TWO THUMBS UP!

The last 'bollywood' movie I enjoyed as much, or more, was 'Ishqiya'. The reason for mentioning 'Ishqiya' is that, it too was a rare bollywood movie that was hard to fault in any aspect of film making. Having said that, I must say that Barfi! is not faultless. But, it is a well scripted, well directed and very well acted movie. It is also technically very good, with some excellent cinematography and sound design/mixing. A special mention must also be made of the music in the movie. Both the background score and the songs are excellent. For a change, unlike the usual bollywood movie, the songs in the movie actually help move the story along. Where the movie lacks, is in it's editing. The movie seems to drag a wee bit before the interval and could do with some tighter editing
to help with the pace.

With each subsequent movie so far, Ranbir Kapoor has proven himself to be not only an excellent actor, but also one who is not afraid to take on roles that are not only challenging, but that are very different from the one's played by the other "bollywood stars". There has already been a lot of praise for Ranbir's performance from the critics and the public, therefore I will simply state that I concur with their opinion. What I would like to do is bring attention to Ileana D'Cruz, who has played her part brilliantly and I think she not only compliments Ranbir's performance, but also helps his performance to be as good as it is. Priyanka's performance is seemingly adequate. Quite honestly, since I am not very well versed with autism, I am not in a position to judge how accurate her portrayal is. Special praise must also be made of Saurabh Shukla, who plays the part of the bumbling, yet conscientious policeman perfectly. It is the performance of the supporting cast, as much as the main leads, that makes Barfi! believable.

All in all, Barfi! is good, clean, 'family' entertainment and I would recommend it to all, without reservations. Highly Recommended and an enthusiastic Two Thumbs Up.

So, what are it's chances of getting a nomination for the Oscar, or winning an Oscar, in "Foreign Film Category", where it has been selected as Indian entry ??

I actually think that this has a pretty a decent chance to get nominated. Certainly more so than the other Hindi movies, aside from maybe 'Paan Singh Tomar', being considered for the official Indian entry. The reason I mentioned 'Hindi' is because I am not familiar with any of the non Hindi movies that were part of the shortlisted 20 movies. Considering the fact that the main protagonist in Barfi! is mute, the language barrier for non Hindi speaking people, would be less compared to other movies.

I meant that as it has already been selected as India's entry for the Oscars, what are it's chances to be among the final 5 nominated for the "Foreign Language Film" ??

Barfi! Has Strong Gains On Second Saturday
Sunday 23rd September 2012

Barfi! had strong gains on its second Saturday as it collected around 5-5.25 crore nett. The collections are around 8.25 crore nett plus over two days in the second week. The weekend should be around the 15 crore nett range.

The business is extraordinary at high end multiplexes as collections at many premium multiplexes in metros were better than the new release Heroine on Saturday. The film has not done well in smaller circuits with it finding acceptance in just a a hand full of cities in places like Bihar, CP Berar, CI and Rajasthan.

The metro multiplexes will keep on going strong for the next few weeks and the film is sure to cross 90 crore nett and depending on what happens in weeks 3-5 it could even hit 100 crore nett.

That is the question I had answered.

I haven't seen the film yet. Looks like, it'll have to be on home video some weeks later. On home video, you can't judge quality of a film properly.
I just hope that at least it gets into the Oscar Nominated 5 finalist and win an Oscar. If it makes to the finalist 5, would it be a Bollywood first ?? Has a Bollywood film made to the final 5 Oscar finalist in the past ?? Rang De Basanti, Mother India, any other ?? I don't consider Slumdog M, Gandhi as Bollywood films.

Lagaan made it to the top 5 didnt it?