Barfi – Review of the movie
For me the touchstone of a good movie is the lingering hangover- a simple barometer, the longer, the more intense, the better.
‘Barfi’ hits you like the aroma of freshly ground coffee as you step into a café. It stirs your senses like fresh air let into a damp room.
No matter the blatant copying of the Charlie Chaplinisque jokes, they are still so appealing and delivered with such panache by a brilliantly versatile Ranbir Kapoor.
A fragmented yet taut storyline set in shifting time frames, grips you from the start. Ostensibly, the story of a hearing and speech impaired boy (Barfi, played by Ranbir Kapoor) set in a sleepy hill station, Darjeeling, in due course, Barfi becomes a revelation of what ideal love should be. It depicts the innocent and fresh love that blossoms between Barfi and Jhilmil, an autistic girl portrayed remarkably well by Priyanka Chopra. Their love speaks of the desire to dance together to the beat of the other, to be able to see the world through the other’s eyes; a raw pure, primal attraction between two souls, where being together, always, is all that matters. Unhearing yet perceptive, Barfi senses Jhilmil’s elation with the dance-drama performers. In the final moments it becomes a thoughtful wedding gift! Barfi stirs those long forgotten emotions - the desire to laugh, run and play, unrestrained and uninhibited like little children in the open countryside. A freshness and innocence long lost in the worldly cacophony. Perhaps, the hearings impaired have rightly more perspective on what a more fulfilling life should be.
The director cleverly gives the audience a view from both Barfi’s as well as Jhil Mil’s side. The blindening confusion of a noisy insensitive society is reflected in the blinking diffident eyes of an aptly named Jhil Mil. (She prefers to decipher the world inverted in a glass ball.)
And the keen perspicacity of a man who does not hear the vehement denials of a concerned caretaker guardian, but gauges the restless body language of a man who is lying. The powerful scene leaves you speechless!
The backgroundscore is appropiately sprightly, to keep up with the verve of an upbeat Ranbir and solemn with the pathos of some truly poignant moments.
Barfi is a heart rending love story of a differently gifted young man and a woman. Or maybe no - Barfi is an eternal love story. Period.
