[Movie Review] Barfi! : The Essence Of Love

Gasp! Beauty lies within, not on the façade and who can discern this element better than Anurag Basu, the heart and soul of the gorgeous and surreal Burfi! Oozing with an assortment of charm and sweetness, Barfi comes as a drizzle over barren lands of love stories in our recent memory, quenching the thirsts of every die-hard romantic out there!

Leave behind those Dabang’ish’ ordeals! For here comes a deaf and dumb bloke with his heart clinging on his sleeve (literally!), to win you over and to make you fall in love with the silver screen like never before. It is the towering and unparalleled performance by Ranbir Kapoor, who plays Barfi and transforms this movie into something irresistibly ‘aww’-inspiring and dreamlike. Never once he feels superfluous, neither once does the sentiments become too heavy on his appearance. Picture perfect smile weds genuine eyes as he whispers love without even stirring his lips.



Only when you thought that the ‘Kapoor’ storm was enough to blow you off, there arrives the autistic lassie, Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra), to transport the chronicles into virtually magical level of innocence and purity. Only if the camera would not have glued to her face (Damn! It was suffocating), she would have been riper and all the more translucent in her persona. Nonetheless, she was a darling in her portrayal which would satisfy even the hard-bent critics of her works.

Meanwhile, does anybody remember Hugo? Bingo! It is the dreamy escapade by Martin Scorsese which came back last year. Err... Somehow, I am unable to forgo the numerous smiles I saw while leaving the theatre and a lot is owed to the sumptuous canvas of Barfi which resembles the same air as seen in Hugo. Gorgeous imagery and terrific aesthetics elevates the scenes one after another as the art-direction swirls and whirls in mists on the opus. Colors breathe into life as our protagonists fall for each other in the dazzling locations of Darjeeling and Calcutta (Not Kolkata!).

Is the smoldering pair of Barfi and Jhilmil not enough? Well, well, another wonder awaits you. Yeah! You guessed it right! It is Illeana D’Cruz, the newcomer, who looks painstakingly exquisite as Shruti and imparts an air of elegance to her character. With small bindi on her forehead, she is the perfect concubine one can desire for.

Flaws, well, very few. The uneven editing may spice up someone’s experience but it may even act as a boulder for others. The script, though well served, does not have enough zing to keep one truly contented yet the direction is delicious enough to carry the charms home.

Barfi is a silent song to the power of love and cinema. Through its silent lips, volumes of happiness and warmth are spoken. A pleasure for the eyes, Barfi in its truest sense, is life-affirming. Go and search the essence of love all over again!

Rating: ****