Barfi!Before I go on to elaborate the plethora of emotions
this movie churned in me, let me clarify that I am not trying to defend it against charges of
plagiarism or anything. I have no point to make about whether this is a unique
effort in Hindi cinema or any other Indian movie arena whatsoever. This will be
my tale of how I felt when I watched this movie.
The beginning itself was different. Instead of the boring
instructions like “switch of your mobile during the movie and stuff” the
musical instruction of “picture shuru bhai picture shuru” captured my fancy
from the very beginning (not to mention the well worded instruction “picture
mein mobile aur bachey dono off rakhna”:P).Then came the tale of the happy go
lucky murphy aka barfi…..
We have been told time and again a million times to “take
life with a pinch of salt”….but the so called normal people like us never cease
to make a fuss about out troubles and tribulations. And here we came to know a
character that had nothing, not even anything to complain about. Ranbir proves
his mettle as the deaf and dumb Barfi
who goes about his life helping others. The honesty of the character charms you
from the first shot.
All that said and done in infinite reviews so far,
the best part was the fact that it makes you see the poetry in life. The best
dialogue as per my opinion “the greatest risk in life is to not take a risk”
explains it all ….prim and precise bang on the point that was like life in a sentence.
Another thing that I found immensely touching about the movie was that the
saddest of events were depicted with humour.ie.with a pinch of salt as they say.
Let me give you an example…Barfi’s mom’s
passing away depicted in as simple as “radio on hui,amma off hui “….hearing
this you realize its sad,but still you cannot suppress that smile surfacing on
your lips ..can you??
The candidness of some scenes captures your heart. The scene
where Barfi tests Jhilmil(the mentally retarded girl played by Priyanka with
panache) with his conventional let the lamppost fall trick, the way she clings
on to him cozy in the belief that nothing could go wrong as long as she had Barfi
with her, made anyone and everyone hope we all that little island of security wherein we can trust someone with our
lives..well it sure made me hope so.Barfi’s leaving Jhilmil at malathy maasi’s house and turning to find Jhilmil running
after the bus halfway on the way back, warms your heart to no end.Infnite love songs and poetry later,it
does not come simpler that this. Love –pure, sublime and simple could not be exemplified better.Inspite of all the independence and
individual space demands of modernization, the heart never stops seeking that one
person who can be your escape.Does it? J
I loved Barfi for its simplicity, for showing the magic in life.
Life can be whatever we make of it,a tragedy if we make it so or a magic trick
only if we make it so.It lies in our hands and not in the hands of fate as we
tend to say so often. All that and more delivered simply by Anurag Basu and to
the adorable Barfi J
