-eighties. Yet we see six such tanks in 1972 Darjeeling atop Keventer's Restaurant where Shruti walks in with her friend. Why this glitch? In this age of computer graphics, those reservoirs could have been erased easily from the scene, had the director been a little mindful of the fact that he was mistakenly capturing modern-day water tanks in one of his shots.
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