Written on 21st August, 2017
Gone are the days when movie date followed by restaurant hopping with the husband was the norm every weekend. Ever since we embraced parenthood, we rarely get enough time to spend at the theaters. So we tend to choose our movies very cautiously to ensure this 2.5 to 3hrs is really not wasted in watching something we wouldn’t like and appreciate .
Last Saturday we decided on watching Bareilly ki Barfi after weighing on the other available options of Toilet ek prem katha and a bengali movie titled Macher Jhol. While my husband wasn’t very impressed with the 2hr plus movie, I fell totally in love with it.
A simple story of a rebel Bitti Sharma, played by Kriti Sanon and a soft spoken, very much in love Chirag Dubey, played by Ayushman Khurrana,set in the town of Bareilly. The third angle is the bad assumption turned meek guy Pritam Vidrohi, played by Rajkummar Rao. Bitti does everything a small town lass is expected not to do-she smokes, she drinks, she’s not a virgin and she breakdances her way through life. Rejected third time for being too upfront and refusing to conform to society standards, she decides to run away from home. A novel that she picks up for a mere 30bucks changes her life. The protagonist in the novel Bareilly ki Barfi is just like Bitti and she embarks on a journey to find the author Pritam Vidrohi to figure out how the author managed to sketch the shade of the protagonist as Bitti’s own. She meets Chirag who runs a publishing store from where the book was printed. Chirag decides to help her in this search as he’s the only one who knows the truth and also because he’s already in love with her. What follows is a laugh riot,a case of mistaken identities,some fantastic performances specially by Rajkummar Rao and a breezy romance . The ending is happy and quite predictable. Infact the later part of the second half feels stretched at times. But the movie entertains thoroughly and one would definitely leave the threatre with a smile.
However, there are few things that really stand out in this rom com-
-The story could have been set in any small town-Bareilly or Berhampore – one can still easily relate to it.
-Bitti’s relation with her father. It’s one of those rare films where the father is her go-to person. Narottam Mishra played by Pankaj Tripathi touches your soul. He has raised her as a son, knows that she smokes, drinks yet when she is rejected by a prospective suitor apologetically tells her “yeh samajh hai, hum nahi mante par rehna to isimain hai na”. You really wish for a father like that.
-For a change, Bitti actually has a real job. She works in the complaint department of electricity board and her job is integral to the story. I wish more films take a cue and offer female actors a well sketched out character instead of depicting them only dolled up.
-There’s also a fourth angle to this triangle played by Rama, Bitti’s best friend. It adds a layer to the story.
-Bitti’s love hate relation with her mom, played by another fine actor Seema Pahwa. You would love her mom switch from a concerned mom to a optimistic one, the moment she lays her eyes on a prospective son in law.
Overall, Bareilly ki Barfi is a simple, sweet and clean movie with good music, great performances and a strong script. There’s nothing extraordinary about it but it gives you a ray of hope, a feeling of content and a pinch of happiness even with an ordinary life.
Edited to add on 26th Nov – As I rewatched the movie on Zee Cinema today, I realized how right I was about that feel good factor that the movie leaves us with. Thank you #AyushmannKhurrana for liking the review.
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