This Barfi! is colder than stone-cold Barf!

This Barfi! is colder than stone-cold Barf!

It’s a cold Turkey! Whatever it was a chaplinesque comedy? Poetic romance? Love between physically disabled couple? Or as itself declared in the movie “ek bakwaas jasoosi novel!” Doesn’t Move, doesn’t Engage, doesn’t Entertain! Frankly it does nothing in its never-ending running time.

Why do they make such films? Who story-boards them? Who and why mounts them, sanction them? Why do production houses back it? Why do actors get super-excited about these futile exercises to exhibit their acting skills?

It’s a woeful waste of great resources – the cast and crew included- in such self-indulgent exercises. Just pencilling in a couple of physically disabled characters doesn’t really qualify for great cinema. Barfi! for most part of it comes across as a contrived and manipulative effort, trying too hard to be too cute.

Dear Ranbir Kapoor, we have seen enough of your range as a powerhouse performer. Wake Up Sid, Rajneeti, Rocket Singh, Rockstar, Barfi!...phew! Yes, my friend, you are an actor par excellence, the new kid on the block, the most promising newcomer…and all that jazz! But it’s time we move beyond this audition show-reel of yours and get into some real movies. It’s time you emerge from the ‘most-promising’ category and actually deliver on those promises. Some real seeti-maar and in your Rockstar-lingo, some real palang-tod entertainment! The larger than life Khan-Akki-Devgn stuff. Or if that’s too much to ask for, atleast some frothy breezy romance of the Saif variety.

Ok, fair enough. Even if we take off the entertainment bit and start looking at Barfi! as an artisitic-beautiful work, it doesn’t really cut much ice (much Barf in this case). The direction is too flawed, and fails miserably in trying to be too intellectual, too layered. The director Anurag Basu continues to suffer from the ‘Kites’ hangover and assumes a back-and-forth narrative to be a great technique for great movies. It didn’t work for Kites. And it most definitely won’t for Barfi! either.

The thriller bit doesn’t work. The physical disability of the lead couple appears to be too force-fitted. And finally, the end-product is a confused exercise that seems to be based out of a neverland.  It goes from nowhere to nowhere. All the characters and situations come across as cardboard cut-outs, caricaturish. As if everyone out there was trying to impress (look I can act, look I can direct) rather than express.

Sorry, I can’t be a pseudo-intellectual and praise this so-called masterpiece, when I was dozing off throughout this yawn-inducing Barfi! Three thumbs down for this torture – for the movie, for the director and for myself for listening to fake glowing reviews!

The only redeeming feature – a superb ‘Picchar shuru!’ song at the start of the movie.

Blast from the Past: The Riveting Colors of Rang De Basanti

Blast from the Past: The Riveting Colors of Rang De Basanti

 Reproducing the original review that was published on 26th January, 2006 

He charges a startling Rs. 7 odd crores per film. Sounds obscene, right? But that’s what you call the sheer Brand Equity of being Aamir Khan. The huge pay packet is all inclusive of the distinct stamp of Exclusivity an Aamir Khan product bears. No other actor today can bring across the table the virtual hysteria that engulfs an Aamir Khan movie…AB, SRK take a bow. Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, The Rising…or the latest Rang De Basanti…no matter what the eventual fate of these movies, the deafening pre-release buzz has been nothing short of a mini-festival. In Media Planning terms, Aamir is the single largest vehicle ensuring maximum reach.

His latest Rang De Basanti reaffirms the dictum. The promos ensured a perfect build-up, lots of positive vibes. And the movie….well, here’s the good news….Rang De Basanti hits the bull’s eye….ummm…well almost!

An interesting premise, a wonderful collage of characters, a very youthful, very energetic look, a voila music score that binds itself seamlessly with the flow of the movie and not to forget - the affable, exuberant Mr. Khan himself. The camaraderie between the buddies cuts right across through the length of the movie. Welcome to the innocent, pranky, bikes-booze-beats world of DJ aka Diljeet (Khan) and his bum chums – Sukhi (Sharman Joshi in terrific form), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor) and Karan (Siddharth). DJ & co. simply warm the cockles of your heart, as one gets completely immersed and surrenders to their impish antics. The Naughty at 40, original boy-next-door – Aamir Khan - is as charming as ever. The wisecracks galore, that crooked smile, the soulful rendering of ‘Sarfaroshi ki tamanna’ or simply those abstract dance movements – it’s an Aamir show all the way, and the audience certainly ain’t complaining. Refreshing! Riveting!!

The movie however starts faltering in the second half while portraying the gradual Transformation of these carefree freaks. The film drags when the director self-indulgently goes about re-re-narrating the oft-repeated Bhagat Singh saga (Gimme a break! we’ve already had half a dozen full-length movies on that!). The swift-cuts comparing the synergies between Bhagat Singh & Co. and DJ & co. appear dangerously monotonous. The movie finally climaxes to a predictably simplistic and safe-end, leaving a particularly bland aftertaste. A movie of such a flawless caliber and an impeccable pre-climax crescendo ought to have ended on a more intelligent note.

Regardless of the minor scripting flaws, Rang De Basanti appears to be a sure-fire winner at the box-office. The long week-end ahead, the patriotic fervor, the zingy-zangy peppy first half, the playing it to the gallery dialogues and the inimitable Aamir Khan charisma more than assures a money-spinner in the making.

It’s been 18 years since the QS-cutie made a breezy entry in the Angry-middle-aged-men infected Bollywood. 25 movies and 13 Blockbusters later, with virtually a blockbuster every year, Aamir Khan has managed to carve-out a parallel industry for himself. No mushy melodramas…no camping around…simply constant re-invention, living by his own rules and the conviction in his vision!! With the forthcoming Fanaah he ventures into an unknown negative territory as a terrorist. Another step closer to acquiring a legendary status.

However, in the meanwhile, here’s heralding the first true-blue bumper hit of 2006 – Rang De Basanti – ting ting ting ting