‘Barf’i

Honestly, after all those ‘oh so wonderful’ reviews on the internet, I did expect the famed ‘mental’ act by PC and RK. But, No. The movie becomes more unbearable because it tries too hard to be sweet and rosy.  

The movie opens with a heavily ‘inspired’ Charlie Chaplinsque routine, which has Barfi trying to escape from a fat policeman. Of course, Ileana, the Bengali babhi, becomes a convincing Bengali with a big bindi, cotton saree, and a deer in front of headlights look (very original).  She continues to look surprised for the next fifteen hours of the movie.

Ranbir and his statuary warning are the cutest couple in the movie. They travel together everywhere and honestly they deserve an award for sticking together the whole time. Most of the things he does in the movie could actually get you behind bars in real life. But, No. When Ranbir does it, even the policeman laughs it off. He sabotages a public clock, that probably has heritage value. He breaks into a house. He kidnaps a girl. He also drugs a policeman. But, thanks to his life-saving (and cutesy) skills of eating watermelons, he escapes to Kolkata, with a mentally-challenged girl, arousing absolutely no suspicion on the way.  And as easy as it sounds, he finds a place to rent and a job by the time the three minute song is over.

PC is very surprisingly convincing. But, she also is not without stereotypes.  Ungainly shoes, weird haircut, deliberately cross-eyed – oh so totally ‘mental’. Not to sound insensitive, but I have in my lifetime observed and worked closely with so many people with disabilities – physical and mental. And not all of them point and make funny noises. Not all of them have a crystal ball that they gaze into thoughtfully.

I almost forgot the part where Barfi and Jhilmil find time to kill glowworms and blow bubbles in a forest. The glowworm torture chamber hoop is finally discovered by the policeman, who automatically makes the connect to Barfi. Yes, just one hoop exists in Darjeeling and it belongs to the deaf and dumb person in town. No shit Sherlock!

PC mostly gets kidnapped again and again in the movie, and each time she disappears, her father, a popular villain in Kolly/tollywood, or rather her father’s reflection on a window pane appears. The reflection father mumbles something incorrigible in Hindi and then a comic (!) sequence involving both the lead actors ensues.

The music is one of the best things about the movie. It completely uplifts the movie and adds beauty to the visuals. The climax is probably the only part where the entire theatre groaned in unison. The whole couple-in-love dying together sentiment is the quintessential climax in any south Indian masala movie (TR’s veerasamy included).

Overall verdict: Works in parts. Has a lot of funny jokes. But, zero points for handling disability in the most clichéd manner ever.  #notimpressed