Barfi! (2012-movie) : Bollywood Hindi Film

Barfi! Movie Details :

Barfi! Movie is an 2012 Indian Bollywood comedy-drama film writter and directer is Anurag Basu and producer are Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures. Set in the 1970s, the film depicts the story of Murphy “Barfi” Johnson (a deaf-mute boy from Darjeeling) and his relationships with two women, Shruti and Jhilmil (who is autistic). The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Ileana D’Cruz in the lead roles, with Saurabh Shukla, Ashish Vidyarthi, Jisshu Sengupta and Roopa Ganguly in supporting roles.

Made on a budget of approximately 30 crore, Barfi! opened worldwide on 14 September 2012. The film was a box office success, becoming one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of 2012 in India and overseas. The film went on to gross over 1.75 billion worldwide.

The film was selected as India’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film nomination for the 85th Academy Awards. Barfi won several awards and nominations at various award ceremonies across India. At the 58th Filmfare Awards, the film received thirteen nominations including Best Actress for Chopra, and Best Supporting Actress for D’Cruz, and won seven including Best Film, Best Actor for Kapoor, Best Female Debut for D’Cruz, and Best Music Director’s for Pritam.

• Directer : Anurag Basu
• Producer : Ronnie Screwvala,Siddharth Roy Kapur
• Writter : Sanjeev Dutta
• Screenplay : Anurag Basu
• Story : Anurag Basu,Tani Basu
• Starring : Ranbir Kapoor,Priyanka Chopra,Ileana D’Cruz,Ashish Vidyarthi,Jisshu Sengupta,Roopa Ganguly
• Narrater : Ileana D’Cruz
• Music : Pritam
• Cinematography : Ravi Varman
• Editer : Akiv Ali
• Casting : Sanu Roy,Vijai Singh
• Production Design : Rajat Poddar
• Art Direction : Parijat Poddar
• Set Decoration : Nikhil Singh
• Costume Design : Aki Narula,Shafalina
• Makeup Department : Priyanka Borkar,Uday Shirali
• Production Management : Preejith Balan,Shah Naimish
• Visual Effects : Dwivedi Amit,Laxman Singh Bhati,Yatin Bhave,Halder Dipansu
• Action Directer : Javed Karim,Sanober Pardiwalla
• Production company : Ishana Movies
• Distributer : UTV Motion Pictures
• Genres : Comedy,Drama,Romance
• Release date : 14 September 2012
• Running time : 150 minutes
• Country : India
• Language : Hindi

Barfi! Movie Wacth Online :

Star Cast of The Film :

• Ranbir Kapoor as a Barfii
• Priyanka Chopra as a Jhilmil Chatterjee
• Ileana D’Cruz as a Shruti Sengupta
• Saurabh Shukla as a Sudhanshu Dutta
• Roopa Ganguly as a Shruti’s Mother (as Rupa Ganguly)
• Ashish Vidyarthi as a Mr. Chatterjee
• Bholaraj Sapkota as a Bhola
• Jisshu Sengupta as a Ranjeet Sengupta (as Jishu Sengupta)
• Haradhan Bannerjee as a Daju (as Haradhan Bandopadhyay)
• Akash Khurana as a Jangbahadur
• Arun Bali as a Jhilmil’s Grandfather
• Uday Tikekar as a Shruti’s Father
• Preiti Mamgain as a Jhilmil’s Mother (as Preeti Mamgain)
• Sumona Chakravarti as a Shruti’s Friend
• Sujata Sehgal as a Miss D’Souza
• Kenneth Desai as a Senior Inspector
• Neeraj Khetrapal as a Utensil Shop Owner
• Rajeev Mishra as a Dutta’s Assistant
• Nirmala D. Thappa as a Maalti Maasi
• Apurva Pranjape as a Jhilmil’s Sister
• Rahul Malhothra as a Young Barfi
• Bhagyashree Dembla as a Young Jhilmil
• Subhankar Ghosh as a Kolkata Police Inspector
• Purva Parag as a Barfi’s Mother
• Archana Dani as a Maid
• Rahul Garg
• Nigam Thakur as a Constable in Police Station

Story of The Film :

Set in the 1970s in a pretty corner of India, Barfi. is the story of three young people who learn that love can neither be defined nor contained by society’s norms of normal and abnormal. Barfi, a hearing and speech impaired boy falls in love with Shruti. In spite of her deep affection for Barfii, Shruti gives into societal and parental pressure to marry a ‘normal’ man and lead a ‘normal’ life. Many years later their paths cross once again when Barfi, now in love with Jhilmil, is on the run from the police. Barfi is desperately seeking Jhilmil, who has gone missing. Shruti’s realization that Jhilmil is autistic makes her recognize that true love is really blind. Caught in a cat and mouse game, in the search for the girl Barfi loves, Shruti realizes that she is still in love with him.

Production :
Development :

I tried to make the story linear. But it wasn’t working See, Barfi is a very simple story. If I had kept the narrative linear then I’d have lost my audience. I think if I had removed the non-linear narrative you wouldn’t have enjoyed the film. I know Indian viewers get disturbed by non-linear narrations. I wrote Barfi straight. But it was boring that way.

During the production of his previous directorial venture Kites (2010), director Anurag Basu wrote a two-page short story which was later developed into the script of Barfi!.The film script that Basu wrote alternated between two time periods, and he retained the nonlinear narrative structure. He said that the script required a 30-year time span for the characters’ love to grow and thus set the backdrop of the film in the 1970s.

In June 2010, Anurag Basu confirmed that his film would feature three lead roles, a deaf and mute man, a mentally challenged girl, and a narrator.With former titles like Khamoshi or Silence, media reports said the story was grim or dark. However, Basu stated that on the contrary, the film was happy.According to Basu, he paid homage to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin by adding scenes inspired by the era of silent cinema and using physical comedy in the film, involving silent portions.

Casting :

Ranbir Kapoor was the first choice of director Anurag Basu and Katrina Kaif was the first choice for the role of the narrator. In March 2010, The Times of India reported that Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif were signed to play lead roles in the film, then titled Khamoshi and later Silence, which Basu confirmed. Basu wanted to cast a new girl from Kolkata for the autistic character. Basu’s wife, Tani suggested Chopra’s name for the role. However, Basu feared that audience would see “the Priyanka Chopra” and not the character due to Chopra’s stardom. Basu explained “I had the fear that I would see Priyanka Chopra in the character and Jhilmil wouldn’t work.

This has happened in many films where known faces have harmed the character.” Priyanka Chopra was cast to play the part but, the development was not announced as Basu wanted to workshop first and see how it goes. After three days of workshop, Basu was convinced that Chopra could play the autistic part and reflected that he was glad that he chose Chopra for the role. Later, Basu revealed that he did not approach any actress other than Chopra for the autistic part.

After Chopra was cast in the film, Kaif left the project for unknown reasons. Media reported that she may have opted out of the film because Chopra had been given a stronger role. Later, media reported that Asin was approached to play the role of the narrator, replacing Kaif.

However, Asin was never signed to the project. Media reported that no other actress wanted to sign for the film because according to them, the autistic part was stronger. In July 2010, Mumbai Mirror reported that Chopra was ready to play the role of narrator and leave the autistic role, so that another actress could be cast in the film; Chopra did not want the film to stall. Basu confirmed this development and said, “It’s true we’ve been unable to cast the other part.”

After facing several casting problems, Basu chose to cast a completely new fresh face to play the second female role. In early December 2010, Ileana D’Cruz from south Indian films, was finalised for the second female lead, featuring as narrator and Kapoor’s first love interest in the film.

Characters :

Ranbir Kapoor played the role of a deaf and mute man in the film. According to Kapoor, he took inspiration from screen legends such as Roberto Benigni, Charlie Chaplin and his grandfather Raj Kapoor. Due to the protagonist’s physical disability, Basu did not want to use any sign-language but, some behavioural patterns in the film. Kapoor described his character as a regular, happy-go-lucky and good hearted guy.

Priyanka Chopra played the role of Jhilmil. Basu described Chopra’s role as the “toughest” in the film. In order to prepare for the role, Chopra visited several mental institutions and spent time with autistic people. She said she had to research a little for the role because in India awareness about autism is very low. Chopra told that she had to let go of every inhibition probably that she had as a Hindi film heroine and play Jhilmil without thinking of it. She explained that she needed two moments to become Jhilmil because she didn’t identify with her character due to difference between her thought and behavior.

D’cruz, who portrayed the narrator and first love interest of the protagonist said “Shruti, is such a sensitive role to play as she goes to different phases in the film.” According to Basu, after Kapoor, Chopra and D’cruz’s character Saurabh Shukla’s character as Inspector Dutta was the most important. Basu described the role as “amazing” character, who makes others cry when he laughs.

Film Shooting :

Film Shooting commenced in March 2011. Barfi! was shot between June 2011 and February 2012, mostly in Darjeeling. In March 2011, Basu visited Kolkata to finalize the locations within the city. Film shoot in Mumbai Start on 20 March 2011 and continued until May 2011. In June 2011, the cast and crew shot in Darjeeling. In December 2011, some scenes were filmed on the outskirts of Coimbatore, especially Pollachi and Ooty. The scenes in which Kapoor’s character is chased by policemen over the roof tops were shot in Kolkata at the end of January 2012. Shooting was completed by April 2012, except for some scenes featuring Chopra. The producers postponed the release from 13 July to 31 August 2012 as the September 2011 shooting schedule was cancelled and was waiting to be shot. However, Basu began working on Ileana’s dubbing portions by end of April 2012, because D’Cruz was unfamiliar with the Hindi language and wanted to learn it whilst filming.

Barfi! Movie Songs / Music :

The music and background score of the film is composed by Pritam Chakraborty, and lyrics were written by Swanand Kirkire, Ashish Pandit, Neelesh Misra and Sayeed Quadri. The soundtrack album has six original songs which released on 9 August 2012. The soundtrack was influenced by Brazilian Bossa nova. Priyanka Chopra was supposed to sing a track for the film, but her contract with Universal Music prevented her from taking the offer. The soundtrack album also contains a song titled “Fatafati”, sung by Pritam Chakraborty, Arijit Singh & Nakash Aziz. which was not be used in the film, but the song was released as a promotional single on YouTube on 10 September 2012 with a video which contains some behind-the-scenes footage and the additional vocals are sung by Ranbir Kapoor. The song also has some Bengali lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.

• “Ala Barfi” – Mohit Chauhan
• “Main Kya Karoon” – Nikhil Paul George
• “Phir Le Aya Dil” – Rekha Bhardwaj
• “Kyon” – Papon, Sunidhi Chauhan
• “Aashiyan” – Shreya Ghoshal, Nikhil Paul George
• “Saawali Si Raat” – Arijit Singh
• “Ala Barfi” – Swanand Kirkire
• “Phir Le Aya Dil” (Reprise) – Arijit Singh
• “Phir Le Aya Dil” (Redux) – Shafqat Amanat Ali
• “Aashiyan” (Solo) – Nikhil Paul George
• “Fataafati” – Arijit Singh, Nakash Aziz, Pritam Chakraborty & Ranbir Kapoor

Barfi!’s soundtrack received positive reviews by critics. Hindustan Times rated the album 4.5 out of 5 stars and stated, verall, the soundtrack is a joyride sans flaws. Pritam has given many hits, but like his tunes in Life in a… Metro, this one will be remembered for breaking the monotony in his sound. There are no foot-tapping numbers or remixes here, but the simplicity that makes this album a winner.” Koimoi gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars and stated, “In simple words, Barfi! is excellent music on all counts. Very rarely does one get to hear an album where you can hear a complete soundtrack without skipping tracks; this is one of them. So, just play, enjoy the music and the world of Barfi!”. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama rated the album 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated “Barfi!’s soundtrack is quite good and is easily one of the best quality creations by Pritam. He has totally reinvented himself with this album which defies Bollywood norms and boasts of a sound of its own.”

“Ala Barfi” Full Video Song :

• Composer – Pritam
• Lyricist- Swanand Kirkire
• Singer – Mohit Chauhan

“Main Kya Karoon” Full Video Song :

• Composer – Pritam
• Lyricist- Ashish Pandit
• Singer – Nikhil Paul George

Marketing and release :

The official trailer of the film was launched on 2 July 2012 featuring all the actors. It included no dialogue, portraying comedy through gestures and actions, and was well received by critics and audiences. Chopra’s character was kept under wraps in the trailers as the makers were not willing to reveal much about her character to increase curiosity among the audiences and was only revealed around the release of the film. Shikha Kapur, the executive director (marketing) of UTV explained “Priyanka plays a very special character in Barfi, so we want to keep her mystery intact. In the first trailer, Barfi – played by Ranbir – will be unveiled. We don’t plan to reveal Priyanka until the film releases.”

UTV Motion Pictures created a YouTube application called The Flavour of Barfi, designed for the marketing the film. The application features Ranbir Kapoor as his character from the movie and allows users to type actions, which Kapoor acts out. The application features two zones: one asks users to change Barfi’s mood and the other gives users the chance to watch him flirt.The film was promoted in various cities across India. While promoting the film at the Phoenix Mall, Bangalore, the crowds broke through the barricades.

Barfi! was released on 14 September 2012 on 1300 screens in 700 theatres in India. Reliance Home Entertainment released Barfi! on DVD and Blu-ray in mid-November 2012 across all regions in a one-disc pack complying with the NTSC format. The DVD and the Blu-ray discs contained bonus content, including Making of the film, “Fatafati – Behind The Scenes” and Deleted Scenes. The Video CD version was released at the same time. The exclusive right to broadcast the film was bought by Zee Network and UTV Movies. The deal includes premiere rights of the film along with the several other UTV productions. The rights are for a period of seven-year, consisting the premiere (for both channels) of the film. Zee Network will have multiple runs while UTV Movies will have selected runs rights. The price of the deal was not revealed by the production company. The film is also available on Netflix.

In Japan, the film released in August 2014. It was released on ten screens in six Japanese cities: Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka.

Barfi! Movie Review :

This film review are Mostly Positive from Critics, IMDB Public Reviewing site give 8.1 Star Out Of 10 Star with Reviewers are 75593.

i had a lot of expectations from this movie..and it hardly disappointed…. Don’t be shocked if you see Ranbir Kapoor becoming one of the best actors of bollywood history in 10-15 years..he can do any kind of roles and do without breaking a drop of sweat.. This was RK’s best performance till date..Priyanka Chopra portrayed her part brilliantly but it was pleasantly shocking to see a south girl doing so good..Ileana was the soothing factor amidst the madness of Barfi n Jhilmil!Good to see Saurabh Shukla back.. Pritam comes back with a bang..all his songs are good to the ears n suit the movie as well.. last but not the least we talk about Anurag Basu..after Kites’s disaster i thought he might be lost..he just nails this one..

Critics Rating by Taran Adarsh, from Bollywood Hungama give 4 star out of 5 Star.

Barfi! Movie Box Office Collection :

INDIA

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