Post by NewLaura on Apr 6, 2014 2:18:43 GMT
POSTS FROM THE OLD FORUM:
BollyWHAT?: For Clueless Fans of Bollywood Films!
Bollystuff => The Film Fair => Topic started by: Poonam on September 14, 2012, 10:19:28 AM
Title: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 14, 2012, 10:19:28 AM
The Indian press is going ga-ga over this one:
Silences seldom spoke so eloquently. It's been a while since we saw a film that set style at a subsidiary state to substance, put the characters' inner life ahead of the flamboyant manifestations of self-identity in a world governed by benevolence and charm.
movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=743
Just the fact that this film’s chief focus is on two people who cannot communicate the way you and I do, makes it automatically different. ‘Barfi!’ comes out of mainstream Bollywood, whose standard idea of creating difference is to shuffle one step forward, two steps back : given that context, and its subject, 'Barfi’! does take several brave strides. It’s good in many ways; what stops it from being a great film is a degree of fuzziness, and an insistence on prettiness.
m.indianexpress.com/news/barfi-review/1002568/
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Dancelover on September 14, 2012, 03:02:23 PM
www.bollywoodworld.com
has posted this same review, except that they give it 4.5 stars instead of only 4 (out of 5).
They also say that Barfi did excellent business on Friday.
D.
Quote from: Poonam on September 14, 2012, 10:19:28 AM
The Indian press is going ga-ga over this one:
Silences seldom spoke so eloquently. It's been a while since we saw a film that set style at a subsidiary state to substance, put the characters' inner life ahead of the flamboyant manifestations of self-identity in a world governed by benevolence and charm.
movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=743
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
Edit: I put this post in the wrong thread at first, in the non-spoil Barfi thread, so some of these comments I'm replying to in this post are from there:D
Quote from: Poonam on September 03, 2012, 10:24:13 AM
Dubious. In the first place, why is she dressed like a 20-something schoolgirl from another era?
Poona it seems to work in the movie, her clothes didn't look out of place (to me)
Quote from: Kajolownsyou on August 16, 2012, 03:45:57 AM
I like the second song trailer more than the first, but I'm still not sure if I'm completely sold. It is all very endearing though, that's for sure.
I'd like to see more of the ladies' roles, however.
^ Now having seen it, I sort of wish Ileana had some more scenes, she was my absolute favourite part of the feature
I picked up Gauri/KajolOwnsYou and we flew cross-town and met Lena to see this today. In general, an interesting and different movie, and a nice example of modern Bollywood, which isn't formulaic and predictable at all.
SOme of the framing/composition/cinematography was so lovely!
I loved Ileana's character, I could relate to it a lot [conservative Indian parents pushing their daughter to make the "right" and "safe" choice in life which ends up being TOTALLY wrong for her]
I also really enjoyed the performance of the police guy who is chasing Barfi, omg he was so funny!! The first part where he's running after Barfi and his combover blows in the wind, so amusing
And then when he sits up with his little binoculars in the field in front of that cow hahahaha
Ileana was named Shruti here and she was also named Shruti in Pokiri, her SI movie which I also really liked
So I guess Shruti, once she left her husband, was alone after that (as implied by the flash-forwards to old age)
She looked so wistful at their wedding, watching Barfi and Jhilmil together, I really felt for her in that scene, it was like she was more and more comprehending what had slipped away
As her voiceover explains, her character is supposed to be the cautionary tale, the person who hesitates, holds back, and never lives life fully and so loses her chance at real happiness. While Barfi and JhilMil were giving life their all at every turn, with no second thoughts and no fear (JhilMil because of her mental condition and Barfi because of his natural personality and disposition) and so they end up having a lasting bond and long-term relationship and all this. While Shruti ends up alone, with spectacles, a grey mushroom hair wig and ugly salvar kameez as a spinster teacher in an institution or something [Gawd. Couldn't she have move on and taken the lesson learned from Barfi to heart and given her all to a new relationship with another guy later in life? Her romances did not have to end after Ranjeet and Barfi, I think]
I really liked the scene where Barfi cover JhilMil's legs and pulls up his trousers in front of that guy on the wagon like "Have a look at this instead" haha
The lighting and camera-work were so terrific in so many parts.
Minor complaint, I didn't like Barfi's mustache very much--that really bothered me. It was so precision designed and I didn't care for it one bit, though I know it fit with how meticulous the character was with his appearance, always combing his hair and so on
A question I had: Did Barfi and JhilMil have a normal/conventional husgand and wife relationship, or was it always a platonic-companionship and brother-sister type thing where he just took care of her for her whole life? I wasn't sure about that
This is the weirdest movie interview I've ever read (it's for Barfi) some mind-boggling grammar and vocab here though must be a case of lost-in-translation from Hindi to English:
www.livehindiradio.com/i-got-emotional-and-began-crying/
Found out the guy who plays Mr Way Awesome Combover Policeman is a writer, director and actor who's been in and written lots of stuff:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saurabh_Shukla
I looked for pics of his policeman character onilne for an avi (after Ileana he MADE the movie for me haha) but couldn't find any yet
Couple more notes:
I realized upon thinking back that when Shruti asked her mom if her mom really loved her dad the first time, her mom avoids the question completely by lightly saying something like "Who says love only happens once" and kind of waves the issue away. Which is supposed to imply that she fell in love again after Mr Lumberjack Guy, but I think she didn't fall in love again and she doesn't want to admit it, so she answers vaguely like that. Shruti realizes all this and calls her out on that lie later, when she is missing Barfi and hating herself for going along with a marriage that wasn't right for her at all. And when she asks her mom again "Do you love dad?" or "Did you ever love Dad?" then I think the mom doesn't reply, she just walks away. That whole thing made me feel TOTALLY horrible for Shruti:(
I liked how Ileana was so quietly expressive in the scenes right after Barfi comes to propose to her (when her heart is breaking) and later when she sees how close Barfi has become to JhilMil in Kolkata. Very little dialogue but her demeanor and eyes say so much.
It's also so adorable at the end when JhilMil and Barfi meet again and JhilMil is a little bit jealous of Shruti and she shields Barfi from Shruti a little bit with her body, as if to say "He's mine please, okay" and that makes Shruti smile
Another moment I liked came in the scenes before that, when Barfi and Shruti are walking away from the house, and JhilMil calls to Barfi. He can't hear it of course, but Shruti slows down and pauses for a few seconds. If she doesn't tell Barfi about it, they could keep walking and leave, and she'd have him back. You can see she almost doesn't want to tell him but she can't withhold something so important from him so she lets him know. And then Barfi runs back and reunites with JhilMil. I think that showed how unselfish Shruti was. She lost her true love but she wouldn't let him lose the girl he truly loved, even at her own expense.
Another random thing that occurs to me: the voiceover female for the elder Shruti did not seem to me to have a voice that fit the Shruti character in general. I know people's voices change as they get older but it sounded to me like a different lady altogether.
Quote from: Poonam on September 14, 2012, 10:19:28 AM
Silences seldom spoke so eloquently.
^ Poonam I'd agree with this excerpt of the review (haven't read the whole thing yet)
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 17, 2012, 08:03:11 AM
This one goes right into my list of favorites for the year. Lovely, heart-tugging, full of goodness and fun. Ranbir owns virtually every frame he appears in, but top honours go to Anurag Basu for having got such heartfelt performances from his actors. Priyanka, to my relief (and surprise) was quite believable and the bee stung lips actually helped in this role. Ileana was fine too, her eyes are very expressive (wish they had gone easy on her mascara). I love how Ranbir's rubber-band energy is juxtaposed against the fat cop's wheezy, slowness . Their several catch-me-if-you-can sequences were reminiscent of Tom and Jerry! There is a fairy tale-ish quality to how the plot unfolds that some may feel brings this film down a few notches - for e.g. how the two runaways, one a deaf-mute and the other severely Aspergers challenged , survive in a big city with no resources to speak of - but I don't want to wander down that road, its best left to the critics. Movies with genuine heart are rare and Barfi is one of those. I loved every moment.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: NewLaura on September 17, 2012, 03:12:55 PM
I enjoyed reading your posts and remembering the film, Radhika and Poonam!
I thought Barfi was enchanting. I really have to hand it to Anurag Basu. The direction and the writing were incredible. (And I happened to have just watched Kites very recently...I'm astounded by the difference between these two films!)
Ranbir was just amazing. He was charming, funny, lovable and his physicality was just perfect. He carried that whole film for a couple of hours with no dialogue.
Priyanka deserves recognition, too. She took on a role that was not in the least bit glamorous and she nailed it.
And kudos to the marketing team. I can think of some other directors/producers who would have been crowing to the press about how they made a silent film and the hype would have drowned the movie. They revealed nothing of the story in the trailer, and I think that was a smart move.
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
I also really enjoyed the performance of the police guy who is chasing Barfi, omg he was so funny!! The first part where he's running after Barfi and his combover blows in the wind, so amusing
And then when he sits up with his little binoculars in the field in front of that cow hahahaha
I agree -- Saurabh Shukla really did a great job. I loved the silent movie-type/slapstick chase scenes between him and Barfi. The choreography and music were excellent.
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
Ileana was named Shruti here and she was also named Shruti in Pokiri, her SI movie which I also really liked
So I guess Shruti, once she left her husband, was alone after that (as implied by the flash-forwards to old age)
She looked so wistful at their wedding, watching Barfi and Jhilmil together, I really felt for her in that scene, it was like she was more and more comprehending what had slipped away
As her voiceover explains, her character is supposed to be the cautionary tale, the person who hesitates, holds back, and never lives life fully and so loses her chance at real happiness. While Barfi and JhilMil were giving life their all at every turn, with no second thoughts and no fear (JhilMil because of her mental condition and Barfi because of his natural personality and disposition) and so they end up having a lasting bond and long-term relationship and all this. While Shruti ends up alone, with spectacles, a grey mushroom hair wig and ugly salvar kameez as a spinster teacher in an institution or something [Gawd. Couldn't she have move on and taken the lesson learned from Barfi to heart and given her all to a new relationship with another guy later in life? Her romances did not have to end after Ranjeet and Barfi, I think]
They showed her teaching and speaking sign language in a classroom, so I think maybe she devoted her life to helping other hearing-impaired people. A couple of times she said in voice-overs how she wanted to have a love like her grandparents, where her grandmother died the day after her grandfather. I guess she was stuck on the one love thing.
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
I really liked the scene where Barfi cover JhilMil's legs and pulls up his trousers in front of that guy on the wagon like "Have a look at this instead" haha
Yes, that was cute. They did a good job of showing that Barfi and JhilMil really developed a relationship and how it could work between them, like the game where she waited at home to scare him (which would keep her waiting at home, and not wandering off looking for him, etc.), and the party horn he used to make noise so she could find him. And they showed him being a caretaker for her, too. But it was all done in a way that was fundamentally respectful (the movie treated them both like real people with personalities, with humanity, not like caricatures or objects of pity).
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
A question I had: Did Barfi and JhilMil have a normal/conventional husgand and wife relationship, or was it always a platonic-companionship and brother-sister type thing where he just took care of her for her whole life? I wasn't sure about that
I interpreted it as probably not a sexual relationship. They had that cute thing where they leaned their foreheads together and patted each others cheeks, but we didn't see anything else that would suggest more of a physical relationship (offspring, for example).
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
Another moment I liked came in the scenes before that, when Barfi and Shruti are walking away from the house, and JhilMil calls to Barfi. He can't hear it of course, but Shruti slows down and pauses for a few seconds. If she doesn't tell Barfi about it, they could keep walking and leave, and she'd have him back. You can see she almost doesn't want to tell him but she can't withhold something so important from him so she lets him know. And then Barfi runs back and reunites with JhilMil. I think that showed how unselfish Shruti was. She lost her true love but she wouldn't let him lose the girl he truly loved, even at her own expense.
I was so afraid for a moment there that she wasn't going to tell him! I liked that she did it with a smile, though, like it really did make her happy for him to be happy.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Spencer on September 17, 2012, 04:07:17 PM
LA Times
Review: 'Barfi!' is just too much
Writer-director Anurag Basu's Bollywood import is long and dizzying. Ranbir Kapoor stars.
By Gary Goldstein
September 16, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
As Barfii, the deaf-mute man-child given epic treatment by writer-director Anurag Basu in the exhausting Bollywood import "Barfi!," Ranbir Kapoor, a fourth-generation member of India's Kapoor acting dynasty, proves a virtually silent, whirling dervish of slapstick, pathos and, at times, grinding irritation. Think: A Chaplin-infused hybrid of Mr. Bean and Gumby, with a dose of early Adam Sandler.
Kapoor is undeniably game. He walks into walls! He juggles bananas! He does the chicken dance! But like so much else here, he suffers from the more-is-less syndrome.
To wit, the film's excessive length (not a Bollywood rarity) gives Basu's twitchy, dizzying narrative too great a canvas on which to unravel as it flashes back from the present to 1970s-era Kolkata and Darjeeling, where most of the action is set.
The story begins by recounting how Barfii (nee Murphy) falls for the gently beautiful, already-engaged Shruti (Ileana D'cruz), but that potentially lyrical pairing gives way to Barfii's wildly meandering relationship and, later, unconvincing romance with the feral, deeply autistic and seemingly much younger Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra).
En route there's a bank holdup, a kidnapping, myriad chases and close calls, good and bad parents, manic cops, music montages, a wedding and about a million camera setups.
Despite a hard-working cast, a lush score, exotic location shooting and scattered warmth, "Barfi!" is ultimately more endurance test than entertainment.
www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-barfi-20120917,0,1728205.story
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: NewLaura on September 17, 2012, 05:54:13 PM
Hmm, well, I disagree with just about everything in that LA Times review. (and I find calling Priyanka's character "feral" a bit offensive, honestly, and not supported by the characterization...she's shown to be quite interested in being clean, for starters, and she is pretty compliant and well-behaved)
I agree much more with the excellent review that zombeaner wrote for Twitch:
twitchfilm.com/2012/09/review-barfi.html
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 17, 2012, 07:55:26 PM
Quote from: NewLaura on September 17, 2012, 05:54:13 PM
(and I find calling Priyanka's character "feral" a bit offensive, honestly
I know right? And Mr Bean and Gumby wtf?!
I mean come on
Quote
and not supported by the characterization...she's shown to be quite interested in being clean, for starters, and she is pretty compliant and well-behaved)
^ Exactly her character did not even like to have a small amt of mud on her shoes for chrissakes
Quote from: NewLaura on September 17, 2012, 05:54:13 PM
Hmm, well, I disagree with just about everything in that LA Times review.
Me too, I much prefer your review and Poonam's review above
I did think the movie was a little too long, and I said that to the people I watched it with when we walked out and were discussing it. Also, Ranbir's character was so high-energy, that he was a bit much for me at times, but still, the acting all round was so good and the movie had lots of heart, like Poonam said
Also what was so hard for the LA TImes reviewer to believe about the Barfi-JhilMil romance?
JhilMil passed the wood-cutting-to-fall-over-on-the-lamp test so perfectly and without thinking, which all Barfi's other friends failed, even Shruti (though I love Shruti)
Quote from: NewLaura on September 17, 2012, 03:12:55 PM
(And I happened to have just watched Kites very recently...I'm astounded by the difference between these two films!)
I haven't seen Kite but Can't believe these are by the same guy
Quote
I interpreted it as probably not a sexual relationship. They had that cute thing where they leaned their foreheads together and patted each others cheeks, but we didn't see anything else that would suggest more of a physical relationship (offspring, for example).
^ Yea I think you are prolly right
Quote
I was so afraid for a moment there that she wasn't going to tell him!
I know but I felt that she was too good-hearted to do that:D
Quote
I liked that she did it with a smile, though, like it really did make her happy for him to be happy.
Yea, that's what made her character so poignant for me, that mixture of emotions where she is so full of regret at losing the chance to be with him and simultaneously so khush for him to be happy with another person
Barfi was engraving Shruti's name on things in metal when they first moved to Kolkata, he was still in love with her for a long time, it was only after he'd been with JhilMil for a while that JhilMil started to replace Shruti in his affections
Quote from: Poonam on September 17, 2012, 08:03:11 AM
Ileana was fine too, her eyes are very expressive (wish they had gone easy on her mascara).
Haha Poonam I am so shallow, I love the BW glamour looks onscreen with the actresses, so I was totally loving her eyelashes make-up and hairstyles 8)
(And wishing I knew how to do those looks on myself hehe)
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: tabula rasa on September 17, 2012, 09:10:45 PM
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 07:55:26 PM
I haven't seen Kite but Can't believe these are by the same guy
My take on Kites is that Rakesh Roshan stuck his bloody nose into it and spoilt the whole damn thing. RR's sensibility is crazily out of date and Kites seemed to conform to his style rather than Basu's. I suspect Barfi is Basu's aesthetic revenge at having to contend with silly mainstream film politics. And good on him for that, too.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: corbie on September 17, 2012, 11:49:31 PM
I enjoyed it a lot and thought it was quite good. I am not sure about her being autistic. It didn't seem to fit that label, but whatever she was it worked for the film. She did an awesome job. So did Ranbir.
I did recognize lots of bits taken from Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Seen them all.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 18, 2012, 08:56:36 AM
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
A question I had: Did Barfi and JhilMil have a normal/conventional husgand and wife relationship, or was it always a platonic-companionship and brother-sister type thing where he just took care of her for her whole life? I wasn't sure about that
It's nice that the director leaves that to our imagination. I see it this way. Barfi is a great romantic , no reason why he would not want a full blown relationship with his wife. Jhilmil if you recall visualizes Barfi as a bridegroom during that fantastic wedding celebration which they join as runaways. Seems to me that's a hint there of early romantic stirrings. She doesn't want to stay with her former nanny in the village but chases after Barfi - another sign of her complete trust and growing attachment to Barfi. I see no reason why she wouldn't be a wife in every sense to him once they are married. But its all so nice and subtle - and I'm glad for that.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Mumbaiker on September 18, 2012, 09:30:45 AM
I will write this as the thoughts just come to me, so excuse any randomly place observations. It'll come as and when! ;D Excuse any passionate spelling mistakes or awful sentence structure and just ask me anything you're not sure about that you think needs elaborating!
So - I watched this film last night at Shaftesbury Avenue Cineworld, in Central London (sorry, I just find it useful and interesting to state the location on this forum, as the kind of situtuational and cultural context of where and when you're viewing the film appears to be an interesting aspect amongst all us BollyWhatters and our review's sometimes ;D). Me and my 19 year old English guy friend, quite diverse in the films he likes, and who I've only taken to see Agneepath (which he thoroughly enjoyed - especially musically, though sharing the same sentiments as pretty much everybody else on the ending ) sat down without me having explained the story and film's context as I knew it, so he went in knowing nothing...
Both of us 19/20 year old men sobbed incessantly throughout the final credits.
It really caught us off guard, haha. We actually sat in a sort of bleary eyed sniffling silence watching the (lovely) end captures of Barfi and Jhilmil in old married life at the home.
I really did not expect the film to turn out to be the love-story that it essentially was. Perhaps, in a way you could say was prejudiced, I expected upon seeing disabled characters - that it would be a platonic, quirky kind of friendship/sibling love that the Shruti character might initially threaten but finally come to be accepted by Jhilmil in. It was so not that, and so much more.
I think what impressed me so much, in what I primarily took from the film after, was the way everything kind of crept up on you - that you saw it in one kind of way, and at the end it had taken shape - in a way that felt just so organic - into to something so well sustained, and special. I for one, also, have never in a film before observed dynamic where a beautiful, able-bodied love-interest that really lacks 'nothing' 'loses' (I say loses in regard to cinematic cliches, conventions and narrative points) out so spectacularly, and yet rightly, to another love interest that in many 'real-world' ways is so disadvantaged and ill-equipped for life...
Yet that is the thing, this film was about capturing life as it just... flowed for the characters of Barfi and Jhilmil - it wasn't a 'they have a better life in being so simple than you and I' or a 'they deserve to live the same as you and I' kind of patronizing crap, it wasn't stilted in anyway - things just happened, and it was usually only much later that you realized it was so brilliantly right and necessary that they did, in just the way that they did. Which, funnily enough, is how a lot of us look back on our existence and the past.
I loved this film structurally too - for example the almost documentary style aspects of the Inspector where he seemed to be ruing Barfi for what he'd brought his miserable life too ('Homeopathy') and in the end it was all tied up to reveal it was coming from a place of love, and that they were all gathered in the hospital waiting room. That the film started in the middle - and yet the voice over was from the distant present. That devices were used to throw question on who had ended up with who or even to slightly mislead (the sweeping shot of Shruti and Barfi in photos across the years - later physically 'unfolded', a nice touch I must say, by an old Shruti to reveal she'd 'cropped' Jhilmil out almost to re-imagine the past).
I think the musical score was such a brilliant, essential part of this truly cinematic film. The film being 'cinematic' in the sense that it understood that this is a medium where visuals have such a huge, uncharted capacity to convey so much - aided, somewhat essentially in the Hindi film industry context, by a score to propel those visuals in atmosphere and tone to new heights.
A really fantastic scene that highlighted the film's visual importance for me, and really inspired me - and stimulated me - as a writer, was the scene where Barfi approaches Shruti at the cafe and puts his heart on the plate with the flower to which Shruti asks her friend 'do you have a pen and paper?' Barfi shakes his head, and tells her - visually - to communicate 'face to face' and 'eye to eye' with him. For the character it highlighted immediately for the audience that this was no man who took his disability as a great hindrance (yet, in any case) - but also communicated, in another, cinematic language, what we could expect - or rather, how we should engage with the film itself. To really put words and dialogue as we know them on the back burner, and give our eyes and mind wholeheartedly to the proceedings. Absolutely wonderful.
Interestingly at no point did I really find Barfi 'dumb' in this film - in fact I found him highly capable and invested in him fully as a reliable and trustworthy character in carrying us as the audience and others through the story, very early on, and I think that's testament to Ranbir's laudable portrayal.
I loved the semi-violent, yet vulnerable and - in it's own way - entirely logical or sense making aspect of Barfi cutting posts (lights and foundations/building supports - another interesting touch/visual subtext) to test those in his life, with whether they moved and severed contact before it came crashing down. Jhilmil's lack of even a shudder when her time came was so brilliantly done, to me it conveyed in that moment - her absolute sense of safety and assurance with him above all else.
I like that, though he loved her, Daju(?), Jhilmil's guardian, effectively bought her from her father - even though she was largely happy in his care - while whenever Barfi took Jhilmil (and most importantly in the final shoe throwing scene - remarkable in how strange and 'bizarre' - true to his 'condition' - you felt it must have looked to everyone else, but how intimate and natural it felt for us as an audience) , it was always by her own vocation. He respected her mind and will, and always worked and took time and care to get her - even in 'kidnapping' her! I love that he led her from the van in the (breathtakingly shot) sequence with the fireflies and bubbles, and then through Darjeeling with his hands locked behind his back - so as not to distress her and keep her secure. Then the comedy act at the door when she realized she was following him into his home, a final assurance.
I also loved the layers given to Barfi in her recognition of the sexuality that Shruti possessed (quite a standout scene when Shruti gets into the cab after visiting the twosome), and her own interpretation of that. I liked that it never went as far, and as obvious, in giving us a the cliched Anjali-tries-and-fails to-'do'-Tina kind of scene (from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) where Barfi and Shruti laugh at a ridiculous looking Jhilmil, devastating her - but rather that it was shown as a sort of a private, complex mental quandry she was dealing with herself - that probably, and realistically was never articulated. Except of course in the brilliant, heartbreaking scene where she positions herself between Barfi and Shruti on the veranda after he and her have been reunited!
My friend and I also shared the view that, had this been a 'Western' or rather 'Hollywood' film, Ranjeet (Shruti's husband/fiance) would have probably been abusive, or cold, or a show-off-capital-obsessed type of 'magnanimous' man. Here, in my friend's words - he seemed 'charming' and nice enough, and you could understand his eventual frustration at his wife dropping everything at a phone call to run after another man. He wasn't a villain, he wasn't remarkable - he was safe, and actually for the most part of their relationship quite patient - we saw him just as she did, which made her indecision a little easier to swallow, whereas normally I'd be snapping 'Leave him, woman - just go! Live!'
I also found it interesting that Barfi decided to leave Shruti's house before making the proposal, not just after noticing Ranjeet, but seeing that he was turning on music, the record player. It was symbolic for me of all Barfi felt in that moment he couldn't give her and all he couldn't engage with. Especially as he'd 'messed up' the dance with her that night a while back, being unable to hear what was playing.
There's just so much!
Ileana I find quite ordinary looking otherwise, but she was riveting in this film.
I was on edge from the moment Jhilmil was scolded by Barfi for spitting out the snack in market, and her running off - and I wept from the moment she called out to him from the window, and instantly the character - and visual dilemma/dynamic - became obvious. From that moment I cried until the final credit.
Amazing.
Yes the old age wigs and prosthetic were a big no, and someone needs to come from Hollywood and do an industry workshop for these people on that - but as I said to my friend 'the film gave me so much, I let that bit go'.
He will definitely be getting it on DVD. And so will I.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 18, 2012, 05:24:36 PM
Quote from: Poonam on September 18, 2012, 08:56:36 AM
It's nice that the director leaves that to our imagination. I see it this way. Barfi is a great romantic , no reason why he would not want a full blown relationship with his wife. Jhilmil if you recall visualizes Barfi as a bridegroom during that fantastic wedding celebration which they join as runaways. Seems to me that's a hint there of early romantic stirrings. She doesn't want to stay with her former nanny in the village but chases after Barfi - another sign of her complete trust and growing attachment to Barfi. I see no reason why she wouldn't be a wife in every sense to him once they are married. But its all so nice and subtle - and I'm glad for that.
Hi Poonam!
Thanks for replying. I hadn't considered the bridegroom fantasy she has. Pondering it a bit more, I also remember that she vaguely comprehends that Shruti looks attractive and lovely in her sari, the first time she becomes jealous of her in Kolkata. After watching Shruti in her sari, walking away I think, there's that brief few seconds where JhilMil tries to swathe herself in diagonal fabric as well while looking in the mirror. There was something quite touching about that.
Considering these small things, maybe it was a caretaker situation for years and years, which slowly grew into a more conventional husband-and-wife relationship as time went on
On another note, at the theater in LA where my friends and I saw this, so many Indian families had brought their babies and tiny kids who were crying or talking during the movie. On the aisle to my right, there was a set of young Indian parents and their toddler daughter was wearing thick chunky anklets which made a lot of noise when she walked. And she spent the entire movie walking up and down and in out of the the aisle!
There were also two little kids behind me and one of them was a little hyperactive and kept kicking my seat
I got all mad and worked up about this haha
But seriously, why on earth wouldn't you remove your little girl's very loud anklets before going into a movie theater with a large audience for a three-hour run-time feature?!!
I didn't say anything but I glared at them like a curmudgeonly old lady (which they didn't notice at all since they couldn't see me as they were seated a bit ahead of us hehe:p)
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Shannon on September 19, 2012, 03:36:37 PM
I found Barfi to be a lovely, charming film. The main characters did a great job without exception. Priyanka Chopra was almost unrecognizable in her role. I see a fairly large population of Asperger/Autisitic people in my work and thought she did an excellent job of portraying one without making the character a caricature.
The only thing I didn't like in the film was the music. It struck me as grating and annoying. Unfortunately I am very aurally oriented so the music made me like the film less than I think I would have otherwise. This was actually the first Bollywood movie I've seen where I actively disliked the music!
The atmosphere in the theater was very interesting.There was a large group of Indian families at the showing I attended. The strange thing was they were so quiet! You could hear a pin drop during much of the movie. And there were lots of kids! Maybe they could follow along better because there were fewer subtitles and much of the action was pantomime? Not sure why but that was kind of cool.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Dolce~oro on September 19, 2012, 04:57:04 PM
Quote from: radhika on September 18, 2012, 05:24:36 PM
Considering these small things, maybe it was a caretaker situation for years and years, which slowly grew into a more conventional husband-and-wife relationship as time went on
I actually liked that by the end of the film it didn't really come across as a caretaker and care-receiver type of relationship anymore, but rather as a normal even-sided relationship. In the song playing over the end credits Jhilmil is shown doing all kinds of little things for him, like knitting him a sweater and making sure he's not smoking, so we're led to believe that this does develop past the caretaking point.
The other thing I noticed when I was watching it the second time was that Barfi does have that moment of hesitation when he sees Shruti again in Kolkata. He doesn't seem to still be interested in her romantically, but he does wonder if he made the right choice and that's when he puts Jhilmil through his lamp-post test which she passes. I really liked that because it puts that choice in his hands as much as it was in Shruti's. They both had to choose and they both had doubts, not just her.
Needless to say, loved the movie. And I didn't feel the length the second time around either, which is always a good test.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 19, 2012, 05:47:36 PM
Quote from: Dolce~oro on September 19, 2012, 04:57:04 PM
I actually liked that by the end of the film it didn't really come across as a caretaker and care-receiver type of relationship anymore, but rather as a normal even-sided relationship. In the song playing over the end credits Jhilmil is shown doing all kinds of little things for him, like knitting him a sweater and making sure he's not smoking, so we're led to believe that this does develop past the caretaking point.
^ Dolce, thanks for mentioning this. I got into a huge fight with someone the afternoon we went to go see the movie, so I left during the credits to go to the lobby and call and apologize [haha] and I missed all this sweater and smoking business--that might've made it more clear for me as a viewer
Quote
it puts that choice in his hands as much as it was in Shruti's. They both had to choose and they both had doubts, not just her.
^ WOuld Shruti have had doubts if her stupid mom hadn't tried so hard to convince her that she'd be unhappy with Barfi? I mean, if I recall correctly her mother's main reason for pulling Shruti away from him was that society wouldn't approve of their relationship. "You'll use your fingers to communicate with him but society will point their fingers at you" or some such nonsense. PLZ STFU MOM, is what I felt like, watching the aftermath of that horrid advice
Shruti did not end up being happy with Ranjeet at all, he tells her not to come back after the last time she leaves to go help Barfi and I assume it was implied that she never returned to him after that episode.
Quote from: Poonam on September 18, 2012, 08:56:36 AM
Barfi is a great romantic
He is a practical romantic I think Poonam, the first time he is sitting down with Ileana and her friend at the cafe after following them there, he informs her with gestures that his voice and hearing aren't so hot but that his male equipments are working just fine hehe:p
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 20, 2012, 03:30:39 AM
Just came across a write-up saying that many scenes are lifted from other movies I didn't know
Here's a link to the article, they provide Youtube clips and everything. Dolce, Laura, Poonam, Corbie, any thoughts on this?
www.pinkvilla.com/entertainmenttags/barfi/barfi-inspired-or-copied
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Kajolownsyou on September 20, 2012, 05:01:57 AM
^ I definitely caught the lifted moments from The Notebook, and while I'm not entirely surprised (it is bollywood after all), it took me out of the plot even more at times.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 20, 2012, 05:30:25 AM
Quote from: Kajolownsyou on September 20, 2012, 05:01:57 AM
^ I definitely caught the lifted moments from The Notebook, and while I'm not entirely surprised (it is bollywood after all), it took me out of the plot even more at times.
^ I see. That's too bad. I haven't seen Notebook, that Fred Astaire movie, or any of the listed Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin films, so I didn't notice any of those lifts while we were in the theater. I'm a little surprised by this though:(
Entertainment is globalizing and merging so quickly now, that it seems weird people would still engage in this sort of thing
There was another article on the same site stating that Barfi might be a possible Academy Awards submission as India's foreign film selection, but won't those taken bits be a pretty big issue if it is submitted?
I'll try and find that link and post it
Edited: Here it is:
www.pinkvilla.com/entertainmenttags/heroine/heroinebarfi-and-kahaani-among-11-hindi-films-shortlisted-india-s-oscar-no
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 20, 2012, 07:39:30 AM
I wouldn't know about wholesale lifts from other films. But the ghosts of Chaplin, Raj Kapoor and Life Is Beautiful do flit around and make their presence felt, if you are familiar with them! Not that it in any way detracted from the movie for me. It is unfair on that account to devalue the hard work put in by Anurag Basu, Ranbir and co. OTOH, this would certainly affect the movie's standing if it goes to the Oscars.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: tabula rasa on September 20, 2012, 10:27:42 AM
I had a check of all the clips and as usual pinkvilla exaggerates as only pinkvilla can. We knew from the beginning that Barfi's characterisation and Ranbir's portrayal draws on Chaplin, Keaton, Benigni, etc. No bones were made about it. The examples given are ridiculous - what on earth does Koshish have to do with Barfi except that both have male deaf mute protagonists using their own sign language? It's really stretching it.
Plus, the music of Amelie is a particular strand used by Yann Tiersen - and its very French. Barfi's BGM and soundtrack seems to employ the French theme in general rather than an Amelie lift, and it seems to make sense given the tone of the movie in making light of abject misery.
The only thing that I would consider would be the mother-daughter scene from the Notebook, which seemed a little too pointed for my liking, but then we've come across a million scene-lifts in HW as well.
I think India's plagiarism days are over (at least in the A-list) and filmmakers understand the notion of homage. Perhaps the audience doesn't as yet.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: maru7627 on September 20, 2012, 06:56:34 PM
Caught up with Barfi this week and enjoyed it thoroughly. I loved the Chaplin-Keaton recreations ---- but then I love slapstick comedy. The singing in the Rain moment was lovely too. Ranbir Kapoor was amazing and it's impressive to see him get better with every film. He has great comic timing and an innate understanding of how to pitch a performance. It would have been easy to make Barfi a caricature but he doesn't. Kudos to both the writer-director and the actor for bringing such a marvellous character to life.
Illeana D'Cruz surpised me..... I had not expected her to pull off such a mature performance - quiet, understated. She brings dignity to her role and Shruti is an emotional coward but we empathize with her from start to finish. She's been filmed at her best - both as the young girl in Darjeeling and in those lovely Bengal cotton saris as a married woman. I saw her on Anupama Chopra's show and while she looked pretty, she didn't seem quite the stunner she was on screen.
The film's weak link in my view was Priyanka's Jhilmil. For all the depth and sensitivity Basu as a writer brought to both Barfi and Shruti's characters, Jhimil seemed drawn in the broadest of brushstrokes. Is she austistic or mentally retarded? The 5 year old school girl outfit didn't help at all. Austism is a complex social disorder and it can take many extreme forms, but primarily it is about a crippling inability to relate to people. Priyanka's permanent goldfish expression, childlike swipe of her nose, constant wide eyed blinking channeled Sridevi's character from Sadma, more than any autistic person I've met. The trouble I think is that neither Basu nor Priyanka seem to have commited to a specific form of autism - they've cherry picked the most dramatic of mannerisms and behavior and constructed a composite austistic individual who did not feel true.
The whodunnit plot with Jhilmil belonged to another movie...... it did not fit in this one. It was not mysterious at all and the truth when revealed was not one to surprise an engaged audience.
All told though, the film had beautiful moments and an excellent performance by Ranbir Kapoor. In many ways one of the heroes of the film was Pritam's superb soundtrack and background score, which was a character as much as the three principals were. Basu deserves credit for taking some pretty big risks..... large portions of the film have no dialogue. Basu trusts his story telling skills and the audience enough to pull off those scenes with aplomb!
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 21, 2012, 12:06:00 AM
Quote from: tabula rasa on September 20, 2012, 10:27:42 AM
I had a check of all the clips and as usual pinkvilla exaggerates as only pinkvilla can. We knew from the beginning that Barfi's characterisation and Ranbir's portrayal draws on Chaplin, Keaton, Benigni, etc. No bones were made about it. The examples given are ridiculous - what on earth does Koshish have to do with Barfi except that both have male deaf mute protagonists using their own sign language? It's really stretching it.
I had a quick look at the site but I found these comments on lifting scenes were made by readers rather than the site itself.
Quote from: tabula rasa on September 20, 2012, 10:27:42 AM
I think India's plagiarism days are over (at least in the A-list) and filmmakers understand the notion of homage. Perhaps the audience doesn't as yet.
Yes, it is unlikely that people like Basu, the Kashyaps or Akhtars would do silly things like obvious lifts when they know bloody well that they could get their pants sued by HW (or whoever else 'inspired' them)
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Dolce~oro on September 22, 2012, 12:54:30 PM
So... Barfi! is India's entry for the Oscars... :-\ I liked it a lot but not sure it was Oscar material from any angle. How do people feel about this?
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Darshana on September 22, 2012, 02:44:38 PM
Haven't it yet but - how much magpie-style copycatting is there in it, using Charlie Chaplin and Chaplin-via-Raj Kapoor stuff, and Buster Keaton stuff?
All of which likelier to meet with scorn than appreciation in Hollywood, unless the appropriations really truly are made in a way that says something about them.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: lena on September 23, 2012, 11:44:18 PM
Quote from: maru7627 on September 20, 2012, 06:56:34 PM
The film's weak link in my view was Priyanka's Jhilmil. For all the depth and sensitivity Basu as a writer brought to both Barfi and Shruti's characters, Jhimil seemed drawn in the broadest of brushstrokes. Is she austistic or mentally retarded? The 5 year old school girl outfit didn't help at all. Austism is a complex social disorder and it can take many extreme forms, but primarily it is about a crippling inability to relate to people. Priyanka's permanent goldfish expression, childlike swipe of her nose, constant wide eyed blinking channeled Sridevi's character from Sadma, more than any autistic person I've met. The trouble I think is that neither Basu nor Priyanka seem to have commited to a specific form of autism - they've cherry picked the most dramatic of mannerisms and behavior and constructed a composite austistic individual who did not feel true.
The whodunnit plot with Jhilmil belonged to another movie...... it did not fit in this one. It was not mysterious at all and the truth when revealed was not one to surprise an engaged audience.
This was really my problem with the movie, too. I was really disturbed by the way her character was taken such careless and ruthless advantage of, especially the whole "wacky" kidnapping plot of Barfi's--I don't care if it's because his father is dying, why is his plot any more forgivable than her father's? She's like a dolly stuffed with rupees being tossed around from one user to another. Okay, it leads to Barfi "liberating" her and her following him, and thus to the two of them falling in love, but it just felt icky to me and it cast a pall over my assessment of Barfi's character that he would even consider it.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 28, 2012, 12:41:25 PM
Quote from: lena on September 23, 2012, 11:44:18 PM
This was really my problem with the movie, too. I was really disturbed by the way her character was taken such careless and ruthless advantage of, especially the whole "wacky" kidnapping plot of Barfi's--I don't care if it's because his father is dying, why is his plot any more forgivable than her father's? She's like a dolly stuffed with rupees being tossed around from one user to another. Okay, it leads to Barfi "liberating" her and her following him, and thus to the two of them falling in love, but it just felt icky to me and it cast a pall over my assessment of Barfi's character that he would even consider it.
Kidnapping is inexcusable, of course. But I was looking at it standing in Barfi's shoes. He's dirt poor, unemployed, desperate for his father's life and sees no other option in the short run. The meaning I read here is that the poor are often forced willy-nilly into crime, circumstances dampening their instinctive human decency and goodness. Barfi perhaps rationalized his act thinking he would 'borrow' Jhilmil briefly and return her safely once he'd got his Rs.7000 (and only Rs.7000, no more, no less).
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Honeycomb on September 29, 2012, 12:36:59 PM
Such a delightful movie. I tried to stay away from the spoilers and the "copycat" links so I could watch it with a relatively unbiased view.. And I'm happy I did.
Yes, the physical comedy bits(Chaplin, Keaton, Donald O'Connor) were almost complete re-enactments of the originals - but , so what? They were superfluous to the plot, and I totally consider them to be a fun addition and I can't see what the outrage is all about. (I think that even Roberto Benigni was mentioned somewhere, but since he, with his lampshade-on-the-head humor, steals from the silent comedies himself it's really a non-issue). I don't even think that Chaplin and Keaton themselves would've minded. Those bits are so brilliant and so difficult to do - mad props to Ranbir for even pulling that off so seamlessly as those geniuses - that even 100 years later they're holding up.
Now the copying of the scene from "The notebook" is a different matter as it's a major plot point and copied to the letter. I haven't seen "The Notebook", so while I was watching Barfi I didn't know about this, but now it really bothers me because it could've been done differently. Most of the movie is original so I can't believe that Anurag Basu let that one slide without imagining that people would pick up on it.
That aside, the movie is just lovely. Ranbir... What can I say? To paraphrase Norma Desmond "We didn't need dialogue then, we had faces" - so true in this case. Using his body and expressive face like a mime artist, there's such a tremendous warmth and emotion to Ranbir's acting that is actually very reminiscent of the silent-film actors, there are so many beautiful, subtle and sensitive moments but then there are bits that have a very light touch of broad acting, which a deaf-mute man might have to resort to anyway with the absence of words.
Ileana looked beautiful and had an understated elegance which was right for the role. Priyanka impressed me less. I had a problem with this big umbrella of disability that Jhilmil was thrust under.
Quote
Is she austistic or mentally retarded? The 5 year old school girl outfit didn't help at all. Austism is a complex social disorder and it can take many extreme forms, but primarily it is about a crippling inability to relate to people.
I completely agree - Jhilmil was way too focused(remembering to always take her bag with her, noticing the sari that Shruti wears and imitating her) and made too much eye contact, which are less typical of autism but can very well be some form of mental retardation. It also gets worse with age, and when we see Jhilmil in her old age she seems almost improved.
As for the love between Barfi and Jhilmil, I don't think it was a sexual relationship but more of a companionship. We know that Barfi has a deeply rooted fear of abandonment so when the girl he fell in love with chooses another man, he's not likely to try again, despite his obvious attraction to Shruti, and instead he stays with the one person whom he knows will not leave him.
I loved the frustrated old cop, it was great that they cast someone who's overweight and a bit older, instead of a younger, fit cop. (His complaint that "I went from a size 54 to a size 46 chasing this Barfi" was one of the funniest lines ;D)
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: newbiefan on October 15, 2012, 11:03:23 AM
I wasn't as charmed by this as I had expected. Perhaps it was all the plagiarism talk (yeah, my fault for not staying away from all those links detailing what was taken from where, and watching the film after watching the clips from the sources of inspiration), or perhaps it was the sky-high expectations from all the rave reviews this film has got. My basic problem was that I could never buy that Shruti would actually fall for and consider marrying a man in the position of Barfi. Well, she would if Barfi looked like pink-lipped Ranbir Kapoor, scion of the Kapoor family, nattily dressed in jackets and sweater vests and hats, looking like he just came back from a round of golf at the local country club. But what if he had actually looked like a poor driver's son, with shabby clothes, uneven teeth, dirty nails, perhaps smelling of grime and sweat? If Ranbir had been made to look like that, then Shruti probably wouldn't need her mom to tell her that marriage to Barfi is not advisable. I just couldn't help but notice how pretty and easy everything was made to look, like things will just fall in place, there will always be money to get by and a decent place to stay, taking care of a person with Jhilmil's condition will never weigh heavily on Barfi, trusting Barfi will come easily for Jhilmil, kidnapping and struggle/biting notwithstanding. It brushed aside the difficulties of poverty and disability far more than I like. On top of that was the whole whodunnit kidnapping sideplot that was utterly lacking in any suspense. I was surprised at the amount of time devoted to it.
What I did like are the performances. All three leads did well. The music was really nice. It was good to see Darjeeling in a movie again. It was quite a staple in 60s movies, but then it fell out of fashion. It was good to see the countryside of West Bengal, its folk-culture, and not just Kolkata in the movie. It was good to see Bengali women dressed like normal Bengali women, and not the white-saree-with-red-border-and-huge-bindi-on-the-forehead filmi Bengali stereotype. It was good to hear a snatch of Duranta Ghurnir Ei Legechhe Paak (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8A1W8aWcUA) in the scene where Barfi goes to Shruti's house with his proposal. It almost made me forget to question where Barfi got such a well-fitting nice looking suit.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: fifthgradeteachermom on October 18, 2012, 01:08:17 AM
I said much of this in the "nominated for an Oscar" thread, so I won't rehash in depth. I did just want to throw in here that, as many have mentioned, ASD is a complex continuum of behaviors and symptoms, which can, and do, include the mannerisms portrayed in the film. Not to beat a dead horse, but as a parent of a child with high-functioning autism, I found Priyanka's portrayal (surprisingly, actually ) authentic and believable.
BollyWHAT?: For Clueless Fans of Bollywood Films!
Bollystuff => The Film Fair => Topic started by: Poonam on September 14, 2012, 10:19:28 AM
Title: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 14, 2012, 10:19:28 AM
The Indian press is going ga-ga over this one:
Silences seldom spoke so eloquently. It's been a while since we saw a film that set style at a subsidiary state to substance, put the characters' inner life ahead of the flamboyant manifestations of self-identity in a world governed by benevolence and charm.
movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=743
Just the fact that this film’s chief focus is on two people who cannot communicate the way you and I do, makes it automatically different. ‘Barfi!’ comes out of mainstream Bollywood, whose standard idea of creating difference is to shuffle one step forward, two steps back : given that context, and its subject, 'Barfi’! does take several brave strides. It’s good in many ways; what stops it from being a great film is a degree of fuzziness, and an insistence on prettiness.
m.indianexpress.com/news/barfi-review/1002568/
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Dancelover on September 14, 2012, 03:02:23 PM
www.bollywoodworld.com
has posted this same review, except that they give it 4.5 stars instead of only 4 (out of 5).
They also say that Barfi did excellent business on Friday.
D.
Quote from: Poonam on September 14, 2012, 10:19:28 AM
The Indian press is going ga-ga over this one:
Silences seldom spoke so eloquently. It's been a while since we saw a film that set style at a subsidiary state to substance, put the characters' inner life ahead of the flamboyant manifestations of self-identity in a world governed by benevolence and charm.
movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=743
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
Edit: I put this post in the wrong thread at first, in the non-spoil Barfi thread, so some of these comments I'm replying to in this post are from there:D
Quote from: Poonam on September 03, 2012, 10:24:13 AM
Dubious. In the first place, why is she dressed like a 20-something schoolgirl from another era?
Poona it seems to work in the movie, her clothes didn't look out of place (to me)
Quote from: Kajolownsyou on August 16, 2012, 03:45:57 AM
I like the second song trailer more than the first, but I'm still not sure if I'm completely sold. It is all very endearing though, that's for sure.
I'd like to see more of the ladies' roles, however.
^ Now having seen it, I sort of wish Ileana had some more scenes, she was my absolute favourite part of the feature
I picked up Gauri/KajolOwnsYou and we flew cross-town and met Lena to see this today. In general, an interesting and different movie, and a nice example of modern Bollywood, which isn't formulaic and predictable at all.
SOme of the framing/composition/cinematography was so lovely!
I loved Ileana's character, I could relate to it a lot [conservative Indian parents pushing their daughter to make the "right" and "safe" choice in life which ends up being TOTALLY wrong for her]
I also really enjoyed the performance of the police guy who is chasing Barfi, omg he was so funny!! The first part where he's running after Barfi and his combover blows in the wind, so amusing
And then when he sits up with his little binoculars in the field in front of that cow hahahaha
Ileana was named Shruti here and she was also named Shruti in Pokiri, her SI movie which I also really liked
So I guess Shruti, once she left her husband, was alone after that (as implied by the flash-forwards to old age)
She looked so wistful at their wedding, watching Barfi and Jhilmil together, I really felt for her in that scene, it was like she was more and more comprehending what had slipped away
As her voiceover explains, her character is supposed to be the cautionary tale, the person who hesitates, holds back, and never lives life fully and so loses her chance at real happiness. While Barfi and JhilMil were giving life their all at every turn, with no second thoughts and no fear (JhilMil because of her mental condition and Barfi because of his natural personality and disposition) and so they end up having a lasting bond and long-term relationship and all this. While Shruti ends up alone, with spectacles, a grey mushroom hair wig and ugly salvar kameez as a spinster teacher in an institution or something [Gawd. Couldn't she have move on and taken the lesson learned from Barfi to heart and given her all to a new relationship with another guy later in life? Her romances did not have to end after Ranjeet and Barfi, I think]
I really liked the scene where Barfi cover JhilMil's legs and pulls up his trousers in front of that guy on the wagon like "Have a look at this instead" haha
The lighting and camera-work were so terrific in so many parts.
Minor complaint, I didn't like Barfi's mustache very much--that really bothered me. It was so precision designed and I didn't care for it one bit, though I know it fit with how meticulous the character was with his appearance, always combing his hair and so on
A question I had: Did Barfi and JhilMil have a normal/conventional husgand and wife relationship, or was it always a platonic-companionship and brother-sister type thing where he just took care of her for her whole life? I wasn't sure about that
This is the weirdest movie interview I've ever read (it's for Barfi) some mind-boggling grammar and vocab here though must be a case of lost-in-translation from Hindi to English:
www.livehindiradio.com/i-got-emotional-and-began-crying/
Found out the guy who plays Mr Way Awesome Combover Policeman is a writer, director and actor who's been in and written lots of stuff:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saurabh_Shukla
I looked for pics of his policeman character onilne for an avi (after Ileana he MADE the movie for me haha) but couldn't find any yet
Couple more notes:
I realized upon thinking back that when Shruti asked her mom if her mom really loved her dad the first time, her mom avoids the question completely by lightly saying something like "Who says love only happens once" and kind of waves the issue away. Which is supposed to imply that she fell in love again after Mr Lumberjack Guy, but I think she didn't fall in love again and she doesn't want to admit it, so she answers vaguely like that. Shruti realizes all this and calls her out on that lie later, when she is missing Barfi and hating herself for going along with a marriage that wasn't right for her at all. And when she asks her mom again "Do you love dad?" or "Did you ever love Dad?" then I think the mom doesn't reply, she just walks away. That whole thing made me feel TOTALLY horrible for Shruti:(
I liked how Ileana was so quietly expressive in the scenes right after Barfi comes to propose to her (when her heart is breaking) and later when she sees how close Barfi has become to JhilMil in Kolkata. Very little dialogue but her demeanor and eyes say so much.
It's also so adorable at the end when JhilMil and Barfi meet again and JhilMil is a little bit jealous of Shruti and she shields Barfi from Shruti a little bit with her body, as if to say "He's mine please, okay" and that makes Shruti smile
Another moment I liked came in the scenes before that, when Barfi and Shruti are walking away from the house, and JhilMil calls to Barfi. He can't hear it of course, but Shruti slows down and pauses for a few seconds. If she doesn't tell Barfi about it, they could keep walking and leave, and she'd have him back. You can see she almost doesn't want to tell him but she can't withhold something so important from him so she lets him know. And then Barfi runs back and reunites with JhilMil. I think that showed how unselfish Shruti was. She lost her true love but she wouldn't let him lose the girl he truly loved, even at her own expense.
Another random thing that occurs to me: the voiceover female for the elder Shruti did not seem to me to have a voice that fit the Shruti character in general. I know people's voices change as they get older but it sounded to me like a different lady altogether.
Quote from: Poonam on September 14, 2012, 10:19:28 AM
Silences seldom spoke so eloquently.
^ Poonam I'd agree with this excerpt of the review (haven't read the whole thing yet)
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 17, 2012, 08:03:11 AM
This one goes right into my list of favorites for the year. Lovely, heart-tugging, full of goodness and fun. Ranbir owns virtually every frame he appears in, but top honours go to Anurag Basu for having got such heartfelt performances from his actors. Priyanka, to my relief (and surprise) was quite believable and the bee stung lips actually helped in this role. Ileana was fine too, her eyes are very expressive (wish they had gone easy on her mascara). I love how Ranbir's rubber-band energy is juxtaposed against the fat cop's wheezy, slowness . Their several catch-me-if-you-can sequences were reminiscent of Tom and Jerry! There is a fairy tale-ish quality to how the plot unfolds that some may feel brings this film down a few notches - for e.g. how the two runaways, one a deaf-mute and the other severely Aspergers challenged , survive in a big city with no resources to speak of - but I don't want to wander down that road, its best left to the critics. Movies with genuine heart are rare and Barfi is one of those. I loved every moment.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: NewLaura on September 17, 2012, 03:12:55 PM
I enjoyed reading your posts and remembering the film, Radhika and Poonam!
I thought Barfi was enchanting. I really have to hand it to Anurag Basu. The direction and the writing were incredible. (And I happened to have just watched Kites very recently...I'm astounded by the difference between these two films!)
Ranbir was just amazing. He was charming, funny, lovable and his physicality was just perfect. He carried that whole film for a couple of hours with no dialogue.
Priyanka deserves recognition, too. She took on a role that was not in the least bit glamorous and she nailed it.
And kudos to the marketing team. I can think of some other directors/producers who would have been crowing to the press about how they made a silent film and the hype would have drowned the movie. They revealed nothing of the story in the trailer, and I think that was a smart move.
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
I also really enjoyed the performance of the police guy who is chasing Barfi, omg he was so funny!! The first part where he's running after Barfi and his combover blows in the wind, so amusing
And then when he sits up with his little binoculars in the field in front of that cow hahahaha
I agree -- Saurabh Shukla really did a great job. I loved the silent movie-type/slapstick chase scenes between him and Barfi. The choreography and music were excellent.
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
Ileana was named Shruti here and she was also named Shruti in Pokiri, her SI movie which I also really liked
So I guess Shruti, once she left her husband, was alone after that (as implied by the flash-forwards to old age)
She looked so wistful at their wedding, watching Barfi and Jhilmil together, I really felt for her in that scene, it was like she was more and more comprehending what had slipped away
As her voiceover explains, her character is supposed to be the cautionary tale, the person who hesitates, holds back, and never lives life fully and so loses her chance at real happiness. While Barfi and JhilMil were giving life their all at every turn, with no second thoughts and no fear (JhilMil because of her mental condition and Barfi because of his natural personality and disposition) and so they end up having a lasting bond and long-term relationship and all this. While Shruti ends up alone, with spectacles, a grey mushroom hair wig and ugly salvar kameez as a spinster teacher in an institution or something [Gawd. Couldn't she have move on and taken the lesson learned from Barfi to heart and given her all to a new relationship with another guy later in life? Her romances did not have to end after Ranjeet and Barfi, I think]
They showed her teaching and speaking sign language in a classroom, so I think maybe she devoted her life to helping other hearing-impaired people. A couple of times she said in voice-overs how she wanted to have a love like her grandparents, where her grandmother died the day after her grandfather. I guess she was stuck on the one love thing.
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
I really liked the scene where Barfi cover JhilMil's legs and pulls up his trousers in front of that guy on the wagon like "Have a look at this instead" haha
Yes, that was cute. They did a good job of showing that Barfi and JhilMil really developed a relationship and how it could work between them, like the game where she waited at home to scare him (which would keep her waiting at home, and not wandering off looking for him, etc.), and the party horn he used to make noise so she could find him. And they showed him being a caretaker for her, too. But it was all done in a way that was fundamentally respectful (the movie treated them both like real people with personalities, with humanity, not like caricatures or objects of pity).
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
A question I had: Did Barfi and JhilMil have a normal/conventional husgand and wife relationship, or was it always a platonic-companionship and brother-sister type thing where he just took care of her for her whole life? I wasn't sure about that
I interpreted it as probably not a sexual relationship. They had that cute thing where they leaned their foreheads together and patted each others cheeks, but we didn't see anything else that would suggest more of a physical relationship (offspring, for example).
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
Another moment I liked came in the scenes before that, when Barfi and Shruti are walking away from the house, and JhilMil calls to Barfi. He can't hear it of course, but Shruti slows down and pauses for a few seconds. If she doesn't tell Barfi about it, they could keep walking and leave, and she'd have him back. You can see she almost doesn't want to tell him but she can't withhold something so important from him so she lets him know. And then Barfi runs back and reunites with JhilMil. I think that showed how unselfish Shruti was. She lost her true love but she wouldn't let him lose the girl he truly loved, even at her own expense.
I was so afraid for a moment there that she wasn't going to tell him! I liked that she did it with a smile, though, like it really did make her happy for him to be happy.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Spencer on September 17, 2012, 04:07:17 PM
LA Times
Review: 'Barfi!' is just too much
Writer-director Anurag Basu's Bollywood import is long and dizzying. Ranbir Kapoor stars.
By Gary Goldstein
September 16, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
As Barfii, the deaf-mute man-child given epic treatment by writer-director Anurag Basu in the exhausting Bollywood import "Barfi!," Ranbir Kapoor, a fourth-generation member of India's Kapoor acting dynasty, proves a virtually silent, whirling dervish of slapstick, pathos and, at times, grinding irritation. Think: A Chaplin-infused hybrid of Mr. Bean and Gumby, with a dose of early Adam Sandler.
Kapoor is undeniably game. He walks into walls! He juggles bananas! He does the chicken dance! But like so much else here, he suffers from the more-is-less syndrome.
To wit, the film's excessive length (not a Bollywood rarity) gives Basu's twitchy, dizzying narrative too great a canvas on which to unravel as it flashes back from the present to 1970s-era Kolkata and Darjeeling, where most of the action is set.
The story begins by recounting how Barfii (nee Murphy) falls for the gently beautiful, already-engaged Shruti (Ileana D'cruz), but that potentially lyrical pairing gives way to Barfii's wildly meandering relationship and, later, unconvincing romance with the feral, deeply autistic and seemingly much younger Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra).
En route there's a bank holdup, a kidnapping, myriad chases and close calls, good and bad parents, manic cops, music montages, a wedding and about a million camera setups.
Despite a hard-working cast, a lush score, exotic location shooting and scattered warmth, "Barfi!" is ultimately more endurance test than entertainment.
www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-barfi-20120917,0,1728205.story
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: NewLaura on September 17, 2012, 05:54:13 PM
Hmm, well, I disagree with just about everything in that LA Times review. (and I find calling Priyanka's character "feral" a bit offensive, honestly, and not supported by the characterization...she's shown to be quite interested in being clean, for starters, and she is pretty compliant and well-behaved)
I agree much more with the excellent review that zombeaner wrote for Twitch:
twitchfilm.com/2012/09/review-barfi.html
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 17, 2012, 07:55:26 PM
Quote from: NewLaura on September 17, 2012, 05:54:13 PM
(and I find calling Priyanka's character "feral" a bit offensive, honestly
I know right? And Mr Bean and Gumby wtf?!
I mean come on
Quote
and not supported by the characterization...she's shown to be quite interested in being clean, for starters, and she is pretty compliant and well-behaved)
^ Exactly her character did not even like to have a small amt of mud on her shoes for chrissakes
Quote from: NewLaura on September 17, 2012, 05:54:13 PM
Hmm, well, I disagree with just about everything in that LA Times review.
Me too, I much prefer your review and Poonam's review above
I did think the movie was a little too long, and I said that to the people I watched it with when we walked out and were discussing it. Also, Ranbir's character was so high-energy, that he was a bit much for me at times, but still, the acting all round was so good and the movie had lots of heart, like Poonam said
Also what was so hard for the LA TImes reviewer to believe about the Barfi-JhilMil romance?
JhilMil passed the wood-cutting-to-fall-over-on-the-lamp test so perfectly and without thinking, which all Barfi's other friends failed, even Shruti (though I love Shruti)
Quote from: NewLaura on September 17, 2012, 03:12:55 PM
(And I happened to have just watched Kites very recently...I'm astounded by the difference between these two films!)
I haven't seen Kite but Can't believe these are by the same guy
Quote
I interpreted it as probably not a sexual relationship. They had that cute thing where they leaned their foreheads together and patted each others cheeks, but we didn't see anything else that would suggest more of a physical relationship (offspring, for example).
^ Yea I think you are prolly right
Quote
I was so afraid for a moment there that she wasn't going to tell him!
I know but I felt that she was too good-hearted to do that:D
Quote
I liked that she did it with a smile, though, like it really did make her happy for him to be happy.
Yea, that's what made her character so poignant for me, that mixture of emotions where she is so full of regret at losing the chance to be with him and simultaneously so khush for him to be happy with another person
Barfi was engraving Shruti's name on things in metal when they first moved to Kolkata, he was still in love with her for a long time, it was only after he'd been with JhilMil for a while that JhilMil started to replace Shruti in his affections
Quote from: Poonam on September 17, 2012, 08:03:11 AM
Ileana was fine too, her eyes are very expressive (wish they had gone easy on her mascara).
Haha Poonam I am so shallow, I love the BW glamour looks onscreen with the actresses, so I was totally loving her eyelashes make-up and hairstyles 8)
(And wishing I knew how to do those looks on myself hehe)
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: tabula rasa on September 17, 2012, 09:10:45 PM
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 07:55:26 PM
I haven't seen Kite but Can't believe these are by the same guy
My take on Kites is that Rakesh Roshan stuck his bloody nose into it and spoilt the whole damn thing. RR's sensibility is crazily out of date and Kites seemed to conform to his style rather than Basu's. I suspect Barfi is Basu's aesthetic revenge at having to contend with silly mainstream film politics. And good on him for that, too.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: corbie on September 17, 2012, 11:49:31 PM
I enjoyed it a lot and thought it was quite good. I am not sure about her being autistic. It didn't seem to fit that label, but whatever she was it worked for the film. She did an awesome job. So did Ranbir.
I did recognize lots of bits taken from Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Seen them all.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 18, 2012, 08:56:36 AM
Quote from: radhika on September 17, 2012, 05:39:52 AM
A question I had: Did Barfi and JhilMil have a normal/conventional husgand and wife relationship, or was it always a platonic-companionship and brother-sister type thing where he just took care of her for her whole life? I wasn't sure about that
It's nice that the director leaves that to our imagination. I see it this way. Barfi is a great romantic , no reason why he would not want a full blown relationship with his wife. Jhilmil if you recall visualizes Barfi as a bridegroom during that fantastic wedding celebration which they join as runaways. Seems to me that's a hint there of early romantic stirrings. She doesn't want to stay with her former nanny in the village but chases after Barfi - another sign of her complete trust and growing attachment to Barfi. I see no reason why she wouldn't be a wife in every sense to him once they are married. But its all so nice and subtle - and I'm glad for that.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Mumbaiker on September 18, 2012, 09:30:45 AM
I will write this as the thoughts just come to me, so excuse any randomly place observations. It'll come as and when! ;D Excuse any passionate spelling mistakes or awful sentence structure and just ask me anything you're not sure about that you think needs elaborating!
So - I watched this film last night at Shaftesbury Avenue Cineworld, in Central London (sorry, I just find it useful and interesting to state the location on this forum, as the kind of situtuational and cultural context of where and when you're viewing the film appears to be an interesting aspect amongst all us BollyWhatters and our review's sometimes ;D). Me and my 19 year old English guy friend, quite diverse in the films he likes, and who I've only taken to see Agneepath (which he thoroughly enjoyed - especially musically, though sharing the same sentiments as pretty much everybody else on the ending ) sat down without me having explained the story and film's context as I knew it, so he went in knowing nothing...
Both of us 19/20 year old men sobbed incessantly throughout the final credits.
It really caught us off guard, haha. We actually sat in a sort of bleary eyed sniffling silence watching the (lovely) end captures of Barfi and Jhilmil in old married life at the home.
I really did not expect the film to turn out to be the love-story that it essentially was. Perhaps, in a way you could say was prejudiced, I expected upon seeing disabled characters - that it would be a platonic, quirky kind of friendship/sibling love that the Shruti character might initially threaten but finally come to be accepted by Jhilmil in. It was so not that, and so much more.
I think what impressed me so much, in what I primarily took from the film after, was the way everything kind of crept up on you - that you saw it in one kind of way, and at the end it had taken shape - in a way that felt just so organic - into to something so well sustained, and special. I for one, also, have never in a film before observed dynamic where a beautiful, able-bodied love-interest that really lacks 'nothing' 'loses' (I say loses in regard to cinematic cliches, conventions and narrative points) out so spectacularly, and yet rightly, to another love interest that in many 'real-world' ways is so disadvantaged and ill-equipped for life...
Yet that is the thing, this film was about capturing life as it just... flowed for the characters of Barfi and Jhilmil - it wasn't a 'they have a better life in being so simple than you and I' or a 'they deserve to live the same as you and I' kind of patronizing crap, it wasn't stilted in anyway - things just happened, and it was usually only much later that you realized it was so brilliantly right and necessary that they did, in just the way that they did. Which, funnily enough, is how a lot of us look back on our existence and the past.
I loved this film structurally too - for example the almost documentary style aspects of the Inspector where he seemed to be ruing Barfi for what he'd brought his miserable life too ('Homeopathy') and in the end it was all tied up to reveal it was coming from a place of love, and that they were all gathered in the hospital waiting room. That the film started in the middle - and yet the voice over was from the distant present. That devices were used to throw question on who had ended up with who or even to slightly mislead (the sweeping shot of Shruti and Barfi in photos across the years - later physically 'unfolded', a nice touch I must say, by an old Shruti to reveal she'd 'cropped' Jhilmil out almost to re-imagine the past).
I think the musical score was such a brilliant, essential part of this truly cinematic film. The film being 'cinematic' in the sense that it understood that this is a medium where visuals have such a huge, uncharted capacity to convey so much - aided, somewhat essentially in the Hindi film industry context, by a score to propel those visuals in atmosphere and tone to new heights.
A really fantastic scene that highlighted the film's visual importance for me, and really inspired me - and stimulated me - as a writer, was the scene where Barfi approaches Shruti at the cafe and puts his heart on the plate with the flower to which Shruti asks her friend 'do you have a pen and paper?' Barfi shakes his head, and tells her - visually - to communicate 'face to face' and 'eye to eye' with him. For the character it highlighted immediately for the audience that this was no man who took his disability as a great hindrance (yet, in any case) - but also communicated, in another, cinematic language, what we could expect - or rather, how we should engage with the film itself. To really put words and dialogue as we know them on the back burner, and give our eyes and mind wholeheartedly to the proceedings. Absolutely wonderful.
Interestingly at no point did I really find Barfi 'dumb' in this film - in fact I found him highly capable and invested in him fully as a reliable and trustworthy character in carrying us as the audience and others through the story, very early on, and I think that's testament to Ranbir's laudable portrayal.
I loved the semi-violent, yet vulnerable and - in it's own way - entirely logical or sense making aspect of Barfi cutting posts (lights and foundations/building supports - another interesting touch/visual subtext) to test those in his life, with whether they moved and severed contact before it came crashing down. Jhilmil's lack of even a shudder when her time came was so brilliantly done, to me it conveyed in that moment - her absolute sense of safety and assurance with him above all else.
I like that, though he loved her, Daju(?), Jhilmil's guardian, effectively bought her from her father - even though she was largely happy in his care - while whenever Barfi took Jhilmil (and most importantly in the final shoe throwing scene - remarkable in how strange and 'bizarre' - true to his 'condition' - you felt it must have looked to everyone else, but how intimate and natural it felt for us as an audience) , it was always by her own vocation. He respected her mind and will, and always worked and took time and care to get her - even in 'kidnapping' her! I love that he led her from the van in the (breathtakingly shot) sequence with the fireflies and bubbles, and then through Darjeeling with his hands locked behind his back - so as not to distress her and keep her secure. Then the comedy act at the door when she realized she was following him into his home, a final assurance.
I also loved the layers given to Barfi in her recognition of the sexuality that Shruti possessed (quite a standout scene when Shruti gets into the cab after visiting the twosome), and her own interpretation of that. I liked that it never went as far, and as obvious, in giving us a the cliched Anjali-tries-and-fails to-'do'-Tina kind of scene (from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) where Barfi and Shruti laugh at a ridiculous looking Jhilmil, devastating her - but rather that it was shown as a sort of a private, complex mental quandry she was dealing with herself - that probably, and realistically was never articulated. Except of course in the brilliant, heartbreaking scene where she positions herself between Barfi and Shruti on the veranda after he and her have been reunited!
My friend and I also shared the view that, had this been a 'Western' or rather 'Hollywood' film, Ranjeet (Shruti's husband/fiance) would have probably been abusive, or cold, or a show-off-capital-obsessed type of 'magnanimous' man. Here, in my friend's words - he seemed 'charming' and nice enough, and you could understand his eventual frustration at his wife dropping everything at a phone call to run after another man. He wasn't a villain, he wasn't remarkable - he was safe, and actually for the most part of their relationship quite patient - we saw him just as she did, which made her indecision a little easier to swallow, whereas normally I'd be snapping 'Leave him, woman - just go! Live!'
I also found it interesting that Barfi decided to leave Shruti's house before making the proposal, not just after noticing Ranjeet, but seeing that he was turning on music, the record player. It was symbolic for me of all Barfi felt in that moment he couldn't give her and all he couldn't engage with. Especially as he'd 'messed up' the dance with her that night a while back, being unable to hear what was playing.
There's just so much!
Ileana I find quite ordinary looking otherwise, but she was riveting in this film.
I was on edge from the moment Jhilmil was scolded by Barfi for spitting out the snack in market, and her running off - and I wept from the moment she called out to him from the window, and instantly the character - and visual dilemma/dynamic - became obvious. From that moment I cried until the final credit.
Amazing.
Yes the old age wigs and prosthetic were a big no, and someone needs to come from Hollywood and do an industry workshop for these people on that - but as I said to my friend 'the film gave me so much, I let that bit go'.
He will definitely be getting it on DVD. And so will I.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 18, 2012, 05:24:36 PM
Quote from: Poonam on September 18, 2012, 08:56:36 AM
It's nice that the director leaves that to our imagination. I see it this way. Barfi is a great romantic , no reason why he would not want a full blown relationship with his wife. Jhilmil if you recall visualizes Barfi as a bridegroom during that fantastic wedding celebration which they join as runaways. Seems to me that's a hint there of early romantic stirrings. She doesn't want to stay with her former nanny in the village but chases after Barfi - another sign of her complete trust and growing attachment to Barfi. I see no reason why she wouldn't be a wife in every sense to him once they are married. But its all so nice and subtle - and I'm glad for that.
Hi Poonam!
Thanks for replying. I hadn't considered the bridegroom fantasy she has. Pondering it a bit more, I also remember that she vaguely comprehends that Shruti looks attractive and lovely in her sari, the first time she becomes jealous of her in Kolkata. After watching Shruti in her sari, walking away I think, there's that brief few seconds where JhilMil tries to swathe herself in diagonal fabric as well while looking in the mirror. There was something quite touching about that.
Considering these small things, maybe it was a caretaker situation for years and years, which slowly grew into a more conventional husband-and-wife relationship as time went on
On another note, at the theater in LA where my friends and I saw this, so many Indian families had brought their babies and tiny kids who were crying or talking during the movie. On the aisle to my right, there was a set of young Indian parents and their toddler daughter was wearing thick chunky anklets which made a lot of noise when she walked. And she spent the entire movie walking up and down and in out of the the aisle!
There were also two little kids behind me and one of them was a little hyperactive and kept kicking my seat
I got all mad and worked up about this haha
But seriously, why on earth wouldn't you remove your little girl's very loud anklets before going into a movie theater with a large audience for a three-hour run-time feature?!!
I didn't say anything but I glared at them like a curmudgeonly old lady (which they didn't notice at all since they couldn't see me as they were seated a bit ahead of us hehe:p)
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Shannon on September 19, 2012, 03:36:37 PM
I found Barfi to be a lovely, charming film. The main characters did a great job without exception. Priyanka Chopra was almost unrecognizable in her role. I see a fairly large population of Asperger/Autisitic people in my work and thought she did an excellent job of portraying one without making the character a caricature.
The only thing I didn't like in the film was the music. It struck me as grating and annoying. Unfortunately I am very aurally oriented so the music made me like the film less than I think I would have otherwise. This was actually the first Bollywood movie I've seen where I actively disliked the music!
The atmosphere in the theater was very interesting.There was a large group of Indian families at the showing I attended. The strange thing was they were so quiet! You could hear a pin drop during much of the movie. And there were lots of kids! Maybe they could follow along better because there were fewer subtitles and much of the action was pantomime? Not sure why but that was kind of cool.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Dolce~oro on September 19, 2012, 04:57:04 PM
Quote from: radhika on September 18, 2012, 05:24:36 PM
Considering these small things, maybe it was a caretaker situation for years and years, which slowly grew into a more conventional husband-and-wife relationship as time went on
I actually liked that by the end of the film it didn't really come across as a caretaker and care-receiver type of relationship anymore, but rather as a normal even-sided relationship. In the song playing over the end credits Jhilmil is shown doing all kinds of little things for him, like knitting him a sweater and making sure he's not smoking, so we're led to believe that this does develop past the caretaking point.
The other thing I noticed when I was watching it the second time was that Barfi does have that moment of hesitation when he sees Shruti again in Kolkata. He doesn't seem to still be interested in her romantically, but he does wonder if he made the right choice and that's when he puts Jhilmil through his lamp-post test which she passes. I really liked that because it puts that choice in his hands as much as it was in Shruti's. They both had to choose and they both had doubts, not just her.
Needless to say, loved the movie. And I didn't feel the length the second time around either, which is always a good test.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 19, 2012, 05:47:36 PM
Quote from: Dolce~oro on September 19, 2012, 04:57:04 PM
I actually liked that by the end of the film it didn't really come across as a caretaker and care-receiver type of relationship anymore, but rather as a normal even-sided relationship. In the song playing over the end credits Jhilmil is shown doing all kinds of little things for him, like knitting him a sweater and making sure he's not smoking, so we're led to believe that this does develop past the caretaking point.
^ Dolce, thanks for mentioning this. I got into a huge fight with someone the afternoon we went to go see the movie, so I left during the credits to go to the lobby and call and apologize [haha] and I missed all this sweater and smoking business--that might've made it more clear for me as a viewer
Quote
it puts that choice in his hands as much as it was in Shruti's. They both had to choose and they both had doubts, not just her.
^ WOuld Shruti have had doubts if her stupid mom hadn't tried so hard to convince her that she'd be unhappy with Barfi? I mean, if I recall correctly her mother's main reason for pulling Shruti away from him was that society wouldn't approve of their relationship. "You'll use your fingers to communicate with him but society will point their fingers at you" or some such nonsense. PLZ STFU MOM, is what I felt like, watching the aftermath of that horrid advice
Shruti did not end up being happy with Ranjeet at all, he tells her not to come back after the last time she leaves to go help Barfi and I assume it was implied that she never returned to him after that episode.
Quote from: Poonam on September 18, 2012, 08:56:36 AM
Barfi is a great romantic
He is a practical romantic I think Poonam, the first time he is sitting down with Ileana and her friend at the cafe after following them there, he informs her with gestures that his voice and hearing aren't so hot but that his male equipments are working just fine hehe:p
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 20, 2012, 03:30:39 AM
Just came across a write-up saying that many scenes are lifted from other movies I didn't know
Here's a link to the article, they provide Youtube clips and everything. Dolce, Laura, Poonam, Corbie, any thoughts on this?
www.pinkvilla.com/entertainmenttags/barfi/barfi-inspired-or-copied
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Kajolownsyou on September 20, 2012, 05:01:57 AM
^ I definitely caught the lifted moments from The Notebook, and while I'm not entirely surprised (it is bollywood after all), it took me out of the plot even more at times.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: radhika on September 20, 2012, 05:30:25 AM
Quote from: Kajolownsyou on September 20, 2012, 05:01:57 AM
^ I definitely caught the lifted moments from The Notebook, and while I'm not entirely surprised (it is bollywood after all), it took me out of the plot even more at times.
^ I see. That's too bad. I haven't seen Notebook, that Fred Astaire movie, or any of the listed Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin films, so I didn't notice any of those lifts while we were in the theater. I'm a little surprised by this though:(
Entertainment is globalizing and merging so quickly now, that it seems weird people would still engage in this sort of thing
There was another article on the same site stating that Barfi might be a possible Academy Awards submission as India's foreign film selection, but won't those taken bits be a pretty big issue if it is submitted?
I'll try and find that link and post it
Edited: Here it is:
www.pinkvilla.com/entertainmenttags/heroine/heroinebarfi-and-kahaani-among-11-hindi-films-shortlisted-india-s-oscar-no
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 20, 2012, 07:39:30 AM
I wouldn't know about wholesale lifts from other films. But the ghosts of Chaplin, Raj Kapoor and Life Is Beautiful do flit around and make their presence felt, if you are familiar with them! Not that it in any way detracted from the movie for me. It is unfair on that account to devalue the hard work put in by Anurag Basu, Ranbir and co. OTOH, this would certainly affect the movie's standing if it goes to the Oscars.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: tabula rasa on September 20, 2012, 10:27:42 AM
I had a check of all the clips and as usual pinkvilla exaggerates as only pinkvilla can. We knew from the beginning that Barfi's characterisation and Ranbir's portrayal draws on Chaplin, Keaton, Benigni, etc. No bones were made about it. The examples given are ridiculous - what on earth does Koshish have to do with Barfi except that both have male deaf mute protagonists using their own sign language? It's really stretching it.
Plus, the music of Amelie is a particular strand used by Yann Tiersen - and its very French. Barfi's BGM and soundtrack seems to employ the French theme in general rather than an Amelie lift, and it seems to make sense given the tone of the movie in making light of abject misery.
The only thing that I would consider would be the mother-daughter scene from the Notebook, which seemed a little too pointed for my liking, but then we've come across a million scene-lifts in HW as well.
I think India's plagiarism days are over (at least in the A-list) and filmmakers understand the notion of homage. Perhaps the audience doesn't as yet.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: maru7627 on September 20, 2012, 06:56:34 PM
Caught up with Barfi this week and enjoyed it thoroughly. I loved the Chaplin-Keaton recreations ---- but then I love slapstick comedy. The singing in the Rain moment was lovely too. Ranbir Kapoor was amazing and it's impressive to see him get better with every film. He has great comic timing and an innate understanding of how to pitch a performance. It would have been easy to make Barfi a caricature but he doesn't. Kudos to both the writer-director and the actor for bringing such a marvellous character to life.
Illeana D'Cruz surpised me..... I had not expected her to pull off such a mature performance - quiet, understated. She brings dignity to her role and Shruti is an emotional coward but we empathize with her from start to finish. She's been filmed at her best - both as the young girl in Darjeeling and in those lovely Bengal cotton saris as a married woman. I saw her on Anupama Chopra's show and while she looked pretty, she didn't seem quite the stunner she was on screen.
The film's weak link in my view was Priyanka's Jhilmil. For all the depth and sensitivity Basu as a writer brought to both Barfi and Shruti's characters, Jhimil seemed drawn in the broadest of brushstrokes. Is she austistic or mentally retarded? The 5 year old school girl outfit didn't help at all. Austism is a complex social disorder and it can take many extreme forms, but primarily it is about a crippling inability to relate to people. Priyanka's permanent goldfish expression, childlike swipe of her nose, constant wide eyed blinking channeled Sridevi's character from Sadma, more than any autistic person I've met. The trouble I think is that neither Basu nor Priyanka seem to have commited to a specific form of autism - they've cherry picked the most dramatic of mannerisms and behavior and constructed a composite austistic individual who did not feel true.
The whodunnit plot with Jhilmil belonged to another movie...... it did not fit in this one. It was not mysterious at all and the truth when revealed was not one to surprise an engaged audience.
All told though, the film had beautiful moments and an excellent performance by Ranbir Kapoor. In many ways one of the heroes of the film was Pritam's superb soundtrack and background score, which was a character as much as the three principals were. Basu deserves credit for taking some pretty big risks..... large portions of the film have no dialogue. Basu trusts his story telling skills and the audience enough to pull off those scenes with aplomb!
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 21, 2012, 12:06:00 AM
Quote from: tabula rasa on September 20, 2012, 10:27:42 AM
I had a check of all the clips and as usual pinkvilla exaggerates as only pinkvilla can. We knew from the beginning that Barfi's characterisation and Ranbir's portrayal draws on Chaplin, Keaton, Benigni, etc. No bones were made about it. The examples given are ridiculous - what on earth does Koshish have to do with Barfi except that both have male deaf mute protagonists using their own sign language? It's really stretching it.
I had a quick look at the site but I found these comments on lifting scenes were made by readers rather than the site itself.
Quote from: tabula rasa on September 20, 2012, 10:27:42 AM
I think India's plagiarism days are over (at least in the A-list) and filmmakers understand the notion of homage. Perhaps the audience doesn't as yet.
Yes, it is unlikely that people like Basu, the Kashyaps or Akhtars would do silly things like obvious lifts when they know bloody well that they could get their pants sued by HW (or whoever else 'inspired' them)
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Dolce~oro on September 22, 2012, 12:54:30 PM
So... Barfi! is India's entry for the Oscars... :-\ I liked it a lot but not sure it was Oscar material from any angle. How do people feel about this?
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Darshana on September 22, 2012, 02:44:38 PM
Haven't it yet but - how much magpie-style copycatting is there in it, using Charlie Chaplin and Chaplin-via-Raj Kapoor stuff, and Buster Keaton stuff?
All of which likelier to meet with scorn than appreciation in Hollywood, unless the appropriations really truly are made in a way that says something about them.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: lena on September 23, 2012, 11:44:18 PM
Quote from: maru7627 on September 20, 2012, 06:56:34 PM
The film's weak link in my view was Priyanka's Jhilmil. For all the depth and sensitivity Basu as a writer brought to both Barfi and Shruti's characters, Jhimil seemed drawn in the broadest of brushstrokes. Is she austistic or mentally retarded? The 5 year old school girl outfit didn't help at all. Austism is a complex social disorder and it can take many extreme forms, but primarily it is about a crippling inability to relate to people. Priyanka's permanent goldfish expression, childlike swipe of her nose, constant wide eyed blinking channeled Sridevi's character from Sadma, more than any autistic person I've met. The trouble I think is that neither Basu nor Priyanka seem to have commited to a specific form of autism - they've cherry picked the most dramatic of mannerisms and behavior and constructed a composite austistic individual who did not feel true.
The whodunnit plot with Jhilmil belonged to another movie...... it did not fit in this one. It was not mysterious at all and the truth when revealed was not one to surprise an engaged audience.
This was really my problem with the movie, too. I was really disturbed by the way her character was taken such careless and ruthless advantage of, especially the whole "wacky" kidnapping plot of Barfi's--I don't care if it's because his father is dying, why is his plot any more forgivable than her father's? She's like a dolly stuffed with rupees being tossed around from one user to another. Okay, it leads to Barfi "liberating" her and her following him, and thus to the two of them falling in love, but it just felt icky to me and it cast a pall over my assessment of Barfi's character that he would even consider it.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Poonam on September 28, 2012, 12:41:25 PM
Quote from: lena on September 23, 2012, 11:44:18 PM
This was really my problem with the movie, too. I was really disturbed by the way her character was taken such careless and ruthless advantage of, especially the whole "wacky" kidnapping plot of Barfi's--I don't care if it's because his father is dying, why is his plot any more forgivable than her father's? She's like a dolly stuffed with rupees being tossed around from one user to another. Okay, it leads to Barfi "liberating" her and her following him, and thus to the two of them falling in love, but it just felt icky to me and it cast a pall over my assessment of Barfi's character that he would even consider it.
Kidnapping is inexcusable, of course. But I was looking at it standing in Barfi's shoes. He's dirt poor, unemployed, desperate for his father's life and sees no other option in the short run. The meaning I read here is that the poor are often forced willy-nilly into crime, circumstances dampening their instinctive human decency and goodness. Barfi perhaps rationalized his act thinking he would 'borrow' Jhilmil briefly and return her safely once he'd got his Rs.7000 (and only Rs.7000, no more, no less).
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: Honeycomb on September 29, 2012, 12:36:59 PM
Such a delightful movie. I tried to stay away from the spoilers and the "copycat" links so I could watch it with a relatively unbiased view.. And I'm happy I did.
Yes, the physical comedy bits(Chaplin, Keaton, Donald O'Connor) were almost complete re-enactments of the originals - but , so what? They were superfluous to the plot, and I totally consider them to be a fun addition and I can't see what the outrage is all about. (I think that even Roberto Benigni was mentioned somewhere, but since he, with his lampshade-on-the-head humor, steals from the silent comedies himself it's really a non-issue). I don't even think that Chaplin and Keaton themselves would've minded. Those bits are so brilliant and so difficult to do - mad props to Ranbir for even pulling that off so seamlessly as those geniuses - that even 100 years later they're holding up.
Now the copying of the scene from "The notebook" is a different matter as it's a major plot point and copied to the letter. I haven't seen "The Notebook", so while I was watching Barfi I didn't know about this, but now it really bothers me because it could've been done differently. Most of the movie is original so I can't believe that Anurag Basu let that one slide without imagining that people would pick up on it.
That aside, the movie is just lovely. Ranbir... What can I say? To paraphrase Norma Desmond "We didn't need dialogue then, we had faces" - so true in this case. Using his body and expressive face like a mime artist, there's such a tremendous warmth and emotion to Ranbir's acting that is actually very reminiscent of the silent-film actors, there are so many beautiful, subtle and sensitive moments but then there are bits that have a very light touch of broad acting, which a deaf-mute man might have to resort to anyway with the absence of words.
Ileana looked beautiful and had an understated elegance which was right for the role. Priyanka impressed me less. I had a problem with this big umbrella of disability that Jhilmil was thrust under.
Quote
Is she austistic or mentally retarded? The 5 year old school girl outfit didn't help at all. Austism is a complex social disorder and it can take many extreme forms, but primarily it is about a crippling inability to relate to people.
I completely agree - Jhilmil was way too focused(remembering to always take her bag with her, noticing the sari that Shruti wears and imitating her) and made too much eye contact, which are less typical of autism but can very well be some form of mental retardation. It also gets worse with age, and when we see Jhilmil in her old age she seems almost improved.
As for the love between Barfi and Jhilmil, I don't think it was a sexual relationship but more of a companionship. We know that Barfi has a deeply rooted fear of abandonment so when the girl he fell in love with chooses another man, he's not likely to try again, despite his obvious attraction to Shruti, and instead he stays with the one person whom he knows will not leave him.
I loved the frustrated old cop, it was great that they cast someone who's overweight and a bit older, instead of a younger, fit cop. (His complaint that "I went from a size 54 to a size 46 chasing this Barfi" was one of the funniest lines ;D)
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: newbiefan on October 15, 2012, 11:03:23 AM
I wasn't as charmed by this as I had expected. Perhaps it was all the plagiarism talk (yeah, my fault for not staying away from all those links detailing what was taken from where, and watching the film after watching the clips from the sources of inspiration), or perhaps it was the sky-high expectations from all the rave reviews this film has got. My basic problem was that I could never buy that Shruti would actually fall for and consider marrying a man in the position of Barfi. Well, she would if Barfi looked like pink-lipped Ranbir Kapoor, scion of the Kapoor family, nattily dressed in jackets and sweater vests and hats, looking like he just came back from a round of golf at the local country club. But what if he had actually looked like a poor driver's son, with shabby clothes, uneven teeth, dirty nails, perhaps smelling of grime and sweat? If Ranbir had been made to look like that, then Shruti probably wouldn't need her mom to tell her that marriage to Barfi is not advisable. I just couldn't help but notice how pretty and easy everything was made to look, like things will just fall in place, there will always be money to get by and a decent place to stay, taking care of a person with Jhilmil's condition will never weigh heavily on Barfi, trusting Barfi will come easily for Jhilmil, kidnapping and struggle/biting notwithstanding. It brushed aside the difficulties of poverty and disability far more than I like. On top of that was the whole whodunnit kidnapping sideplot that was utterly lacking in any suspense. I was surprised at the amount of time devoted to it.
What I did like are the performances. All three leads did well. The music was really nice. It was good to see Darjeeling in a movie again. It was quite a staple in 60s movies, but then it fell out of fashion. It was good to see the countryside of West Bengal, its folk-culture, and not just Kolkata in the movie. It was good to see Bengali women dressed like normal Bengali women, and not the white-saree-with-red-border-and-huge-bindi-on-the-forehead filmi Bengali stereotype. It was good to hear a snatch of Duranta Ghurnir Ei Legechhe Paak (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8A1W8aWcUA) in the scene where Barfi goes to Shruti's house with his proposal. It almost made me forget to question where Barfi got such a well-fitting nice looking suit.
Title: Re: Barfi (REVIEWS AND SPOILERS)
Post by: fifthgradeteachermom on October 18, 2012, 01:08:17 AM
I said much of this in the "nominated for an Oscar" thread, so I won't rehash in depth. I did just want to throw in here that, as many have mentioned, ASD is a complex continuum of behaviors and symptoms, which can, and do, include the mannerisms portrayed in the film. Not to beat a dead horse, but as a parent of a child with high-functioning autism, I found Priyanka's portrayal (surprisingly, actually ) authentic and believable.