Take a couple of Charlie Chaplin films (The Adventurer and City Lights), add a little dash of Mr. Bean, a healthy helping of The Notebook (2004), a mixture of assorted foreign films and a little of Benny and Joon. Next, get Ranbir Kapoor onboard and ask him to play a cross between Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, then get Pritam to do what he does best (read steal music), there you go! That’s Barfi for you. In retrospect it seems that the only reason Ranbir Kapoor’s character was mute was because almost all the films that director Anurag Basu was copying from were either silent, or in a foreign language, hence how would he figure out dialogues for the lead?
Sitting through the two hours and thirty minutes of Barfi is the ultimate test of one’s patience. The plot is all over the place; there’s about a million different subplots that don’t eventually lead to anything. The premise of the story is so simple, it could be shown three times over in thirty minutes, the extra two hours are not only completely unnecessary, they are so boring; they make the food sales in the cinema skyrocket. The non-linear editing certainly doesn’t help the cause either; instead it ends up confusing the audience into imagining a story that does not in fact exist. On the positive, Ravi Varman’s outstanding cinematography paired with the wonderful art-direction results in dazzling visuals. The question however, is, how long can a person watch beautiful visual imagery that is on a complete tangent from the story, without wishing to slit their wrists? Not very long, trust me on that. All said the last thirty minutes of the film are extremely intense and heart-warming. You might actually find yourself shedding a tear or two, either at the warmth of the film or at the loss of two hours of your time, not to mention the couple of hundred rupees you spent on the ticket.
Ranbir Kapoor as Murphi/Barfi makes you wonder whatever happened to the guy who did Rockstar. Whenever he’s not being Charlie Chaplan, Buster Keaton or his own granddad (Raj Kapoor), he is being his silly, old, Ranbeer Kapoor self that we have already seen in Saawariya, Wake up Sid, Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani etc. Priyanka Chopra, however, is a different story altogether. She is extraordinary as Jhilmil, but then again, that’s neither surprising nor new. This is exactly what Priyanka Chopra does. Ileana D’Cruz delivers a first-rate performance, it is unfortunate that ultimately her entire character’s on a tangent from the plot. Saurabh Shukla as the police inspector is brilliant; this has to be one of the best performances of his career. It is heartbreaking to see so many actors work so hard for a film that is plagiarised from beginning to end.
A filmmaker who deserves to be sued for stealing is receiving accolades from critics who don’t know any better themselves and are proudly sending the film to the Oscars. Such is the state of South Asian affairs. If Bollywood (and I say Bollywood because I mean Bollywood and not the entire Indian film Industry) had any respect for originality, or any self respect for that matter, it would not have been possible for Barfi to be India’s official entry for the Oscars. Let’s hope the Oscar jury is slightly more informed than our film critics.
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, October 7th, 2012.
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COMMENTS (30)
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Just one question If you guys(Citizens of Pakistan) hate us so much then why don't you just ban us completely from your lives. Well you can't because no matter how much you disagree on this but we are pretty much same. Love cricket, love movies,love good music(No matter from where it originates). So instead of praising Hollywood movies (they are pretty stupid too, because if superman exist than i am wrong) lets unite over movies, make a joint venture or something. Just like you we are also in our learning phase, yes our movies are crap but we are developing. Make peace not war.i hope Gen-X of our country will not engage itself in wars.
Full marks ! Everyone seems to be talking about its being a copy, first time I read something about Anurag basu's compulsive obcessive fixation for non linear structure ! I am sure there are flaws, but who has the time to go thru it again.
@Anurag Sehgal: The challenge is to make another copy is it?
@anurag sehgal... do u know something.. this people are good in criticizing only... so don't worry
ROFL after reading this review. @Ayesha Arif, there is a challenge, get 3 actors from your country along with a director.. You are free to copy all scenes from Barfi.. If you are able to make a film which is just 10% of what Barfi was, $1 million for you(don't worry, I have a lot of it). Astonishing review, thanks google search for bringing me to this page. Masterpiece of a review you have written, Hats off!!!
@Karan Singh: Hahaha good one. (from a Pakistani)
@ Pankaj "Can pakistanis do anything apart from criticism ???" Well yes, they can write damn good reviews :P
Seems review is been written after India Pakistan T20 encounter :)
Pakistani films are way better then Indian films. Instead of Burfi for Oscar, how about BASHEERA for Oscar.
Though I didn't like Barfi much and it looked artificial to me, I don't think you can really say it is plagiarized. There are lot of scenes from Charlie Chaplins movie but they are not part of the main theme of the movie.
I you want to see plagiarized movies, see any of Mahesh Bhatt movie and you know the whole plot including dialogue will be copied over from some hollywood flick.
The reviewer reminded me of a friend who when criticizes any film, we start believing that film will be Good.
Our gandasa movies will beat indian movies at oscars saima shaan and noor are the best in the world
Oh common pakistani gandasa culture movies are much better than barfi
I haven't seen the film but have heard much of it now. The film-maker's defense is that it is not plagiarism but rather an homage/tribute... This is fine; many great films do this; and could very well mean that people who cry "plagiarism!" simply did not get it and are just got overly excited that they could spot the "imitation".
However, an homage that is on the nose (with entire scenes imitated) and lacking a distinct original something does not belong at the Oscars. So agree there and the people who decide ought to be more knowledgeable.
Loved the review. Indians have much to be proud of but even after all these decades they lack creativity and innovation. Barfi and its music is just one example of whole scale plagiarism Bollywood has been engaged in since the 50s.
I don't know why they don't nominate good original movies like Gangs of Waseypur and Shootout at Lokhandwala for the Oscars. Maybe they are too insecure about the perception those movies will create about India?
Can pakistanis do anything apart from criticism ???
WTF this movie is awesome everyone ,Likes it in NEW YORK who cares if it has copied? all bolywood movies are copied from Hollywood
I liked the film but it was difficult not to notice the scenes copied from The Notebook, Charlie chaplin, mr. Bean and even Jackie chen movies. I hate plagiarized art but what i hate more is a good plagiarized art. And in the end I was disappointed that such good cast chose to act in a such a film.
barfi is nice movie............................................................
This newspaper reviews Indian movies as its own.
What is the state of the Pakistan film industry ?
Had newspapers like ET supported more Pakistanis would be watching Pakistani films not Indian.
While i do not endorse movies being copied,the fact remains that Indian Film industry will keep on growing big, in 15-20 years it will be huge and there wont be much left between Hollywood and Bollywood.
In the whole world,very few film industries have survived let alone flourish.
Most Indian films are based on copy-cut-paste of US and UK films and some French. Even the dialogues sometimes seem unnatural because they are a direct/literal translation of the dialogue in copied film(s).
Might as well watch the original stuff but most of us have already seen them. Remember an Indian film loosely based on Harry Potter. The lead actor was a child in the film named Hari Putter (Hari son)..........
Thats harsh madam, though i havent seen the film. But i like it.
Yep, agree with you on most counts - didn't understand why everyone was praising Barfi to the skies but personally thought it was pretty crap. Hated the portrayal of Jhilmil - most of the time we were laughing at her, not with her, so basically making fun of her disability. How is that okay?
This is a brilliant way of promoting the Indian film industry in Pakistan. Free of charge. Who is the winner here? For some "intellectuals" this is a difficult one to answer.
What you are trying to sell under the garb of "review", actually does not rise above the merit of pure rant. I do admit that the several scenes has been plagiarized from Western films. But that does not tarnish the credit for the story , screenplay, acting and overall emotional attributes. I am not sure, what kind of films holds your attention, but despite plagiarism, the film provides quite superior cine-going experience. Let me not search the obvious reason for such high pitch criticism into its trans-border origin. Well, the reason you have given for Burphy's muteness is a ready reminder of primary school fights. Even more pathetic is your attempt to create subtlety. "Read steal music".. Was that you best shot !!! Songs of this film are soulful and genuine creations. Your "review", I am afraid, is a mix of navel gazing and witch hunting.
"A filmmaker who deserves to be sued for stealing is receiving accolades from critics who don’t know any better themselves and are proudly sending the film to the Oscars."
Why is this a surprise?!!! As if this is happening today.
This is as common as Pakistanis being delusional.
I agree .
I must first admit that I love bollywood for all the goodies it did manage to hatch out over the times.
But what I dont like about Bollywood is that its all "LOBBY ORIENTED".
The big directors/producers can not dare to displease the big shot KHANS/ROSHANS/KAPOORS/BACHANS.
There have been so many other wonderful actors which never get a good film of their own.
Then the annual awards are also "box-office oriented".
I do appreciate the Indians as a nation the way they are developing. But when it comes to cinema , they are not much different from us Pakistanis.
We are centuries behind Hollywood , atleast from a consciousness level if not technical.
Its a pity that in Indian cinema so many talented dont get rightful credit because they cannot speak up against the monopolizers....
All your criticism aside . . . I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. . I also hate the idea of pilagiarism . . . and have an intense dislike for the way our Indian friends copy Western movies. However, this one was charming and artfully done. . Ranbir and Saurabh were superior. Oh and what a lovely and beautiful tangent Ileana was! . Unfortunately Priyanka did not quite cut it for me as an autistic person but I give her credit for trying. Her nana (in the movie) was pretty good too. . Kudos to the Indian film industry for mastering film making even if it could be more original and less of shameless copying. . Question is what have the Pakistani's achieved in this department?
ouch, that's gotta hurt!