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247 Responses to “Barfi, Raaz 3 (ongoing), the rest of the box office”
‘Barfi!’ To Take Fair To Good Opening – Box Office Predictions
September 13th, 2012 by Joginder Tuteja
There is a stark difference in the way ‘Barfi!‘ is seeing a release this weekend when compared to Ranbir Kapoor’s last flick ‘Rockstar‘. It had come with a huge hype and hoopla around it. The song ‘Sadda Haq‘ was a chartbuster weeks before the film’s arrival in theatres, Imtiaz-Ranbir combo was hot property, rumours around Ranbir-Nargis affair had fuelled the tabloids for months and the general sentiment was that the film would take a record beginning for a Ranbir starrer. Well, it happened that way as well.
On the other hand no one is expecting any records to be broken with ‘Barfi!‘. By the look of it, this one seems to be more of an experimental affair instead of a quintessential mainstream offering. The promotion has been decent, nothing earth shattering, while the lead pair of Ranbir and Priyanka too have restricted themselves from going overboard while pitching the film to the audience. The music is of extremely high quality, though it isn’t the kind that can be termed as a ‘crowd puller’.
All of this means that the film’s opening is expected to be good, though not exceptional, with 60%-70% occupancy to begin with. Of course class multiplexes should record much higher collections but on an all-India note, it should be a fair (and not record breaking) start for the film. All would eventually boil down to word of mouth and if that is positive, expect a boom in collections over the rest of the weekend.
A lot is being said about ‘Barfi!‘ having only one week for itself since ‘Heroine‘ arrives next week. Well, let’s not forget that both are UTV productions, which means the makers have a choice to allocate the right number of shows to both the films, provided ‘Barfi!‘ indeed catches audience fancy.
Meanwhile ‘Jeena Hai Toh Thok Daal‘ and ‘Qayamat Hi Qayamat‘ are also releasing alongside ‘Barfi!‘. While it would be a struggle for these films to find an all-India release, a run of over a week would be nothing less than a miracle for them.
Thanx sm 🙂
Btw It will be interesting to hear yout views of recent salman releases like ETT
I know and can sense the ‘hesitation’ u may be having here since u are a Salman fan!
Follow my dictum –I get neither impressed nor intimidated by folks repeating the same things and getting few others to ‘agree’!
( all in good fun)
Doesnt change anything really…ESP facts
Cheers…
Haha–Good girls both sm and Oldgold 🙂
By being so nice n obedient –u have entered the list of my ‘nominees’ who will be cast in my upcoming spoof of SRK- yashraj film !
Think Amy is also in the race amongst a few others …
Needless to add that the casting is involuntary/forcible but that doesn’t matter to me –Hahaha
Anyhow –I’m being pulled (hopefully to barfi)
Live review in a couple of hours –if don’t get busy elsewhere…
LMAO !! Witty response to a comment of the day goes to SM………
P.S.- operative word is “still”, question is – Kab Tak ???/LOL
suggested Answer- till AA starts dissing Salman ….LOL
^ haven’t seen this clip just the pic!
Is this a discussion on barfi or a competition of ‘legs’!
Seems both Priyanka and ileana have got a package deal –they went to the same parlour
Anyhow folks–who did u feel ‘won’ this competition of ‘legs’-
Ileana or Priyanka 🙂
Song of the Day:
Shaam Rangeen Hui Hai Tere Aanchal Ki Tarah
I’ve never heard this song before – I randomly clicked on it when it popped up on youtube, and it’s actually a beautiful track, by Sudesh Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar (I wouldn’t have recognised her voice if it wasn’t stated). From an 80’s film called Kanoon aur Mujrim I never heard of before… Composed by C Arjun. Not sure of lyricist but whoever it is has written well.
Oops, thanks – yes i meant Suresh Wadkar. He is a very good singer but his voice isn’t one that I like very much.
Vividh Barati is/was a radio show I’m presuming? It sounds like a girl’s name 😉
vividh bharati is an all india radio hindi music channel of the olden days! and IMO much better than the FM channels of today. owe my love for old hindi film music to vividh bharati.
And Barfi’s as irresistible as they come. Played by Ranbir Kapoor [ Images ] with that marvellous abandon which is increasingly marking him out to be a truly special leading man — his shoulders well outgrowing those of (all) his A-list peers and rubbing now alongside actual acting heavyweights — his Barfi is a treat, a bushy-tailed hero with a highly infectious spring in his step. There is a natural grace to his klutziness, and he does very strongly indeed with this Chaplin-tribute role, bestowing his character with heart every step of the way. To paraphrase the radio hoarding seen in nostalgia-tinted Darjeeling, Kapoor’s Barfi “sets the standard.”
Raaz 3 has taken the horror genre to another level as it clocked up a huge 55 crore nett first week and is sure to cross the 75 crore nett mark considering the weekdays were rock steady and the only noticeable drop came on Thursday.
The only other time that the horror genre has succeeded in such a way was ten years back when the first part of Raaz garnered a 15-16 crore distributor share but that success was on back of the super hit music which was a craze at that time.
The horror genre is a good bet for non star cast films but its tough for it to put up big numbers as a large chunk of the audience does not go for horror films.
Prior to Raaz 3 no horror film had even touched the 30 crore nett mark and this film is looking to cross 75 crore nett which is phenomenal for the genre.
The all India distributor share of Raaz 3 will easily be higher than films like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Cocktail and Rockstar despite it being a smaller film.
Thus there is a lack of precedent in the genre of thriller, to be so sure.
– any prediction has to be based on a precedent and unfortunately i dont remember a precedent movie crossing 100 cr itself, and u are comfortable for 150…
– the director isnt big
– there doesnt seem to be a great soundtrack in offer… looking at subject.
– its a non holiday release
– not a sequel
etc etc
Thus i am would reasonably say 150 is a big shout!!
I know you’re a lawyer, Rooney, but everything can’t happen only by precedent! Before Ghajini, was there a precedent for a Masala (or any) film to make more than 100 crore? Before 3 Idiots, was there a precedent for any genre of film to make more than 200 crore? When those two events happened, Aamir was rightly lauded for being “pathbreaking.” So there’s nothing unrealistic in expecting him to continue his pathbreaking ways and set a high level for Talaash collections, too. I think this is the point AA is making, but he can speak for himself.
Talaash- a box office conundrum !
Rooney -since u are a sensible balanced voice –will try to reply to your genuine queries
Sm has thankfully answered them creditably..
The bigger picture here is that I didnt choose this scenario out of the blue ! It’s damn easy to predict the box office of dhoom3, pk, golmaals etc
The following is just my personal opinion and not a reflection on anyone -one may disagree or agree!
It’s scenarios like talaash that
a)separates the ‘men’ from ‘boys’ in terms of their overall ‘grasp’ of this whole game of box office and audience reactions
b) is also a test of agendas and biases-Spoken and silent
IMO from the discussion-jayshah got it right
Even Satyam got it right expectedly but unfortunately–he is too good 🙂 and note has developed ‘layers’…
To explain this more simply–
He doesn’t want to ‘commit’ to a figure lest aamir is found short later on and so on
As for some others–the lesser said the better
Which is surprising given their intellect
>The basic question here is
NOT how much of a safe target should be given to talaash to enable its ‘success’
BUT how much should it make to be classified as a ‘success’!!
>aamir is currently in a unique position
a) the guy hasn’t had a ‘failure’ for ages
Damn even mp wasn’t a disaster
b) the audience expect a class project the moment he gives his name to it
C)This ‘audience trust’ has been carefully cultivated
d) aamir is coming after more than two years and most of his fans are ‘thirsty’ in their own words
E) markets have expanded beyond belief
F) talaash is expected to be a class product
g) paeans have been sung (mostly rightly) about Aamirs script selection , discretion, box office pull
h) some people have spent ages to ‘prove’ aamir is no1 (they can’t be blamed given his performances
But with the no1 tag-comes a responsibility
U have to do what others can’t (within reasonable limits)
So the counter question is
WHY this target should NOT be placed before Aamirs talaash?
If the answer is -” to satisfy fan-anxiety” –the answer should be an emphatic ‘no’!
Here I’m impressed by some ‘simpler’ aamir fans like Ideaunique and prateek who have admitted that though this isn’t a dhoomesque deal–it’s not fair to place a 90-100 crore target either!
My simpler solution–
Let aamir fulfil the expectations he has himself created
I feel he will and hope this shall!
If he doesn’t I will be disappointed by aamir –but that’s not the end of the day for him since he has carefully planned the twin ‘cushion’ of dhoom3 and pk after that.
That is what the other aamir fans should think –even aamir won’t be happy with them putting his worth equal to hashmis raaz3 gross!!!
Finally –it is better to keep it simple!
One may excel in spins and counterspins, but beyond a point–the only thing left caught in that spin is —
Ones own credibility
Disclaimer-the above is only meant as a box office discussion and analysis NOT a judgment of individuals and personalities
🙂
firstly i still hate to read ur comment it really pains the eye!
Secondly, ok got ur point, but i still say and believe 100, 150, 200 all doesnt matter, important is movie should be good and should make some profit if possible.
Re : box office, i hardly comment, except i did by asking you, i can get where u are coming from, but i feel ur benchmark is quite incredible…. if it was a masala, or 3 idiot deal i would have agreed.
i am not aware of history, but has there ever been a thriller in indian box office which has competed with comedy or sequel or masala.. in the grand total race? i think negative on that… and thus in lies my response to u. if only it was a dhoom 3 or some variable which could have been in the race better… but thriller, i doubt that…
Rooney, if Raaz3 can do as much as it’s doing then Amir’s thriller should be way ahead.
If SRK could be bashed black and blue for a film like Raone expecting to do well at the BO why not Talaash?
Raone was a superman film, a genre untested . NO ONE gave the excuse that it is an untested genre.
When someone is declared number one and what not then like Salman he should be able to attract the audience in a film not very genre attractive. Look at ETT. Because of Salman it did so well. Otherwise a similar film like Agent Vinod couldn’t.
So no matter what the genre, if he is a BO draw, then the film should do more than 150, to be average for Amir and at least 175 to be a hit.
In addition he has to prove he’s worthy of all the super super accolades he has been showered with here on the blog 😉
“Rooney, if Raaz3 can do as much as it’s doing then Amir’s thriller should be way ahead.”
“When someone is declared number one and what not then like Salman he should be able to attract the audience in a film not very genre attractive. Look at ETT. Because of Salman it did so well. Otherwise a similar film like Agent Vinod couldn’t.”
Well said Oldgold 🙂
GF- So Ra.One making around twice as much as the hard-core commercial effort called Krrish (starring Hrithik at the peak of his star power) is not good enough but if Talaash makes less than twice as much as the offbeat effort called Kahaani (starring a pregnant Vidya Balan) then it is perfectly acceptable?
BTW- I’m not trying to mock you or question your credibility- just trying to understand where you are coming from- so I hope that you aren’t offended.
Ami it’s clear you’re not saying anything offensive but you are distorting what’s said here. I’m merely pointing out that to the extent that Ra.One is considered a failure (which I believe is what Oldgold herself is admitting here) the excuse that it was trying something new and did not have a successful precedent is simply untrue. That’s it.
If ‘Genre’ is taken out than nobody is so called superstar in BW.
Where was Superstar salman when Yuvraaj, mr and mrs khanna, Marigold and so on??
Same hold true for Aamir and SRK, Akshay n roshan !!!.
Its simple, Any Top star + right genre+ Extended weekend + heavy front loading = BB Movie ( present age’s superstar’s).
using cricket analogy, one expects and doesn’t mind ‘ugly’ shot from Dhoni ( just for argument sake) as we know he can’t be Class all the times as we are concerned about runs, but same we dont expect from Sachin. He will be and IS held to more rigorous conditions and expectations.
One can substitute Dhoni and sachin with any BW star and point becomes clear.
LOL! 😀 Ra One is an untested genre? We have examples of Koi Mil Gaya and Krissh getting super success at box office still you say Ra One was some new or untested genre? Pretty stubborn!
What separates the “men from the boys” for me is reading comprehension levels.
Don’t mind repeating myself since you seem intent on doing the same. You’re obviously entitled to your opinion when it comes to Aamir, but the issue some of us have is (despite your frankly useless disclaimer at the end) is your snide insinuation that we’re basing our own opinions on “fan anxiety” or basically offering a preemptive apology for a film’s possible failure, and in doing so we damage our credibility (though falling in your estimation might be a mark of distinction) when really there has been a very clear rationale (and Rooney’s comment touches on this once again) about why one can’t expect numbers here that rival those of far more accessible subjects and far more overtly mainstream films. Now there’s nothing unrealistic about expecting Aamir to break records, that’s clear, and more power to you and others if you really, honestly think this is the film to continue his streak. I simply don’t agree, and I’m not sure why this opens me or Satyam or anyone else up to the charge of being discreditable when we’ve stated our position clearly. One of the things that one underestimates and that isn’t in your little list of Aamir’s accomplishments is the fact that he takes genuine risks – and genuine risks aren’t easily predictable for everyone. But this is just the opinion of a “boy” so you needn’t take it very seriously.
GF–
Just to clarify- in that innocent comment–
I still counted u as a ‘man’ not a ‘boy’
🙂
As for the rest of the comment– my simple answer
‘Keep the faith in aamir’ , relax and u will get your answers when the movie releases lol
Actually based on your formulation above, I’d prefer remaining a “boy” here. It’s not about lack of faith, it’s about what I see as fairly obvious. You clearly don’t, so that’s that.
“What separates the “men from the boys” for me is reading comprehension levels.”
BEST!COMMENT! EVER!
and any smart educated modern woman will agree with the sentiment. although i know how many people actively dislike such females here.
Rooney–
U have v pertinent points (and unlike some damn imbeciles like rajen) u make them politely and eloquently
The answer to all your queries will be answered when this movie releases and u know the box office verdict!
If it falls short–the movie and aamir will be to blame
It’s simple
And like others–he failed in this one–what’s the big obnoxious ego hassle here?
One won’t place an abhishrek or even akshay or even SRK (in his current form) at this pressure!
But to understand this-
One has to completely understand the meaning of aamir khan currently!!
One doesn’t have to shout at folks who criticise him or reduce the targets to make his underperformers a success
One needs to know his worth at this stage !!
🙂
SM, that’s a fair point but the bar for ‘pathbreaking’ Talaash collections cannot be that for the biggest commercial films. Because otherwise one is saying as long as Aamir’s in the film genre doesn’t matter. This could hardly be right? Otherwise TZP would have done as much as Ghajini! Path-breaking for this sort of dark thriller might be 120 crores (just randomly quoting a figure), it cannot be 175 crores! Leaving this aside I resist a logic whereby the star who features in lots of path-breaking films, commercially or critically or both, is required to clear this hurdle very single time. Again this raises an elementary problem. How can a star be path-breaking in this sense with every new release? Whether in terms of gross or otherwise?
‘Find the enemy within’– as the tagline of talaash says
The target of 150 forget 175 is looking unachievable not only due to the genre/treatment etc
But
Due to some folks absolute obsession to not see him ‘underachiever’ a target they have set
🙂
Ps: wait n watch the results
Satyam –the blog is here and we are here
Ps2: if it doesn’t -I will be disappointed with aamir
125 or even 140 will be ‘ordinary’ and ‘expected’ for me
Just like ETT 200 (!!) was ‘ordinary’ for u !
🙂
And Satyam–it’s not the time to get ‘reactive’ and irritant
As the tagline says
‘find the enemy within’
C’mon Amy and sm- gimme a high five 🙂
How are some of you guys trying to compare Ra One and Talaash? Ra One was hyped for 9 months or so. Its hype 1 month before release was blinding! It was releasing on festive weekend, had all hype of item numbers, special appearances of biggest stars etc. Talaash on the other hand has been mostly kept under wraps, its first promo shown on TV for first time only now in September, its teaser was only kept online, its been quite delayed, they’ve never held launch events for trailers (Aamir had held launch events for each promo of Ghajini and 3I in past, not for Talaash), they are not going to promote it much except for last 29-30 days leading up to the film’s release and it is releasing on a non-holiday/non festive weekend, it’s any day a darker film than superhero or action films – so how can it be compared to Ra One?
Talaash trailer hasn’t been screened at cricket matches 8 months in advance! People who check film stuff online were aware of Talaash but ordinary people in real life didn’t know anything about this film. It did not even rank in Top 20 in Ormax Media survey of awareness around unreleased films!
And everybody knows how much festivals add to a film’s box office success – a benefit which Talaash doesn’t enjoy.
Does anybody compare TZP or CDI to OSO or Welcome? At least films should be of similar scale to make any comparisons! Of course it is not a Dhobi Ghat. But it is not even in hardcore commercial mode of an ETT.
And if ETT is an atypical Salman film or Ra One was a “risk” for SRK, then Dhoom 3 should be a bigger risk for Aamir since 95% world thinks he’s miscast for Dhoom series! 😀 [But I’m sure people like you are not going to call D3 a risk for him, otherwise how will you bash him?]
Saw barfi today–review later
@ prateek– u make some good points
Don’t really care about comparisons with ra1, OSO etc..
To see the whole ‘context’ of the target and prediction-u need to read my other comments properly -all the best lol
raja sen’s review seems more balanced here, less hyperbolic. and more in line with what i’d expect from a movie like this. otherwise critic reaction is entirely expected here.
Barfi! has taken the third biggest opening of 2012 at multiplexes of 2012 after Ek Tha Tiger and Agneepath, both holiday releases. The occupancies at multiplexes at chains like PVR and Inox are even better than Agneepath.
The film has opened to 85% collections in Mumbai city multiplexes and the only teo other films to open here were Ek Tha Tiger and Agneepath.
The first day all India multiplex business of Ek Tha Tiger was around 17-18 crore and Agneepath around 12.50 crore nett and none all the other films released this year managed to cross 8 crore nett and Barfi! should surpass 8 crore nett on day one from all India multiplexes.
The single screen contribution will be limited due to a lower opening and limited release
I don’t know if they technically counts as item numbers- but when you have Katrina belly-dancing seductively (Mashallah) and posing in a number of sexual costumes (Banjara)- the film’s commercial viability is going to be considerably boosted.
Ami, screw Kat and Ett and check out Barfii- easily the best film of the year alongwith The Grey- DO NOT MISS THIS- And everytime Ileana appeared my heart stopped beating- south chicks are hot
Ha Amy –actually didnt like the track ‘mashallah’ at all (though katrina performed well)
As for banjara and other tracks–the local sounds /musical instruments and sights interestingly added in.
As for banjara-don’t remember any ‘sexual costumes’ though–
Only simple rugby and hockey shorts/attire 😉
Anyhow folks–
Priyanka chopras new single
Will-I am
B.O. update: ‘Barfi’ opens to marvelous response at plexes
By Taran Adarsh, September 14, 2012 – 16:07 IST
BARFI! has silenced the naysayers! The film, which defies stereotype in every respect, caught the film industry by surprise as it opened to an outstanding response at multiplexes. The opening was, on an average, 85% to 90%, with several sites reporting 100% occupancy as well. The buzz for the film is super-strong and the glowing reviews by critics who matter has acted as sone pe suhaaga.
BARFI! is expected to collect a robust figure in its opening weekend. As per early trends, the Friday numbers may cross Rs 10 cr nett.
Was already planning to check barfi this weekend.
But due to the positive reviews–have got a few ‘offers’ for today as well–may catch it today in a couple of hours maybe 🙂
Confirms-the ranbir ‘angst’ in rockstar was genuine class …
If audience’s reaction is as encouraging as the reviews, Ranbir is easily on his way to delivering his first 100 crore grosser, and probably much beyond.
I’d be happiest if this manages to usurp ETT’s collections.. Too much to ask for this early, but who knows 😛
One of my friends in Kuwait has already watched it though, and he loved it to the core (He dislikes Ranbir and hayes Bollywood in general) 🙂
This is what my friend had to say in his movie review
@ http://amarcinekatha.blogspot.in/2012/09/barfi-perfect-sweet.html about the audience reaction
The audience mainly consisted of college girls. (mostly Ranbir Kapoor fans). But as the movie progressed towards the climax about 25 % percent left the hall. The theatre was 50 % full in occupancy on a friday first show in Mangalore, Karnataka at the start of the show. This is to focus on the point that Barfi is not film for todays Rowdy Rathore, Housefull,Ek tha tiger Fans. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie from start to finish but its a classy movie rather a mass movie.
@ tony montana Its too much to ask from the indian Audience to make Barfi an 100 crore grosser. Whatever gross it will make will be primarily because of Ranbir kapoor’s star value and the qulaity of the film is insignificant in india when movies like rowdy rathore, housefull2 are celebrated her
max barfi will be a 60 crore grosser. That too with the blessings of the likes of komal nahatha’s and taran adarsh’s. But no doubt a good movie but too hi-fi for the indian audience
Filmfare award is very much on the cards. Not that it really means a whole lot. More importantly, Ranbir has been getting consistent praise for his performances and his film choices have also been encouraging. And, BO also seems to like Ranbir.
We might finally have a big star after a long time who is more than just a decent actor ( ala the Khans). HR is a huge star and a sincere performer but Ranbir is definitely more talented.
being a filmfare darling will always come with a certain minimal level of skepticism, even ridicule. on the other hand, ranbir seems to take it with a pinch of salt himself which makes him more bearable, unlike kings of the past.
The reasons that drive people to dislike a piece of art are sometimes those that you cannot think of in a hundred million years.
I was speaking, recently, to a young filmmaker. The conversation was initiated with single-minded purpose – he wanted to pick my brains about something (I still don’t know how much I was able to help him with what he wanted) – but it gradually expanded to include anything and everything. We spoke about the nature and the purpose of criticism. We spoke about the tendency of people in the film industry to gloat over the failure of their peers. (You haven’t seen Schadenfreude, first hand, until you’ve watched the glee spread like sunshine over the faces of industry folk when a much-lauded director lays an egg; it’s chilling.) And we spoke about the humbling nature of audience response. Each of us had experienced this in different ways – he through the people who have seen his work, and I through those who have read my work. And funnily enough, both of us produced an anecdote about Mani Ratnam to illustrate our experiences.
K’s story revolved around Kannathil Muthamittal, which (in case you don’t know) is about a little girl who’s told by her father that she’s adopted, and that her birth mother is from Sri Lanka. This becomes the impetus for the family to journey to the island, where they are trapped in the midst of war – not just in the general disruptions to normal life caused by a long-running civil war (which makes it difficult for them to make enquiries about people and travel from place to place), but also in the gunfire that erupts around them when they are seated in a park. And K said that a friend of his who worked in advertising didn’t care for the film at all. I thought that maybe the subject was too grim for her. Or maybe, like those who worked in the adoption circles, she felt that the way the child had been apprised of her reality was very cinematic, and this killed the film’s premise for her.
But no. K told me that his friend’s reason for disliking the film was that there was no duet. I said, “Surely you’re not serious.” And he smiled and said he was. The friend’s logic was simply this: How can you have Madhavan and Simran in a movie and not have a romantic song picturised on them?
Saw Barfi half an hour back- inspite of being slightly longer than required, this is a film which charms u from the word go. i am slightly sad to say this but i liked it even more than AV- alongwith The Grey, it’s my fav film of the yr by a mile.Ileana looks ethereal and acts competently (this is probably the most confident debut by a heroine since Rani in KKHH). Priyanka’s act is a winner- she never commits the mistake of hamming.
Barfi! is by far the best product this year. I liked the screenplay. It is sweet, funny, poignant. All three main leads and character actors aced it but IMO director is the main hero. Ranbir did far better jobs than Rockstar. He may get more than Filmfare! But this movie also showed how much Rakesh Roshan interfered with Basu during Kites.
Unlike everyone, I didnt think kites was total crap.
It had some moments esp for someone who like Hritik.
Barfi shows exactly why roshans got impressed enuf to take basu on board for kites. Barfi also shows why (the more streetsmart in bollywood) Rakesh roshan had to restrain basu in kites –though roshan overdid it.
And Ranbir’s was the most fluid performance since Dutt’s in Munnabhai- my fav lead perf. since Abhishek in DMD- Basu really scores by making this film a ‘fable’ with Calcutta being a Malgudi- Pritam’s music serves the story really well. But the best part is how comedy (physical and situational), old fashioned romance, tragic scenes and suspense blend seamlessly with each other. And the film never becomes pedantic or tries to suck u dry for tears/emotions- Hirani (and hrishida) would have been proud of this
That rare film that puts a smile on your face even before a single frame of the story is revealed, Anurag Basu’s Barfi envelopes you like a warm blanket from the moment you settle into your seat. Even as routine acknowledgements appear on a black screen, you’re charmed by the accompanying ditty, Picture shuru, whose chorus instructs you to switch off your phones and submit yourself to the experience that follows.
There’s a lot that’s admirable about Barfi, particularly the simplicity of its characters and their actions. This is a film about inherently decent people faced with tough decisions. There are no villains in this story, only honest people who make wrong choices occasionally.
Ironic then that Basu himself suffers the same affliction… Not content telling a simple story without any fuss, he complicates the narrative with confusing timelines and a needless whodunit subplot. But more on that later.
Spanning forty years in the life of Murphy — or Barfi as he calls himself — a poor chauffeur’s son played by Ranbir Kapoor, the film unfolds in the early 1970s. He’s a happy-go-lucky deaf-mute boy in Darjeeling, forever on the run from a portly cop (Saurabh Shukla) for his petty misdemeanors. Doffing their hats to Chaplin in these comical chases, Basu and his star deliver a range of delightful slapstick moments.
Barfi falls for the delicately pretty Shruti (Ileana D’cruz), whom he woos relentlessly. But, in a scene lifted straight out of The Notebook, Shruti is reminded why their romance can have no happy ending. In a later scene, one of the best in this film, Barfi wordlessly acknowledges the gaping divide between Shruti and himself. Gesturing towards his torn pockets, his ripped shoe, his inability to hear or speak, Ranbir beautifully conveys Barfi’s deep hurt at being rejected. His life finds new meaning when he’s saddled with his childhood friend Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra), an autistic girl belonging to a wealthy local family.
The film works best as a love story, and Basu infuses humor and heart into the relationships between his three leads. There are lots of lovely little gems in Barfi, like those moments in which our hero repeatedly ‘plucks’ his heart out and offers it to Shruti. Or the test of unconditional friendship that Barfi puts his loved ones through, that involves a collapsing streetlight. How can you not break into a smile when Barfi exposes his own leg to a fellow passenger leering at Jhilmil’s bare calves during a truck journey?
Yet these lovely bits are offset by a messy screenplay packed with too many flashbacks, and a long-drawn second half that doesn’t benefit from the Gone Baby Gone-inspired subplot about a botched kidnapping. The tone now shifts abruptly from gentle humor and quirky romance to clunky suspense.
And yet, despite the indulgences, it’s hard to overlook the sheer skill invested in this enterprise, starting with Ravi Varman’s remarkable cinematography. Each frame is lovingly composed, the camera caressing those Darjeeling and Calcutta landscapes with unmistakable affection. Pritam’s music, some of his best work yet, is an assortment of charming melodies that lace the silences in place of dialogues. Basu particularly films the title song, Aala Barfi with startling originality.
Filling out smaller roles with relatively lesser-seen but fine actors like Rupa Ganguly (as Shruti’s mother) and Akash Khurana (as Barfi’s father), Basu draws heartfelt performances from his committed cast. Ileana leaves a lasting impression in her Hindi film debut, conveying both love and pain through those beautiful, expressive eyes. Priyanka escapes the typical pitfalls of playing an autistic character, making Jhilmil a wholly believable girl whom your heart goes out to.
The film, however, belongs to our silent hero, and Ranbir Kapoor owns the part completely. Never turning Barfi into a caricature or a stereotype, Ranbir adds wonderful layers to this seemingly simple fellow, and once again proves why he is his only competition.
Sadly, Basu’s film goes on too long and drags its feet in the end. Barfi had the potential to be great cinema, but as it stands it’s a respectable film that’s still better than a lot else you’re likely to see. I’m going with three out of five for director Anurag Basu’s Barfi. It’s a treat like the mithai it takes its name from. Go on, indulge your sweet tooth.
Course correction by Komal:
Ek Tha Tiger showed a continued pattern of fall in it’s 4th week at the domestic box office. The movie made a small 0.23 Crores on it’s 5th Thursday at the box office.
The Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer’s total domestic collections as of now is 196.47 Crores. Ek Tha Tiger‘s another 50 Crores plus at the overseas box office brings up it’s worldwide box office collections to 246.47 Crores.
The movie which was expected to beat 3 Idiots records now will only end up being the 2nd largest grosser Bollywood flick especially coz Ek Tha Tiger could not maintain the momentum it generated in it’s 1st extended weekend.
After losing a lot many screens to Raaz 3, Ek Tha Tiger had been struggling the whole week for numbers. With the release of Barfi! today the movie will again lose most of the screens it was enjoying as of now.
It seems Ek Tha Tiger will not make more than a couple more crores before it goes off screens in the coming week. It seems Salman fans will have to wait for Dabangg 2 for the Tiger Khan to break 3 Idiots record.
BOI would probably end around 187-190 crores.
Regardless, it is a mammoth total and a testimony to Salman’s charisma and pull.
It did sustain a little better than I had expected and it is final tally is around 25 crores above my prerelease prediction.
I’d be surprised if Dabanng 2 broke this record of even did as much as ETT. I don’t have any faith in Arbaaz’s direction though I’m willing to be surprised! The same for Sher Khan which sounds like a turkey.
One has to give it to Taran and Komal. hey valiantly tried to help ETT overcome 3I. In the end, it was too much of an ask.
Carrying forward the twisted logic on the Talaash thread.
If 3I made 203 crores releasing in less than a third number of prints 2 years back, how much ETT (coming on the heels of Dabangg, BG and Ready) releasing on 3300 prints and a couple of years later should have made to be considered ‘rea”y’ succesful? How does a figure of 300 crores sound??
as I said before had ETT trended like 3I it would have made 340 crores, had it trended like Ghajini it would have done 275, had it trended like Ready 225, had it trended like BG 220, I could keep going on..!
On Taran and Nahta yeah I’m afraid they’ll have to make some personal contributions to get it to 200!
No offense but is it fair to bring in stuff like prints, ticket prices etc. in discussion about 3 Idiots and ETT? If next year Dhoom 3 does only 200 crore or marginally goes past 3 Idiots (204 cr nett or so) then what would you say? Biggest actor, biggest actress, biggest banner, biggest franchise, prints, marketing, hype since 2 years – D3 has it all. And what about Peekay? If 3I combo comes again in 2014 or so and doesn’t manage around 250 cr or more, then?
I don’t think it’s fair to bring in such factors to question other films’ achievements when nobody knows whether D3 or PK would manage to come close to 3I or completely topple it (4-5 cr more than 3I isn’t toppling!).
Barfi! had a good first day collecting around 9 crore nett as per early estimates. The collections were excellent at metro multiplexes and that helped it get to a 9 crore nett total.
Multiplexes outside metros were average and single screens were low. Comparing with Ranbir’s last release Rockstar the collections were on par or better in big cities but lower elsewhere. The release was also smaller which kept it one crore nett less than Rockstar.
The film will emerge a success on the strength of big city multiplexes and if other centres can show good growth on Saturday then the film could have a very good run for a couple of weeks.
Barfi! did well in Mumbai city, Pune, Delhi NCR, Kolkata and Bangalore while collections in UP, Bihar, CP Berar, CI, Rajasthan and Gujarat were low.
Barfi! collected around 8.50 crore nett over on its first day. The film was very good in big circuits but let down by smaller circuits. The territorial breakdown for day one is as follows.
The salubrious Darjeeling fable-barfi!
Saw barfi yesterday. Needless to say that reviews of this movie shall be very positive, it will be cool to love this film, box office more than reasonable, and may land ranbir with another filmfare!
A wholesome feel good effort and amongst this years best Bollywood films (though I had some issues outlined below).
A)Occupancy
In my local (overseas) multiplex–only two other bollywood stars manage a houseful recently –SRK, Hritik roshan (note the absence of salman, aamir names even now)–with this movie- a third name joined the other two!
B) opening and the related The talaash conundrum
With reports of 100% occupancy in multiplex for barfi in some places– the claim of those who are damn scared of the job for aamir to open talaash well seems even more hollow!
Is barfi less or more conventional /mainstream than talash?
Is a deaf-mute ranbir with totally deglam autistic priyanka more mainstream than a moustachioed fist pumping aamir with ‘prostitute’ Kareena and ‘ace actress’ rani in toe!!
Think this answers the ‘debate’ much earlier than talaashs incumbent release
Time that Satyam& followers admit it now officially-no excuse left!
C) direction/cinematography
Anurag basu shows to himself and his detractors what he is capable of. Wonderful cinematography and use of visual color palettes, individualised vignettes and creation of a fairy tale fable with authentic use of Darjeeling and Calcutta landscape and ambience
D) music
Again shows why people pull down pritam a bit more than needed.
After rehman (& SEL in form) -in the mainstream setup, nobody can touch him -if one takes into account volume, hit rate and range.
E) ranbir kapoor
Goes without saying that he is brilliant–infact expectedly so-something thats heartening to say so early in his careers
He again proves his acting genes and presents a delectable mix of Chaplin, Roberts benigni and yes, raj kapoor himself!
G) issues with ranbir
This is minutiae and relative but imo he tries to do too much sometimes here.
A bit of subtlety, restraint aka in rocket Singh may have helped in sme scenes like the one where he takes away his broken bicycle from Ileanas house (after being effectively dumped ).
H) comparison to rockstar
I’m sure everyone will prefer this ranbir performance to rockstar -though I prefer the latter somewhat.
As for the film, barfi is a more wholesome and accomplished work technically.
But to me, rockstar, even though flawed, incomplete worked more (but that is personal taste and resonance & also rehmans music)
I) female cast-Priyanka
Uniformly good and competent!
Priyanka chopra -it maybe a surprise to some but not to me
Always felt Pc is a class act and here she excels in not ‘over acting’
But in that obsessive endeavour, felt PC somewhere did not let herself go completely & held herself back a bit-but this criticism is relative!
But PCs performance here again reminded me and reinforced my belief in the epic iconicity of the rani mukerjee black act!! That one was simply more superior and even PC couldnt beat that!
J) ileana da crux
If there is one genuine ‘take home’ (no pun intended) for Bollywood here, it is ileana da cruz!
My first film of hers and not that she performed out of the blue or extraordinary . But there’s something about her presence and appeal that Bollywood needs —
Also I couldn’t really reconcile inspite of being told that she is south Indian since her body language/structure/ essence wasn’t (in no way derogatory to either-just that is was different)
–no wonder i was right bcos Amy just informed me that she is infact Goan .
So well, I would place her in my own rating in recent Bollywood just slightly below nargis fakhri(rockstar)& Diana panty (cocktail)
Obviously this ‘list’ has nothing to do with acting, or anything sane and don’t expect anyone to agree with it haha
K) issues
1) all the vignettes, items are brilliant but as a sum total leave something to be desired
2) basu excels in his poetic vision and cinematographic escapades which are enjoyable but the ‘depth’ and integration into plot may have been better though was done bette than most
3) The timelines were slightly erratic and the back n forth narrative while ‘intelligent’ sometimes overdid itself( for this genre)
The ‘suspense’ element was overplayed and not commensurate
4) there were plausibility issues as well but we can give that a blind eye given the ‘fairy tale’ ambience
But again—these ‘issues’ are relative and minutiae compared to the overall merit of this film and not intended to take away from a good overall effort !
Thanx anya- that’s a nice review and I agree to most things there!
The other ‘issue’ I had was PCs ‘autism’..
Correct me but she was shown as a total mental retard who surprisingly inspite of being one –harbours ‘secret feelings’ for ranbir through out and even tries to ‘copy’ Ileanas ‘waist’ etc
Not trying to run down the film/pc at all though as my random thoughts above illustrate
What is your take on ‘true autism’ since that’s your subject …
I haven’t seen the film but there are different kinds of autism. It’s a whole spectrum. It’s a hard condition to represent in a film either way and admittedly Hindi cinema doesn’t necessarily do the best job. For example SRK though his act was otherwise endearing in MNIK didn’t really seem autistic. They had a few gestures (he avoided eye contact for example) but otherwise he came across as just a slow guy. But again I haven’t seen Barfi. Hope to tomorrow.
The film I really ‘want’ to see is the Master but it’s not playing at my end unfortunately.
I would like to add to this…I have seen a ‘true’ autistic person at my hospital and from an educated point of view I found srk’s portrayal of autism to be way more sensitive and true. Pc was more the ”I am confused! How do I play this cute” sort of acting that is pretty stereotypical. In fact, even from a casual standpoint I was surprised to find my patient to have every characteristic motions of srk’s acting. Btw I am a true blue srk hater! Lol
Thanx Krishna suresh–so u r a doc too!!
What dya specialise in and where…
SRK had aspergers apparently not ‘true autism’
As Satyam suggested -there is a spectrum
But the key is –are they mentally retarded and are they capable of harbouring ‘secret feelings’ etc 😉
Thanx for telling that u are an SRK hater–u are jn the right forum –what say Satyam 😉
I am just a recent graduate. Got my fmge screening test soon so yeah am supposed to study. Ya got a lot of like minded people here..hehe. Feels like home on this blog. Hmmm I may be wrong but I think no disorder has been properly discovered in its entirety. If that was the case alternate medicine would never have worked so I really think yes, it’s safe to believe autistic people could have a tendency to have deep feelings that a ‘normal’ person would have. Forgive me for my parenthesis but I am a ‘parenthesis’ man :p
“Got my fmge screening test soon so yeah am supposed to study”
Hmmm good man…
Though u seem to be more into alternate medicine already!!
Ps: anyhow since u r preparing/studying hard, man, give us tips of how to concentrate for long hours nonstop for boring online work ..
Ive been @ it right now till I can withstand it –testing my limits 😉
Ps: what do u want to specialise in and we can extract free advice from u lol
yes, the term ‘autism’ really does cover a wide spectrum, the ones with a more pervasive type can also be ‘slow’ or ‘intellectually challenged’. that’s why it can be used as a ‘pick and choose’ condition where you can show the parts you want, srk admitted as such during mnik. so bw films (but also hw and others) can twist it they want to get their characters and their actions to fit the story they want to tell. that’s why these films will always be manipulative, no matter what.
@ Krishna suresh-thanx for the helpful reply
The (unanswered) question that interested me here is-
Is ‘autism’ technically ‘mental retardation’
And does the sufferer have awareness/insight that he/she suffers from a mental issue?
Also -the autistics surely can having ‘deep feelings’ but my point was -do they have the ability to ‘hide’ them tactfully?
Btw Thanx suresh for unknowingly contributing to’inspiring’ me to kick some work-will need more in the next couple of weeks 🙂
Hello Krishna suresh –I’m missing this ‘parenthesis man’–after inspiring me to catch up on work etc hope he isn’t doing objectionable stuff lol
Anyhow -have a ‘soft corner’ for the hard working and brainy medics
One should hae good role models and company–ESP when saddled with loads of pending work to focus on–
Ps: in his absence will be forced to fall back on and get inspiration from /play with the cute n sensible Anya –as long as she doesn’t unleash her ‘pet’ on me 😉
Hehe man, let’s not discuss medicine now. I get relief from all that when I indulge myself in this blog. I mean I really think this blog has the right dose of mixed minds as in we aren’t the kind that just thinks of mindless cinema and nor are we the ones who blabber on about art cinema. And this is a relief from the mundane :p and man would I be lucky enough to meet the cinema crazy ladies on this blog…hard to meet such minds around me. I mean a word on the philosophy behind good movies and I have girls who would kill me for talking too deep. Btw people did you read that debate on the political correctness of the dark knight series on The Hindu Yesterday? I Mean the last thing that Christopher Nolan would imagine is that 2 writers are debating about the deep intricacies of the story of his batman series in India. At least that’s what I think. I’m too random already
Welcum bak Krishna suresh (KS= Kama sutra )
Mate I’m joking 🙂
It seems u were just ‘waiting’ for me lol
So u want to meet the ‘cinema crazy ladies of this blog’ –hmmm
That’s quite fast/impulsive/direct of u m8!
Who do u fancy btw –I will help– I know them well.
Ps1:In your absence –cute anya is looking after me (read above) and helping me to ‘focus’ on my pending jobs ….group study /work 🙂
Ps2: no wonder, anya is not gettin a chance to write any posts here since …she is ‘preoccupied’ haha
@ Krishna suresh–hope u don’t mind my jokes lol
On a serious note–in response to your this query to me–“and man would I be lucky enough to meet the cinema crazy ladies on this blog…hard to meet such minds around me. ”
Let me think—
U can try interacting with a girl Amy -she is nice n intelligent film buff & loves your comments
Don’t worry -I will ‘prompt’ u, if needed 😉
lol…the less said the better about cinema loving ladies for now. Btw, being funny is all about a sunny life right? atleast that is what barfi teaches us :P. do check out what basu said to subash k jha – “It’s not a perfect film but it’s my most personal film”
Thank God for that. I am glad he speaks with humility. Btw, who is the other doctor here? is it satyam? Maybe thats why there is some cloud of intimidation that I find while spending time on this blog :P. Ok since you have offered to help AA..”hi amy” :PP
And really sorry for the unanswered question. The sad part is i can’t get into the research now 😛 maybe later. but hey this is what I think – Mental retardation is not a completely isolated disease. There are various causes that cause MR. and a part of the definition(s) of MR states the designated IQ level and percentile that has to to do with. So autism can cause MR and/or you could say – autism and MR interfered with each other or crossed their routes in the same individual. And then we still have to bring the idea of genetic predisposition etc.
But this is still my casual point of view and not a studied one. I remember I had to do community work for school at a home for the mentally challenged. I was petrified to work initially with the patients there since my work was simple but scary (intially) that I had to do like giving a bath to them, feeding them etc. But at a point one grows into each other by which i mean “vice versa” – the patient grows his/her interest in me and at the same time I find the magic in them. I cherish those moments cause in Singapore (where it all happened) you rarely get to find such magic in daily life cause life is so “concrete” there. By no means can every handicap people find happiness the way it is portrayed in Barfi. Even if a director portrays it in a depressing light it is still justified cause that is a story tellers duty after all – to make you smile/cry/scare/depress etc. IT IS NOT WRONG IF A DIRECTOR PORTRAYS THE MENTALLY HANDICAP IN POOR LIGHT IF ITS SENSITIVELY DONE ..there you go! i said it and that was for all those excited mongrels who go on and compare Barfi (which is a lovely movie at its own right) with movies that apparently showed the mentally handicap in “poor light”. A movie is a movie is a movie is a movie. :PP the rest of the stuff like box office numbers blur in my sight (easy for me to speak yeah? since i dont make movies)
@ Krishna suresh- just saw your lengthy explanation.been hectic
“Ok since you have offered to help AA..”hi amy””–hmm
Im quite busy/tied up next few days but try to skim comments and will try to ‘help u out’ when possible 😉
Anyhow—we may reassess your ‘progress’ with amy after a few days..
All the best in your pursuits 🙂
fair piece though I think the reading of Black is off the mark. Bhansali’s treatment is very consciously operatic. This might not be to one’s taste but that’s a different matter. and the operatic mode doesn’t always work in Bhansali’s films. For example Devdas was too plodding despite this sort of treatment (partly the mode was not as fully exercised here as in Black).
Though I hate both devdas and black from the deepest depth of my heart, I found it really interesting to think how it would be if devdas had the visual tone of Black instead of the gawdy gloss. It is fun to imagine in such ways about a couple of movies :p
September 14, 2012
Movie Review
An Unconventional Romance
By RACHEL SALTZ
The lovers in Anurag Basu’s engagingly odd “Barfi!” — he’s deaf and mute, she’s autistic — are a particularly pure expression of a cherished Bollywood theme: love is the supreme goal. (Cue the songs: the movie does.) Stripped of conventional social expectations, Barfii (Ranbir Kapoor) and Jhilmil (a deglamorized Priyanka Chopra) have nothing to follow but their hearts, and nothing to battle but kidnappings, death and venality.
“Barfi!” is billed as a romantic comedy, and there are several nods to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. The deaf Barfii — his own contortion of his real name, Murphy — plays the silent clown, and Mr. Kapoor, who gets better as the movie goes along, often seems to be channeling his grandfather Raj Kapoor, who incorporated aspects of Chaplin’s Tramp in his screen persona.
The comedy registers mostly as pathos, but the silent-movie influence remains strong. “Barfi!” has long sequences with minimal or no dialogue, putting the emphasis on the visuals. In one scene Barfii blows bubbles that enclose fireflies, mesmerizing Jhilmil. The two sometimes communicate with light, bouncing its reflection off mirror shards. (Ravi Varman did the movie-lush cinematography.)
Bollywood isn’t afraid to be mawkish. “Barfi!” is at times, though not noticeably more so than most Hindi movies, despite its premise of special lovers with a special lesson to teach. And at 150 minutes, it may try your patience. Or it may wear you down (another Hindi movie specialty) as it builds its emotional slow burn. Against your will, you may even shed a tear.
8.5 crores on Fri is good but not really great and a touch below my expectations given the orgasmic intitial indications. Hope it grows on Sta and Sun considerably.
those reports were always grossly exaggerated Rajen. Is it really believable that it could have opened better than Agneepath in Indian multiplexes given that the latter had 22 crores or so on day 1? Now we learn it’s only some major city multiplexes. Even that couldn’t universally be true. Why would more people show up for a small, different film like this one than Agneepath? It just doesn’t stand to reason. It is true that the Fri number is behind Rockstar’s as well, by a bit not by much. But even this isn’t surprising given that Rockstar was a more commercial subject. I think this is a very good number for this kind of film. The rest was just crazy hype by taran and BOI. sounded absurd even yesterday.
On the rest a lot of people are suggesting the film is longer than it needed to be. The second half looks to be weaker than the first in this sense and this might impact the film. Nonetheless I would still expect it to rather very or even very well. The weekend should be 30-35 crores. Even if Sat stays at the same level Sun should be much stronger.
But again the reporting on this was crazy. One gets taken in despite knowing this. The problem isn’t just exaggeration. They lie about this stuff. There’s nothing more to it. Taran is incidentally at 9 crores.
Only for small time it felt its is slow in second half (*Spoiler- When Jhilmil dissappears*). But I would commend the way story was presented, you never feel bored. There are flaws (it is not a serious movie so that you want to nitpick) but I will ignore them for mere attempt of this genre in hindi movie industry.
The other so-called issue abt Barfi is supposed to be the ‘suspense’ track which is said to be ‘forced’ into the plot- my reading of this was that since Basu was creating a Ray like fablesque- world in Barfi, he may have wanted a certain story-thread paying homage to Feluda stories-thought it was a masterstroke.On the pacing issues folks need to realise this isn’t Race. Btw saw Armitrage. found this a very watchable and engrossing thriller. And inspite of the fact i dislike Gere, found him effective here
Barfi! has a whole bunch of entertaining comedic sequences and sight gags. However while it is an homage to silent films, and perhaps to the dialogueless cartoons, the fact that it used a character who is actually deaf and mute largely for comedic entertainment made it,for me, a little exploitative of people with disabilities. Barfi is shown to be working class with touches like his beedi smoking and drinking.There is an effective and brief sequence where Barfi conveys his frustration with poverty and his disability to Shruti through gestures. But apart from that the character motivations and feelings dont really come through( There are repeated scenes showing the deaf Barfi not hearing another character trying to reach out to him , but all this is for the benefit of the viewers to go oh nooo). There is a bit where Barfi repeatedly puts his friends through ‘a friendship’ test , the payoff for this is fairly obvious but there doesnt seem to be any real motivation for him to do this. Shruti is the narrator and her perspective comes through. Into this mix is introduced Jhil Mhil(Priyanka Chopra) who is autistic. She does not get the benefit of cinematic props or narrator perspective. Unfortunately the movie gets labored with the introduction of this character and the whole track of ‘suspense’ around Jhil Mhil’s abduction comes of as just a McGuffin to re-unite Barfi and Shruti.
Just came back from watching Barfi in the night show..
Barfi is beautiful and rich but if only it was more engrossing.. Failing in narrative consistency and its length somewhat diluted the impact. Still it deserves to be seen for the acting of all three performers and many a poignant moment that aren’t in-your-face or manipulative. The film grows on you.
A good film that just falls short of being truly great.. This is what Hindi films should be like. Well done Anurag Basu.
Barfi! saw huge growth on Saturday as collections were around 35% up from Friday. The Saturday collections were around 11.50 crore nett taking the two day figures to 20 crore nett for the film. The jump was across the board with most circuits jumping in the 30-50% range. This sort of Saturday growth is a first for the year for films that opened well on day one.
The Saturday approx figures from some circuits are below with Friday numbers in brackets.
^May watch it later in entirety when time permits –If someone doesn’t summarise—
But as always– caught the crucial bit where kashyap ‘flaunts’ (like a child) the fact that he has a ‘French wife’ haha
Agree with Kashyap’s point here on how 100 crore films could be 300 crore films with better scripts. In fact I’d take it further — other than Ghajini and 3I (and possibly Singham) there is no 100 crore film where I cannot identify things that could be improved (in small or major ways) to get to a more successfully ‘realized’ effort. Even the better films in this ‘club’ could be a lot better. Remember saying in 2006 that had D2 had a better script it would have made 100 crores right then instead of the 80-85 crores it ended up with. Today again almost all the 100 crore grossers are about 5-7 days of initial numbers. The dishonest trade conversation coupled with the bankruptcy of many elsewhere who refuse to see this obscures this fact. D2 made almost 2.5 times its week 1 number. And it could have done 100 crores easily. Today films that have a 70:30 ratio seem decent. 60-65% in the initial period seems pretty good and anything less seems astonishing. Leaving aside Aamir in ever case because his trending is off the charts compared to the other stuff. Fundamentally the other films are just very week or just about ‘passable’ on the writing. Hence we see these results. These films are not true blue hits in any serious sense. Changing the debate and making it only about who gets to a 100 or 200 doesn’t alter the basic common sense questions and ways of accounting for cinematic success. Even with all kinds of technological changes and distractions and so worth and even after making allowances for these there are some things that still hold. And we see this in Hollywood. No industry relies more on big initials, no society operates with greater distractions. and yet with all this the trending standards haven’t been lowered here. Including on the accounting side. And so the Avengers needed to make 400m in the US to be profitable for the studio. It made 620 or so. Now had it made 350 that would still have been more than most films but they would have called it a commercial loser in many ways as they have for other films. No one would have said ‘oh most films don’t get to 350’. Because those aren’t the standards Avengers was working with.
I should also add here that I see the whole 100 crore club ‘naming’ as pretty much a way of dealing with the Aamir anxiety by those trade figures who’ve reluctantly come over to Aamir’s side after a long time because they could no longer deny his success but who are otherwise in the tank for others and who invented this label to expand the club. As I always ask why isn’t there a 200 crore club?! So on and so forth. To say there’s a 100 crore club when one film makes 105 and another 195 is absurd. It obscures everything. Are films that make 30 crores and those that make 80 crores sort of the same?! What if we had once called it the 30 crore club?! Similarly the equal absurdity about films over time getting more and more of this final 100 or 200 crore gross in their initial periods! So you could have a film open to 170, tank completely, become a horrible flop and get to 200, and people could say it was part of that club.
But here the fans of most stars (including recently Aamir’s) are equally responsible. In fact, and again as I’ve said before, some of the Aamir fans have become the worst in this regard because they too have joined this very vulgar bandwagon. At least many of the other stars were never about anything more than the crores. Aamir has was more than a decade trying to come up with commercially viable meaningful cinema more often than not mixed in with some ‘obvious’ projects (even here he nonetheless tries to get the best script for that terrain), over time he’s landed these massive initials but he’s never started out trying to do this (which is why 3I didn’t have the biggest release imaginable) and even today he’s trying to mix it up (D3 but also Talaash, Hirani is a very interesting director anyway) but all some of the fans can talk about is whether he’s getting to 250 or 300 or whatever. Now the latter is a fair box office debate can be had but it shouldn’t be introduced as Aamir’s only calling card the way say SRK fans once used to do for their favorite star.
I also find it laughable when everyone starts celebrating a film like Barfi and suddenly it’s all about appreciating a meaningful film and having one’s life changed forever and what not! if one really were that kind of audience one wouldn’t be crazily counting crores and positing this as the last word on any film! One can of course like all kinds of films, that’s not what I’m arguing about but let’s not pretend one’s into cinema only for such meaningful efforts!
Agree that most of these films (barring ghajini and 3I) had lots of scope for easy ‘tweaking’
Anyhow -so barfi after a good start (for its genre) shows further growth of sat /sun -hmmm..
Ps:have no qualms in admitting openly — barfi was a better film and I liked it (views above) but I perosonally enjoyed both ETT and cocktail more 🙂
OT Satyam, I’m amazed that among this entire noise abt GoW’s subversion of Masala elements, there has been absolutely no mention of Kaminey which subverted these elements very effectively. I also thought that there is a fine line between paying a lovingly mocking masala and lampooning it- IMO Kaminey did a better job at it. Also found it technically very impressive.Aside i never find u mentioning OUATIM while discussing these new masala films.find it second only to Ghajini (thought Devgn was damn good here)
OUATIM though an enjoyable film was too slight for me to take seriously as masala. It had the elements, Devgan was superb with his gesturality but there wasn’t enough emotional depth to the story. Haven’t seen GoW yet though I have the DVD of part 1 lying around but on Kaminey’s masala retreading I made some points here:
this jumping on ‘good movie doing good business’ bandwagon is an easy way for people who are not really into movies but are into celebrity worshipping (and use openings and gross to decide which celebrity they currently worship, explains all the salman fans coming out of woodwork lately). praising a smaller non-threatening film of a non-rival star in a patronizing way makes them feel all superior while continuing to fight about box-office gross on other threads. and critics do the same because the bar is so low that anything above average seems better than it really is. when something like kahani or barfi does somewhat well, all the commentary actually makes you feel more depressed, makes you realize how bad things are.
^ Wow what an insightful comment anya 🙂
Btw was it u -who gave me the idea of YouTube links on creating different outfits from same tops, belts etc
I passed it on to some female colleagues who were v appreciative-if it was your tip—thanx
Ps: any tips for how to slog with pending paperwork for days nonstop inspite of sleep deprivation etc …plz
Must be familiar for u 🙂
wait until the last minute, then let the fear of missing deadlines and the consequences thereof to flood your system with enough adrenaline to make it past the finish line just in time. that’s the way i have been doing it since my first ever school boards 🙂
Thanx anya — so that means we share the same dictum 🙂
Btw it will be good to have u around for ‘counselling’ in this ‘intensive’ phase of few days lol
The issue is that sometimes plain ‘adrenaline’ ain’t enough!
Ps: how much caffeine aka coffee can one consume daily safely?
Included cappuccino, lattes etc 😉
haha..It seems you have seen it?
we use to own a Murphy radio for the longest time (Actually Dad got it in marriage). I started listening to cricket commentary on it. Later its tuner got bad but I use to open it and do the manual tuning.
Ya we had a Murphy Radio as well…lekin power hee nahee aati thee issliye battery operated Transisters ( Philips) were used more…Just the other day was talking to friends- we have studied on Takhtee- Dawaat, ate 5 paise wale churan kee golee, eaten 20-25 mangoes at a time at the Mango ka baagh , ssala aajkal key bachcho I-pad sey kum toh baa hee nahee kartey ..loo
That is true. But then I think problems is there is no concept of “Mohalle ke bacche”. If kids have time (after study) then kids don’t know what to do and easy route is Ipad or other electronic gadgets from parents (I am also guilty of that). My seven year old daughter plays “words with friends” and facetime with Nana-Naani in India on Ipad which is good. But then she wataches her jake and the neverland pirates and other kids shows from netflix on it instead of playing.
True , but problem is when you have gatherings the older kids are all on thier phones playing games/ watching videos etc. and not interacting as much..
Saw it yesterday. In a word, delightful.
I think the film moves at a slow pace but there is a cheerful, charming moment around at every corner. Really wonderful performances from the whole cast.
Barfi had an excellent weekend of around 34 crore nett as per early estimates. The film opened very well at multiplexes on Friday and the multiplexes which opened lower jumped huge either on Saturday and Sunday. By Sunday the film was doing well all over apart a from a few single screen dominated areas.
The film was released on around 1300 screens on 700 theatres and these collections are phenomenal for such a release. The occupancies were huge at multiplexes with houses running at capacity or near capacity. Other big openers are being released on 2500 screens nowadays with likes of Ek Tha Tiger even going close to 3500 screens.
The trending on the weekend suggests it will hold up very well on Monday as multiplexes will see very strong collections. The weekend has emerged the biggest for a Ranbir Kapoor starrer edging out the multi-starrer Raajneeti which collected in the 33 crore nett range.
‘The Master’ smashes box-office records; latest ‘Resident Evil’ film opens at No. 1
By Associated Press, Published: September 16
LOS ANGELES — Paul Thomas Anderson’s cult drama “The Master” commanded a huge following in its opening weekend, smashing records on just a handful of screens.
The Weinstein Co. release made $729,745 in five theaters in New York and Los Angeles for a record-setting per-screen average of $145,949, according to Sunday studio estimates. The hugely anticipated film, which just won several of the top awards at the Venice Film Festival and will open in more cities in upcoming weeks, stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a charismatic cult leader and Joaquin Phoenix as his wayward protege.
The No. 1 film at the box office was “Resident Evil: Retribution,” which took in an estimated $21.1 million in its debut. This is the fifth film in the Sony Screen Gems action franchise, starring Milla Jovovich.
That topped the 3-D re-release of the Disney Pixar animated favorite “Finding Nemo,” which opened in second place with $17.5 million.
The 3-D “Resident Evil: Retribution” was directed by Jovovich’s husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, who has made three of the five films. It features the actress once again as the warrior Alice, the last hope for the human race as an evil corporation unleashes a deadly virus that creates more flesh-eating undead on a worldwide scale. And fittingly, the film performed even better internationally, where it made a healthy $50 million.
“You have to give so much credit for that to Milla,” said Rory Bruer, Sony’s head of distribution. “She’s such an incredible star and absolutely just works so hard in every country. Whether it’s Russia or Japan, everywhere she’s gone, she’s worked so hard in regards to making the franchise a success.”
The re-do of “Finding Nemo” follows in a recent tradition of Disney converting its classic animated movies into 3-D for a whole new audience. The 2003 underwater comedy about a tiny, lost fish named Nemo, featuring the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres and Willem Dafoe, won the Academy Award for best animated feature.
Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com, said the No. 1-opening for the latest “Resident Evil” movie came as a bit of a surprise. He figured “Finding Nemo” would come out on top, given the track record of the Pixar brand and the strong opening a year ago of Disney’s “The Lion King” in 3-D, which debuted at No. 1 with $30.1 million.
“The Screen Gems label, they know how to create a profit-making franchise,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s become so important if you have a star who resonates in the international marketplace — you can have a real winner worldwide.”
Last week’s No. 1 movie, the Lionsgate exorcism thriller “The Possession,” fell to third place with an estimated $5.8 million. It’s now made about $41.2 million over the past three weeks.
Among the other new movies this weekend, “Arbitrage” opened in 12th place in limited release with nearly $2.1 million. Richard Gere stars as a hedge-fund billionaire juggling scandals that could destroy him personally and professionally.
The huge opening for “The Master” beats the per-screen-average record for a live-action feature debut set earlier this year by Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom,” which made $522,996 when it opened on four screens in May for an average of $130,749.
Asked who the audience was for “The Master,” Weinstein Co. president of theatrical distribution Erik Lomis said: “We didn’t do exit polls but from eyeballing the ArcLight (Cinemas), everyone in Los Angeles showed up.”
Part of the allure was the rare opportunity to see the film projected in lush 70mm, which was possible at four of the five locations where it was playing. Expertly paced trailers released over the past few months revealed nothing, and unannounced screenings in select cities created more buzz. And some of the film’s mystique may have come from its parallels to the origins of the secretive Church of Scientology. Anderson has said the church’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, provided inspiration for Hoffman’s character.
“We knew we would do a lot of business but we didn’t think it would be this big,” Lomis said. “We knew from not only the pop-up screenings and the guerrilla marketing PTA does but also from the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto (International) Film Festival that we had something special. But you can never expect these kinds of numbers — it blew the doors off the theaters.”
As Dergarabedian phrased it: “Paul Thomas Anderson, among film buffs and film fans, is a directing god. He’s on Mount Rushmore with Christopher Nolan and some other great filmmakers. When he puts out a movie, it’s a long lead time — we’re forced to wait for a new Paul Thomas Anderson film. ‘There Will Be Blood’ was 2007.
“In the independent world, directors are the stars,” he added. “They draw people to the theater and fill theaters.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Resident Evil: Retribution,” $21.1 million ($50 million international).
2. “Finding Nemo,” $17.5 million.
3. “The Possession,” $5.8 million.
4. “Lawless,” $4.2 million.
5. “ParaNorman,” $3 million.
6. “The Expendables 2,” $3 million ($7.5 million international).
7. “The Words,” $2.88 million.
8. “The Bourne Legacy,” $2.875 million ($9.1 million international).
9. “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” $2.5 million.
10. “The Campaign,” $2.4 million.
___
Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
445-450m in US & 1.1 billion wordlwide would be a terrific final figure for TDKR…7th on all time list…could have done 475-480m had not the Colorado shooting affected initial collections.
“The Master” looks really enticing…can already foresee a serious firefight between Hoffman, Phoenix & Daniel Day Lewis ( Lincoln ) for Best Actor at next year’s Oscars !!!
Tuesday 18th September 2012 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Barfi! had excellent collections on Monday as it dropped just 25% from Friday. The collections on Monday were around 6.50 crore nett as per early estimates. The collections are only behind Ek Tha Tiger, Rowdy Rathore, Agneepath and Housefull 2 for 2012 on a Monday.
The collections at some centres were better on Monday than Friday. Many centres where the opening was not strong saw better figures on Monday. The multiplexes were just excellent as tickets rates come down 20-25% on Monday and collections saw more or less a similar drop meaning similar footfalls to Friday.
The film has grossed over 40 crore nett in five days and with holiday on some parts of the country on Wednesday, the week should finish around 55 crore nett.
the chamchas like slob and the bawla sardaar ka kyo hoga ab??
becharey chup- chaap hain…..
Aside- just a few days back Kashyap told the bawla sardaar to shove his opinions up his you know where…..
Extremely happy with Barfi’s outcome..
after long we have an unconventional hero with a concept thats far from being audience-friendly.. yet a film that’s set to gross huge.. probably more than 100 crores..
that’s not completely clear yet.. Rajneeti did about 90.. Barfi also has come competition from Heroine this week. Leaving all this aside Barfi would have to double its gross. It certainly seems to have the WOM to do so but few films do this in any circumstance these days. But yeah whether 90 or greater, this would be an enormous triumph for him.
I think that most big-budget films post 3 idiots haven’t enjoyed such positive post-release buzz except Barfi.. Yes there have been a lot of masala moments in the form of Singham and RR and Dabangg etc but that was more of a timepass variety. Films belonging to the other category that had great WOM were ZNMD, Delhi Belly, Kahaani and Vicky Donor but their prospects were limited to multiplexes only rather than on an all-India basis. But here it seems that Barfi has struck a chord everywhere except for a few single-screen dominated areas.. I think this should be huge. with such a response, overtaking ZNMD is given, though I admit it’s awkward in this manner after just a four-day total.
anyways, I dont think Heroine should be such a competition. Think Barfi will hold its own against competition from a Kareena starrer
Don’t think it will reach 90, still excellent business though. That such a film is allowed to exist in thrive in the Salman era (a 2 yr long era) is in itself a cause for cheering. It is definitely better than a houseful type deal what most people agree on. Whether it is something great on it’s own is where opinions might differ.
Not to forget also that Barfi was released with a limited screen count as compared to the recent biggies.
Makers could have very well milked opening week & gone in for a huge release…it could have well ended up with 70-75 cr. 1st week…wise decision in the end !
This is truly deplorable. I always knew AB had a pre-disposition toward ripping off..but not to this extent. This is way, way, over and out of ‘inspiration’ territory and right into the heart of plagiarism.
I just wonder how the western critics missed it..from NYT to LAT to washington post…
OT- I have always felt that Asad Rauf shouldn’t be in the Elite Panel (our Hariharan is much more deserving than him)- he couldn’t hear and see a clear inside edge today. Anyway Afghans gave Indians a run for their money today. Zaheer’s and Gambhir’s form is an area of concern. Btw since the pitches expectedly are turning a lot and Yuvraaj bowled beautifully, Dhoni might want to get Harbhajan in inplace of Pathan/Rohit
French ‘untouchable’ to oscars!
Talking of ‘disability’ films–cluzet and sy’s ‘untouchable’ chosen by the french to be sent to the oscars (imp after the artist!)
Have seen bits of it –good.
Also it’s done well globally —
Will Bollywood follow suit with a barfi-esque take ..? http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/sep/06/untouchable-french-comedy-disability?intcmp=239
AN JO: : I just wonder how the western critics missed it..from NYT to LAT to washington post…”
THey did NOT miss it. Just that they are alittle smarter, and wiser, and know the difference between blatant plagiarism, and reworking of material from classic sources.
It is not Anurag Basu’s fault if some lids, who , just because they have access to the Net and have a blog of their own, think they know cinema, when thery can’t even differentiate between plagiarism and homage, reinterpretation, inspiration and quotation.
Rangan’s comment puts it well :
” Like I pointed out in my review, “Barfi! looks like it was written after a marathon session of viewing the great silent films, both comedy and drama, after which Basu chain-linked the bits he liked and wove a sketchy story around them. (Sometimes, the inspirations are overtly showcased, like Ranbir Kapoor’s routine with a dummy that recalls Donald O’Connor’s Make ‘em laugh number from Singin’ in the Rain.)”
There’s no doubt (or major revelation) about the fact that bits have been “borrowed” from silent films. About “Koshish,” I guess a plot that’s similar *will* have certain similar elements, like if you feature a blind girl, you most likely will have a scene of her not being able to see something that’s visible to the audience.
To me, a “Namak Haram” (or, in Anurag Basu’s case, “Murder”) is more problematic in this regard because those films are almost entirely reworkings of a whole plot. Unlike something like “Barfi!”, which appropriates things and refashions them in the service of a new plot.
Is the last scene from “Michael Madana Kamarajan” inspired by “Gold Rush”? Yes. But is “Michael Madana Kamarajan” inspired by “Gold Rush”? NO!
There’s a difference. It’s like the link that Vashisht Das points out above. I can definitely see the similarity, but there’s not enough to claim that it’s either a “tribute” to Mani Ratnam or a “ripoff” from “Thiruda Thiruda.” Or what Avik Pramanik says about “Apur Sansar.”
I’ve discussed this in these posts here:
In this post, I talk about a very interesting quote in this regard by Krzysztof Kieślowski. There’s also one by Tarantino.
In this post, I talk about how “ot all inspirations are alike and plagiarism (very, very different from inspiration) needs to be punished, but we may enjoy our movies more if we focus on achievement instead of antecedent. If that’s good enough for Godard, maybe it ought to be good enough for the rest of us”
And in this somewhat tangential post, I talked about how “Namak Haram” was “reworked” from “Becket.”
As always, the comments in these posts are very rewarding.
And regarding the music, if riffs are enough to posit a claim of “plagiarism,” then no composer is completely original. Speaking of music, here’s how Bob Dylan responds to charges of plagiarism against him: “quotation is a rich and enriching tradition.” The article is here.
Its not reworking of some scenes but hell lot of scenes. It seems no scene is original …
Critics are not wiser but fools and have to hold their positions, Ego plays big part and I respect rangan but that doesn’t mean What rangan says is gospel and May be he has missed it.
I m sometimes Surprised, You go on quoting spree to prove your point and quote rangan and when same rangan differs with you then you say He didn’t got it… So this selective quoting is dangerous just to satisfy one’s ego…
NO critics wants to eat Crow so they will still defend it.
Bliss: Obviously when I feel he didn’t get it, I say he didn’t get it. And when I feel he got it, I say he got it. As you can see That is the difference between using your brains to form your own opinion versus treating someone’s words as the Gospel Truth or the Devil’s Scriptures.
I dont Quote anyone just to prove my point or satisfy my Ego, neither is something Gospel nor devil’s scripture. I see things as they are and Trust it, I don’t need rangan or anyone else to prove my point.
So you dont quote if he is right, you quote because it proves your point. so you can also be wrong…
To form opinion on Barfi one has to just go through that post and no rangan can save it. Its simply unashamed copy/plagiarism of not few scenes but whole movie itself.
Re : That is the difference between using your brains to form your own opinion
Using one brains is not to quote selectively, that’s called manipulative brain 😀
Bliss: I quote someone when someone expresses what I want to express in a more concise and articulate fashion. Not to prove a point.
“Its simply unashamed copy/plagiarism of not few scenes but whole movie itself.”
And you are the only one who recognized it? The critics of LA and NYT whose exposure to world cinema should not be insignificant could the spot this aspect, is it?
I haven’t seen the film yet. But I kind of find it hard to believe.
Utkal SIr, you are completely right here (not sure if Bliss has tried to understand what u are saying here… I am not sure what is the need of her attacking you everytime since she otherwise comes across a very sensible Laidy)… while some scenes have an overt resemblance to other films even after amalgamating them, Barfi has become a completely new product- whoever has seen Notebook or Koshish can say that Barfi is not either of them. As far as bgm is concerned, this might be true since Pritam is at helm here.
And hell there are so many films lncluding Sarkar which have scenes identical to Godfather (including Rajneeti) but they are completely new works. Sholey has borrowed liberally (including lifting of scenes from the iconic Leone westerns, yet no one confuses it with being a copy of any film (btw here too the bg score resembled the one composed by Ennio Morecone). The thing is there is a huge difference between a copy and plagiarism. Matrix borrowed a lot (the ideas, story threads, even the landscape features and colour palette) from Dark City- was that a copy too?!
I dont attack and it was not attack. I just posted a blog and that blog speaks for itself. and Why do you think its attack ???
Just LA and NYT or some other western didn’t find it or missed it doesnt mean it can’t be like that.. This is absurd logic. One doesn’t believe what one sees but belives only what few western critics say or have to say. can’t they be wrong or they did miss it ??? That’s point. and Why you take everything as Attack.. coin has other side also.
One holds some position and than does everything to hold it. i have no problem but that doesn’t mean the position you hold is true and right.
Utkal dismisses everyone who doesnt agree with him, that seems no attcak in your eyes, eg
Utkal quote ” It is not Anurag Basu’s fault if some lids, who , just because they have access to the Net and have a blog of their own, think they know cinema, when thery can’t even differentiate between plagiarism and homage, reinterpretation, inspiration and quotation.” So it means Utkla only know everything and rest all on blog are Kids 😀
Its better to read clearly before coming to wrong conclusions, Saurabh
Bliss Ma’am, Firstly the problem I have here is that you (and some others too) have been trying to mock Utkal Sir for quite some time (i noticed it on another thread too sometime back- as I said before I find this baffling bcos I have always seen u talk in a genuine, respectable manner). Now he is a gentleman so he refuses to give it back in kind. And sometimes for a change there is no harm in accepting that someone may know more about some stuff than u and me
Secondly he may not have seen the film but I have so I hope u wouldn’t dismiss my opinions abt the film (regarding the plagiarism charge) too in the same manner. Also let others like Tony and Munna Sir etc (who have seen the film) too speak about it
” It is not Anurag Basu’s fault if some lids, who , just because they have access to the Net and have a blog of their own, think they know cinema, when thery can’t even differentiate between plagiarism and homage, reinterpretation, inspiration and quotation.”- Actually I don’t think Utkal Sir meant that he knew more than quite a few other kiddo bloggers but even if he did, it wouldn’t be far from the truth though it wouldn’t win him many admirers.
On the plagiarism part, I have already mentioned with quite a few examples that copying and inspiration aren’t one and the same thing. But in any case I am ready to accept that barfi is a copy provided u accept that Sholey and Matrix and Sarkar and Bluffmaster too are blatant copies. A rip-off is what Sanjay Gupta does, what Mahesh Bhatt did ‘at times’- the best example here is The Killer and Knock Out (Phonebooth)- now I am not denying the resemblance between Barfi and the other films and I also agree some marks can be deduced from Barfi’s scoresheet for being derivative of such films but such treatment should also be then meted out to Matrix, Sholey, Bluffmaster (here the entire climax and so many story threads were taken from so many films)- some time I did have a debate over this with Satyam and GF too where I mentioned BM’s inspirations
Also the central line of Barfi is completely different from Notebook and Koshish. Also one needs to know there is no harm in one’s work being influenced from other films around the world till it tries to say something ‘new’- actually it’s almost impossible for a film not to be influenced/inspired from any other film- now ofcourse there are brownie points for being ‘original’
Saurabh :
I dont mock ppl( some one not agrreing with you or majority doesnt means mock, its easy way to hold hlier than thou attitude), I have trouble with hyperbole’s and I do register my protest. I protest when someone is dismissive and quotes western writers( as it hpnd on rahman thread) as if they are gospel. It can be said other way around also that His hyperbole’s mocks us 🙂 … I dont Dismiss something entirley even though i may disgree. Even negativity has some postivity to it 🙂
( just for sake of argument) You being a Amitabh fan and someone comes and says Salman is bigger than Amitabh now, why than you get provoked ?? hyperbole and dismissive attitude is not right. see things, read both sides and than one can have opinion, right or wrong, but one should not dismiss other opinion as entirely wrong. Opinions are just Opinions not Universal truths and everybody has it.
Let you show me one sentence where I mocked him and i show you his dismissive stmnts and throwing western critics as Gospel…
Ps: Just call me Bliss, no madam or sir 🙂
Having more knowledge doesn’t mean having Right knowledge.
Utkal : And you are the only one who recognized it? The critics of LA and NYT whose exposure to world cinema should not be insignificant could the spot this aspect, is it?
I haven’t seen the film yet. But I kind of find it hard to believe.
I alone didn’t recognise it its there on Blog. you have not seen movie and you believe critics but not what’s before one’s eyes, Lol that’s called Blind faith and fanaticism ( sorry to use that word) 😦
Yes, Saurabh, Shlay is agod example, where not only crucial scenes , gags and musical pieces are borriwed , even the basic story isa reworking of the Seven Samurai. In fact my guess is: Sholay has more resemblance to Seven Samurai than Barfi to any film it has borrowed from.
The point is that Basu in an interview said his movie was original whereas movies like Sarkar and Sholay acknowledge that they are inspired from Godfather and Seven Samurai.
From Filmigirl:
Let me first bring you an extract from an interview with writer/director Anurag Basu:
“How difficult was it to bring in the fantasy-fun element in a subject so serious and thoughtful?
“I’ve to confess it was a lonely journey. I had no reference points. It was like entering a dark tunnel. I just pushed through. While shooting we had lots of fun. Aur film banti gayi. Yes, it took me 10 days to get a hang of the subject since it is a completely new genre. We even re-shot the initial portions.”
So the man had no reference points? Interesting… considering this delightful post from Tanqeed picking apart all the scenes copied directly from Hollywood films.
Barfi-The herd mentaility -from adulation to blood bath!
Think that this has been a real disclosure about the number of inspirations/plagiarism employed in barfi.
Missed me initially and seems missed most!
Enjoy (& luv) filmigirls posts and see her point here 🙂
As for this new trend to discredit basu –let’s stop though…
Forget about inspirations etc
People haven’t been able o make a good coherent film from ‘direct scene to scene lifts!!’ in many occasions !
@ least basu has come up with a good narrative / flow etc
I’ve had numerous issues with it myself (& to prove my point-my thoughts –)
But let’s not climb onto poor cancer (& kites) survivor anurag basu!
His movie is still much better than mot of the stuff being dished out from Bollywood
It’s interesting to see how folks turn from extreme adulation (check out the barfi posts on fri/sat to the baying of basu blood now suddenly!)
There’s this herd mentality on view here and in media in general!
Someone needs to get their perspective right from time to time 😉
If not for anything else- basu deserves credit for a nice flowing charming film and for introducing ileana da cruz!
I really do not understand why suddenly this over-protectionism toward Basu. Nobody — at least on this blog — is criticizing Basu’s ability to hold an audience through his movie. BARFI is a good film that holds you. The question is the ‘way’ scenes from other movies have been used and still the director says ‘I had no reference point.?
BARFI as a whole is not a plagiarized movie. But almost ALL the gags are taken from other films. Basu could not present a SINGLE gag on his own? I am very poor with musical analysis – but I remember Utkal pointing out in his assessment somewhere the ladder scene and how the music changes when he is see-sawing on the ladder to when he is slipping down the ladder. Look at the Buster Keaton scene; the same change in musical tone is there!! I mean, ‘inspiration’ to such an extent? It is fine..but at least acknowledge..that’s all people are asking I guess.
RGV opens SARKAR with the claim that his movie would not have been made if GODFATHER had not been made by Coppola. Mahesh Bhatt openly says he has copied and ‘he’ sees no wrong in lifting themes/ideas lock, stock, and barrel.
I agree SHOLAY would never have been possible if the westerns weren’t made. And RAMESH SIPPY has made it clear I think that SHOLAY is indeed a ‘curry’ western! He didn’t claim he had no ‘reference’ points!!
BLUFFMASTER has similarities to MATCHSTICK MEN. If Rohan Sippy denies it, screw him. If BHANSALI says BLACK didn’t have anything to do with THE MIRACLE WORKER, screw him. I don’t support such ‘visionaries.’
And I don’t say there is anything wrong with BARFI having some inspirations from SADMA and KOSHISH. It is fine; because BASU here has not really cut, copied, and pasted.
But really, so many scenes? Just make a count!! Almost all the ones that made us LOL are taken from somewhere? (I pray to God someone doesn’t find RANBIR showing off his hairy legs to the guy on the truck is taken from some movie!!)
About Utkal’s tall claims of the western critics being smarter..well, they may be, but when it comes to reviewing (I read Manhola Dargis and AO Scott’s review of non-Bollywood movies regularly
) Bollywood movies, they act like they are viewing a movie from MARS. I remember a critic from NYT (not Saltz) wrote in a review of KJO movie how the leads in the movie manage to get travel visas so regularly that keep hopping across Budapest and the Alps and NYC and London to sing and dance!!! They definitely might have more knowledge than us mortal folks, but they are surely not the holy grail!
So just because ABasu is accused of plagiarizing, does it mean now we have to pull in line all film directors from 1913 onwards and bombast them? Can’t we assess them on the relative merits? A Basu has a way with depicting man-woman relationships in movies. Inf act, he is very, very good at that. But does it wash-off his other sins?
When I wrote my review, I could only see Chaplin, Mr. Bean’s, and Jackie Chan’s ‘shadow’ hanging; however, since I am not so internet ‘savvy’ I could not dig in and find similarities the way the TANQEED post did. And so expressed my shock seeing so many ‘memorable’ scenes being direct lifts. Fareed Zakaria is not even a Ranji cricket player compared to this!!
Wonder what the APA (American Psychological Association) has to say to the ‘number’ of scenes that can be lifted..they will have to revise their FIVE WORD RULE if they want to apply it to the movies..
Now this is an honest and sensible criticism An but if u notice Tanqeed and other bloggers are not saying the same thing as u. But if u notice I already said that marks should be deducted from Barfi’s scoresheet for lifting scenes- and no I am not saying that Basu is some visionary who can never copy stuff- he ripped-off Unfaithful in Murder and Firefly in Saaya. But Barfi’s ‘major storyline’ is not a copy at all and this is what is important and my major arguement is based on this
I am ready to accept that Barfi has been plagiarized provided the guy saying this also accepts that he/she is a dickhead! BTW Rohan Sippy should also be charged with plagiarism since in BM he not only took scenes from films but also major story threads. And by the same standards RD Barman should be the biggest copy-cat in the world, even bigger than Pritam.
There’s NOBODY who has never ‘plagiarised’ or got ‘inspired’ from a technical sense of the word!!!
It’s the extent and frequency that matters!
And foremost — the end ‘result’ outcome….
And that’s applicable to everyone including to Rahman …
I remember Alex once putting up a link which clearly showed how Rahman had only taken a ‘part of a tune’ whereas Burman had copied entire compositions- but let’s leave Burman guys, his apparent ‘step-father’ (SD) is still there to trouble him. Devil help some RD fans who think he was a genius started composing stuff when he was an embryo just like some who think that an opinion like ‘Barfi is a copy of Notebook’. And if Devil doesn’t help them i am there to lobotomise such folks
It was wrong to get in discussion with you, it was not my fault but you poked in. when one has no ideas put forward but to go from barfi to rd burman to lobotomise. Thats is what i call ppl getting dismissive when they are lost 🙂
You can say this to yourself also, remember when you point one finger, 3 are pointing towards you :
“And if Devil doesn’t help them i am there to lobotomise such folks”
That lobotomise line wasn’t meant for u at all- i was pissed with those folks who have been putting unfair charges on Barfii and badmouthing it on the net. Sorry if u took it that way (in any case u have been mostly cordial with me so i would never utter such stuff abt u). On not wanting to interact with me, u can continue to do whatever u think is right. On not having any ideas, i think i have already given u examples as well videos but u can choose to believe those wannabe blowhards
According to India a jump in collections of Barfi on Wed ( a holiday in some parts of the country).
Trending is really good so far.
Saw it on Mon and found it to be delightful.
Excellent performances. Ranbir is superb but I expected it.
Priyanka is the surprise package here. Went in not expecting to like her but have to say IMO, this is a fabulous performance.
Ileana is good but gets the short stick in the second half.Wouldnt mind seeing more of her in Bollywood films at all.
One gripe is the choppy narrative in the second half. Drags a little bit in the post interval phase but as the Ranbir-priyanka storyline develops, it again picks up. But, the constant back and forth between flash back and the preent gets a little annoying and confusing.
I am sure there are quite a few scenes that are inspired/copied but when the end product is so pleasing, who gives a damn.
There is a concerted movement to discredit Barfi that I can see on various blogs – some from people who always like to find faults and seem to be unable to be happy for anyone, some who prefer others to Ranbir, some who just like to be contrarians and have to try and discredit any critically acclaimed film. There is a whole army of people who like to criticise Black thinking it makes them look smart or nuanced when actually they just come across as dumbfu$#s without an iota of sense or taste.
But then some people should not diss movies like Life in a Metro , Kites or ETT or RNBDJ either as either copied or crass..you like Barfi so you want to defend it but who gives a right to tell the people who likes Metro/or ETT or RNBDJ that nahee nahee- tumhe kya pata achchi pictue kya hotee hai……TUm woh dekho jo humen achchi lagtee hai……everything is subjective….
Aside- who the Fu.K likes movie like OSO, Boduguard, Kambakht Ishq, Salaame E Ishq , (new) Agneepath and Dhobhi Ghaat anyways…………
ab kya karey Munna…yeh zamana hee aisa hai…
My sister loved the movie in Pune, she said she will watch it again to clear some pints coz it was bbit confusing for her..
she goes- ab tum log naye zamane ko ho toh phataak sey samajh jaatey ho, humne thodsa time lagta hai..kyon kee flash back mein flashback tha na….LOL
haha..I thought it was presented well. Hum internet par kuch bhi bolein, our opinion doesn’t constitute 0.00001% of the population. If they were listening to us then ETTs, Rowdies won’t be doing such a great business.
True and TBH it should count but only to the 0.00001% extent..too often we start thinking we know all….
Aside- Kejriwal will also find this bitter truth soon enough…Internet support is not sufficient..Anna did well to distance himself from him…
I too appreciate his selfless devotion to the cause but I think going political is the wrong move specially when he stands no channce of winning more than 1-2 seats.. and then you loose the moral highground to protest………
Before I found that many scenes were copied, I thought it was the best movies of the year. Even with many scenes copied from different movies, I think it has a very cogent screenplay and main story line is not pilfered. I didn’t mind constant to and fro between different timelines.
An Jo: When I say Western critics being smart, I only was referring to their ability to spot the rip offs from Hollywood and European movies. It is quite unlikely that they cannot spot the sources. And if they don’t mention it , it means it is in line with what is known as homage and inspiration.
Otherwise I dot give a whit about western critics writing about mainstream Bollywood films. They don’t understand the language at all. It would be like reading the critique of a Bharatnatyam performance by a ballet crtic. They may get a few things right, and a few things wrong. But the point is I wont refer to such a review for any kind of guidance or elucidation.
Just Back from Barfi and must say I loved it. There were times after the first twenty minutes or so when I was feeling a little listless saying to myself Gangs of Wasseypur was so much more fun , but the film pulled itself up quickly enough and delivered a charming fairy tale that warms the cockles of your heart and moistens your eyes. I don’t know who but he said, “ film sare meant to take you on an emotional expedition’ and this one surely takes you to places you haven’t been in Hindi film recently.
Just like in Gangs of Wasseypur, what I loved most was the stylistic adventure. Whoever thought one could use “ Teri Meherbaniya’ during a funeral procession nad make it sound perfectly natural, is what I wondered while watching GOW. Here I was wondering, who in today’s time would think of using ful-blown slapstick gags in a heart-touching love story involving two differently able protagonists? But Anurag does and he manages to pull it off magnificently.
As I had mentioned sometime back, Indian films are so bad in physical comedy in general because we do not have that tradition, unlike the Chinese. That is why I was so impressed with Ranbir’s act in Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Khnai and many sequences of ‘ Eega’. Now this one goes a step further as it manages to integrate the slapstick into a serious telling quite seamlessly.
And some of the gags are truly inventive. Take the the scene where he races ahead of the police man on the track on tht raileay sled. When he starts using the rod as an oar the gag goes to another level. I also like the way Ranbir plays these gags without appearing like a clown or buffoon unlike how Kamal Hassan does in his films. Nothing wrong with the way Kamal plays his roles,. But this is a welcome change. And it has Ranbir’s own stamp. And there isn’t another actor on the horizon who can match him in physical comedy of this kind.
For the record, I did not feel the weight of what it had borrowed from where at all. I mean one can say Tom and Jerry borrows from Silent films or that Mr Bean borrows from Charlie Chaplin. Actually the onle scene that reminded ME of a sequence from another film was the sequence of Barfi throwing his shoe up in the air to announce his presence to Jhilmil. It is quite possibly inspired from Adoor Goplakrishnan’s Mathulikal where the woman prisoner chucks rose twig in the air to announce her presence to the Mammoty character on the other side of the wall. What a wonderful appropriation of the idea and usage in the film!
In fact if all the sources from which the film has borrowed as some have pointed out are true ( I am not that prolific a film viewer), the achievement of Anurag is even more commendable. Because the film looks remarkably seamless and one of a piece without any disjointedness or awkward feel. It also does not remind one of any particular film. It is like a collage. Only that Anurag has lifted a collage to the level of a master artwork .
Two things work so well apart from the performance by Ranbir. One is the performance by Priyanak. If Ranbir’s performance gives the film its body, Priyanka’s gives it its soul. Together they manage to present an ideal of love that is easy to buy into. The scene where Ileana is rummaging through Jhilmil’s belongings, mostly knickknacks, and Ranbir snatches them away from her protectively, making Ileana that Barfi now loves only Jhllmil, embodies that so palpably. The other is the pacing and jumps between timelines.
I think without the deliberate slow pacing at times the ruminations on love that the director wants you to have won’t be possible. And the same goes for the back and forthing of the timeline. In Brectian terms it could be acled a device of alienation. Without it we would just be hurtling along to the finish of the story. And to me a film is selling itself short if it is just a story. In its present format it expands itself to something atht lingers on , something that stays with you.
And yes, I loved the songs and the lyrics. Someone like Bhansali who claims to make operatic films should learn how to get good, meaningful songs written and how to use them in films. ( take a bow Swnand Kirkire, Neelesh Mishra and Syed Qadri) ) . The pick of the lot after seeing the film is ‘ Itni si Khushi” which has a distinct Sali Chaudhury flavour.
And the final shot with the musicians under the tree…Anurag and Pritam got it right this time after the contrived attempt in Life In A Metro.
Oh sorry, one last thing. It was a masterly touch.. that dance sequence with its masks and coloured lights ( Is it Seraikella Chhau?). It really gives the film a final high and a splendid transcendence.
SATYAMSHOT 
September 13, 2012 at 4:28 PM
‘Barfi!’ To Take Fair To Good Opening – Box Office Predictions
September 13th, 2012 by Joginder Tuteja
There is a stark difference in the way ‘Barfi!‘ is seeing a release this weekend when compared to Ranbir Kapoor’s last flick ‘Rockstar‘. It had come with a huge hype and hoopla around it. The song ‘Sadda Haq‘ was a chartbuster weeks before the film’s arrival in theatres, Imtiaz-Ranbir combo was hot property, rumours around Ranbir-Nargis affair had fuelled the tabloids for months and the general sentiment was that the film would take a record beginning for a Ranbir starrer. Well, it happened that way as well.
On the other hand no one is expecting any records to be broken with ‘Barfi!‘. By the look of it, this one seems to be more of an experimental affair instead of a quintessential mainstream offering. The promotion has been decent, nothing earth shattering, while the lead pair of Ranbir and Priyanka too have restricted themselves from going overboard while pitching the film to the audience. The music is of extremely high quality, though it isn’t the kind that can be termed as a ‘crowd puller’.
All of this means that the film’s opening is expected to be good, though not exceptional, with 60%-70% occupancy to begin with. Of course class multiplexes should record much higher collections but on an all-India note, it should be a fair (and not record breaking) start for the film. All would eventually boil down to word of mouth and if that is positive, expect a boom in collections over the rest of the weekend.
A lot is being said about ‘Barfi!‘ having only one week for itself since ‘Heroine‘ arrives next week. Well, let’s not forget that both are UTV productions, which means the makers have a choice to allocate the right number of shows to both the films, provided ‘Barfi!‘ indeed catches audience fancy.
Meanwhile ‘Jeena Hai Toh Thok Daal‘ and ‘Qayamat Hi Qayamat‘ are also releasing alongside ‘Barfi!‘. While it would be a struggle for these films to find an all-India release, a run of over a week would be nothing less than a miracle for them.
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September 13, 2012 at 4:30 PM
Komal Nahta @KomalNahta
If u can judge a book by its cover,and a movie by its trailer,let it be said, a super-hit is on its way.And it is titled TALAASH!
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September 13, 2012 at 4:30 PM
Taran meanwhile claims it will get a “terrific” start.
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September 13, 2012 at 5:30 PM
Satyam: u and others are unnecessarily worried/anxious about talaash
I told u this should do 150+ atleast…
Keep the faith.
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September 13, 2012 at 8:02 PM
you’re again talking to yourself Alex..!
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September 14, 2012 at 6:39 AM
No, I’m still listening to him. 🙂
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September 14, 2012 at 7:47 AM
Thanx sm 🙂
Btw It will be interesting to hear yout views of recent salman releases like ETT
I know and can sense the ‘hesitation’ u may be having here since u are a Salman fan!
Follow my dictum –I get neither impressed nor intimidated by folks repeating the same things and getting few others to ‘agree’!
( all in good fun)
Doesnt change anything really…ESP facts
Cheers…
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September 14, 2012 at 9:31 AM
I’m also listening!!! 😀
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September 14, 2012 at 9:37 AM
Haha–Good girls both sm and Oldgold 🙂
By being so nice n obedient –u have entered the list of my ‘nominees’ who will be cast in my upcoming spoof of SRK- yashraj film !
Think Amy is also in the race amongst a few others …
Needless to add that the casting is involuntary/forcible but that doesn’t matter to me –Hahaha
Anyhow –I’m being pulled (hopefully to barfi)
Live review in a couple of hours –if don’t get busy elsewhere…
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September 14, 2012 at 2:47 PM
LMAO !! Witty response to a comment of the day goes to SM………
P.S.- operative word is “still”, question is – Kab Tak ???/LOL
suggested Answer- till AA starts dissing Salman ….LOL
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September 13, 2012 at 4:31 PM
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September 14, 2012 at 7:49 AM
^ haven’t seen this clip just the pic!
Is this a discussion on barfi or a competition of ‘legs’!
Seems both Priyanka and ileana have got a package deal –they went to the same parlour
Anyhow folks–who did u feel ‘won’ this competition of ‘legs’-
Ileana or Priyanka 🙂
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September 13, 2012 at 4:59 PM
Song of the Day:
Shaam Rangeen Hui Hai Tere Aanchal Ki Tarah
I’ve never heard this song before – I randomly clicked on it when it popped up on youtube, and it’s actually a beautiful track, by Sudesh Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar (I wouldn’t have recognised her voice if it wasn’t stated). From an 80’s film called Kanoon aur Mujrim I never heard of before… Composed by C Arjun. Not sure of lyricist but whoever it is has written well.
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September 14, 2012 at 1:47 AM
i think it is suresh wadkar. used to listen to this song quite a lot of times on vividh bharati!
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September 14, 2012 at 5:39 AM
Oops, thanks – yes i meant Suresh Wadkar. He is a very good singer but his voice isn’t one that I like very much.
Vividh Barati is/was a radio show I’m presuming? It sounds like a girl’s name 😉
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September 14, 2012 at 5:46 AM
vividh bharati is an all india radio hindi music channel of the olden days! and IMO much better than the FM channels of today. owe my love for old hindi film music to vividh bharati.
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September 14, 2012 at 1:11 AM
And Barfi’s as irresistible as they come. Played by Ranbir Kapoor [ Images ] with that marvellous abandon which is increasingly marking him out to be a truly special leading man — his shoulders well outgrowing those of (all) his A-list peers and rubbing now alongside actual acting heavyweights — his Barfi is a treat, a bushy-tailed hero with a highly infectious spring in his step. There is a natural grace to his klutziness, and he does very strongly indeed with this Chaplin-tribute role, bestowing his character with heart every step of the way. To paraphrase the radio hoarding seen in nostalgia-tinted Darjeeling, Kapoor’s Barfi “sets the standard.”
RAJA SEN
http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-barfi-is-magical-but-flawed/20120914.htm
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September 14, 2012 at 1:36 AM
Raaz 3 Takes Horror Genre To Another Level
Friday 14th September 2012 09.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Raaz 3 has taken the horror genre to another level as it clocked up a huge 55 crore nett first week and is sure to cross the 75 crore nett mark considering the weekdays were rock steady and the only noticeable drop came on Thursday.
The only other time that the horror genre has succeeded in such a way was ten years back when the first part of Raaz garnered a 15-16 crore distributor share but that success was on back of the super hit music which was a craze at that time.
The horror genre is a good bet for non star cast films but its tough for it to put up big numbers as a large chunk of the audience does not go for horror films.
Prior to Raaz 3 no horror film had even touched the 30 crore nett mark and this film is looking to cross 75 crore nett which is phenomenal for the genre.
The all India distributor share of Raaz 3 will easily be higher than films like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Cocktail and Rockstar despite it being a smaller film.
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September 14, 2012 at 1:36 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
Update: #Barfi embarks on a superb start in morning shows at multiplexes.
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September 14, 2012 at 6:47 AM
@alex adams:
how can one be certain of 150 crores for Talaash?
i may be wrong but the only movies which have crossed the 100 barrier are:
Ghajini (action)
Dabanng & others … (masala)
3 idiots ( comedy/drama)
Ra.one ( fantasy)
Thus there is a lack of precedent in the genre of thriller, to be so sure.
– any prediction has to be based on a precedent and unfortunately i dont remember a precedent movie crossing 100 cr itself, and u are comfortable for 150…
– the director isnt big
– there doesnt seem to be a great soundtrack in offer… looking at subject.
– its a non holiday release
– not a sequel
etc etc
Thus i am would reasonably say 150 is a big shout!!
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September 14, 2012 at 7:01 AM
I know you’re a lawyer, Rooney, but everything can’t happen only by precedent! Before Ghajini, was there a precedent for a Masala (or any) film to make more than 100 crore? Before 3 Idiots, was there a precedent for any genre of film to make more than 200 crore? When those two events happened, Aamir was rightly lauded for being “pathbreaking.” So there’s nothing unrealistic in expecting him to continue his pathbreaking ways and set a high level for Talaash collections, too. I think this is the point AA is making, but he can speak for himself.
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September 14, 2012 at 8:10 AM
Talaash- a box office conundrum !
Rooney -since u are a sensible balanced voice –will try to reply to your genuine queries
Sm has thankfully answered them creditably..
The bigger picture here is that I didnt choose this scenario out of the blue ! It’s damn easy to predict the box office of dhoom3, pk, golmaals etc
The following is just my personal opinion and not a reflection on anyone -one may disagree or agree!
It’s scenarios like talaash that
a)separates the ‘men’ from ‘boys’ in terms of their overall ‘grasp’ of this whole game of box office and audience reactions
b) is also a test of agendas and biases-Spoken and silent
IMO from the discussion-jayshah got it right
Even Satyam got it right expectedly but unfortunately–he is too good 🙂 and note has developed ‘layers’…
To explain this more simply–
He doesn’t want to ‘commit’ to a figure lest aamir is found short later on and so on
As for some others–the lesser said the better
Which is surprising given their intellect
>The basic question here is
NOT how much of a safe target should be given to talaash to enable its ‘success’
BUT how much should it make to be classified as a ‘success’!!
>aamir is currently in a unique position
a) the guy hasn’t had a ‘failure’ for ages
Damn even mp wasn’t a disaster
b) the audience expect a class project the moment he gives his name to it
C)This ‘audience trust’ has been carefully cultivated
d) aamir is coming after more than two years and most of his fans are ‘thirsty’ in their own words
E) markets have expanded beyond belief
F) talaash is expected to be a class product
g) paeans have been sung (mostly rightly) about Aamirs script selection , discretion, box office pull
h) some people have spent ages to ‘prove’ aamir is no1 (they can’t be blamed given his performances
But with the no1 tag-comes a responsibility
U have to do what others can’t (within reasonable limits)
So the counter question is
WHY this target should NOT be placed before Aamirs talaash?
If the answer is -” to satisfy fan-anxiety” –the answer should be an emphatic ‘no’!
Here I’m impressed by some ‘simpler’ aamir fans like Ideaunique and prateek who have admitted that though this isn’t a dhoomesque deal–it’s not fair to place a 90-100 crore target either!
My simpler solution–
Let aamir fulfil the expectations he has himself created
I feel he will and hope this shall!
If he doesn’t I will be disappointed by aamir –but that’s not the end of the day for him since he has carefully planned the twin ‘cushion’ of dhoom3 and pk after that.
That is what the other aamir fans should think –even aamir won’t be happy with them putting his worth equal to hashmis raaz3 gross!!!
Finally –it is better to keep it simple!
One may excel in spins and counterspins, but beyond a point–the only thing left caught in that spin is —
Ones own credibility
Disclaimer-the above is only meant as a box office discussion and analysis NOT a judgment of individuals and personalities
🙂
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September 14, 2012 at 8:19 AM
LOL… alex..
firstly i still hate to read ur comment it really pains the eye!
Secondly, ok got ur point, but i still say and believe 100, 150, 200 all doesnt matter, important is movie should be good and should make some profit if possible.
Re : box office, i hardly comment, except i did by asking you, i can get where u are coming from, but i feel ur benchmark is quite incredible…. if it was a masala, or 3 idiot deal i would have agreed.
i am not aware of history, but has there ever been a thriller in indian box office which has competed with comedy or sequel or masala.. in the grand total race? i think negative on that… and thus in lies my response to u. if only it was a dhoom 3 or some variable which could have been in the race better… but thriller, i doubt that…
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September 14, 2012 at 9:46 AM
Rooney, if Raaz3 can do as much as it’s doing then Amir’s thriller should be way ahead.
If SRK could be bashed black and blue for a film like Raone expecting to do well at the BO why not Talaash?
Raone was a superman film, a genre untested . NO ONE gave the excuse that it is an untested genre.
When someone is declared number one and what not then like Salman he should be able to attract the audience in a film not very genre attractive. Look at ETT. Because of Salman it did so well. Otherwise a similar film like Agent Vinod couldn’t.
So no matter what the genre, if he is a BO draw, then the film should do more than 150, to be average for Amir and at least 175 to be a hit.
In addition he has to prove he’s worthy of all the super super accolades he has been showered with here on the blog 😉
Ecxuses of genre etc ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!!
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September 14, 2012 at 10:08 AM
You’re right the superhero movie was untested except for that little-known arthouse effort called Krrish.
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September 14, 2012 at 9:53 AM
“Rooney, if Raaz3 can do as much as it’s doing then Amir’s thriller should be way ahead.”
“When someone is declared number one and what not then like Salman he should be able to attract the audience in a film not very genre attractive. Look at ETT. Because of Salman it did so well. Otherwise a similar film like Agent Vinod couldn’t.”
Well said Oldgold 🙂
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September 14, 2012 at 10:05 AM
OG,
Fair point, Mostly agree with what you intended to say except last line.
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September 14, 2012 at 10:17 AM
GF- So Ra.One making around twice as much as the hard-core commercial effort called Krrish (starring Hrithik at the peak of his star power) is not good enough but if Talaash makes less than twice as much as the offbeat effort called Kahaani (starring a pregnant Vidya Balan) then it is perfectly acceptable?
BTW- I’m not trying to mock you or question your credibility- just trying to understand where you are coming from- so I hope that you aren’t offended.
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September 14, 2012 at 10:30 AM
Ami it’s clear you’re not saying anything offensive but you are distorting what’s said here. I’m merely pointing out that to the extent that Ra.One is considered a failure (which I believe is what Oldgold herself is admitting here) the excuse that it was trying something new and did not have a successful precedent is simply untrue. That’s it.
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September 14, 2012 at 10:21 AM
OG,
If ‘Genre’ is taken out than nobody is so called superstar in BW.
Where was Superstar salman when Yuvraaj, mr and mrs khanna, Marigold and so on??
Same hold true for Aamir and SRK, Akshay n roshan !!!.
Its simple, Any Top star + right genre+ Extended weekend + heavy front loading = BB Movie ( present age’s superstar’s).
using cricket analogy, one expects and doesn’t mind ‘ugly’ shot from Dhoni ( just for argument sake) as we know he can’t be Class all the times as we are concerned about runs, but same we dont expect from Sachin. He will be and IS held to more rigorous conditions and expectations.
One can substitute Dhoni and sachin with any BW star and point becomes clear.
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September 14, 2012 at 5:50 PM
@Oldgold
LOL! 😀 Ra One is an untested genre? We have examples of Koi Mil Gaya and Krissh getting super success at box office still you say Ra One was some new or untested genre? Pretty stubborn!
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September 14, 2012 at 8:33 AM
What separates the “men from the boys” for me is reading comprehension levels.
Don’t mind repeating myself since you seem intent on doing the same. You’re obviously entitled to your opinion when it comes to Aamir, but the issue some of us have is (despite your frankly useless disclaimer at the end) is your snide insinuation that we’re basing our own opinions on “fan anxiety” or basically offering a preemptive apology for a film’s possible failure, and in doing so we damage our credibility (though falling in your estimation might be a mark of distinction) when really there has been a very clear rationale (and Rooney’s comment touches on this once again) about why one can’t expect numbers here that rival those of far more accessible subjects and far more overtly mainstream films. Now there’s nothing unrealistic about expecting Aamir to break records, that’s clear, and more power to you and others if you really, honestly think this is the film to continue his streak. I simply don’t agree, and I’m not sure why this opens me or Satyam or anyone else up to the charge of being discreditable when we’ve stated our position clearly. One of the things that one underestimates and that isn’t in your little list of Aamir’s accomplishments is the fact that he takes genuine risks – and genuine risks aren’t easily predictable for everyone. But this is just the opinion of a “boy” so you needn’t take it very seriously.
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September 14, 2012 at 8:37 AM
GF–
Just to clarify- in that innocent comment–
I still counted u as a ‘man’ not a ‘boy’
🙂
As for the rest of the comment– my simple answer
‘Keep the faith in aamir’ , relax and u will get your answers when the movie releases lol
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September 14, 2012 at 8:41 AM
Actually based on your formulation above, I’d prefer remaining a “boy” here. It’s not about lack of faith, it’s about what I see as fairly obvious. You clearly don’t, so that’s that.
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September 14, 2012 at 8:44 AM
” I’d prefer remaining a “boy” here.”
Ok then– let gf stay a ‘boy’ –amen 🙂
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September 14, 2012 at 12:31 PM
“What separates the “men from the boys” for me is reading comprehension levels.”
BEST!COMMENT! EVER!
and any smart educated modern woman will agree with the sentiment. although i know how many people actively dislike such females here.
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September 14, 2012 at 8:16 AM
LOL sm , i like precedents 😉 btw i guess aamir doing it in different movies is also a precedent!
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September 14, 2012 at 8:28 AM
Rooney–
U have v pertinent points (and unlike some damn imbeciles like rajen) u make them politely and eloquently
The answer to all your queries will be answered when this movie releases and u know the box office verdict!
If it falls short–the movie and aamir will be to blame
It’s simple
And like others–he failed in this one–what’s the big obnoxious ego hassle here?
One won’t place an abhishrek or even akshay or even SRK (in his current form) at this pressure!
But to understand this-
One has to completely understand the meaning of aamir khan currently!!
One doesn’t have to shout at folks who criticise him or reduce the targets to make his underperformers a success
One needs to know his worth at this stage !!
🙂
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September 14, 2012 at 8:25 AM
SM, that’s a fair point but the bar for ‘pathbreaking’ Talaash collections cannot be that for the biggest commercial films. Because otherwise one is saying as long as Aamir’s in the film genre doesn’t matter. This could hardly be right? Otherwise TZP would have done as much as Ghajini! Path-breaking for this sort of dark thriller might be 120 crores (just randomly quoting a figure), it cannot be 175 crores! Leaving this aside I resist a logic whereby the star who features in lots of path-breaking films, commercially or critically or both, is required to clear this hurdle very single time. Again this raises an elementary problem. How can a star be path-breaking in this sense with every new release? Whether in terms of gross or otherwise?
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September 14, 2012 at 8:33 AM
‘Find the enemy within’– as the tagline of talaash says
The target of 150 forget 175 is looking unachievable not only due to the genre/treatment etc
But
Due to some folks absolute obsession to not see him ‘underachiever’ a target they have set
🙂
Ps: wait n watch the results
Satyam –the blog is here and we are here
Ps2: if it doesn’t -I will be disappointed with aamir
125 or even 140 will be ‘ordinary’ and ‘expected’ for me
Just like ETT 200 (!!) was ‘ordinary’ for u !
🙂
And Satyam–it’s not the time to get ‘reactive’ and irritant
As the tagline says
‘find the enemy within’
C’mon Amy and sm- gimme a high five 🙂
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September 14, 2012 at 6:06 PM
@AA
How are some of you guys trying to compare Ra One and Talaash? Ra One was hyped for 9 months or so. Its hype 1 month before release was blinding! It was releasing on festive weekend, had all hype of item numbers, special appearances of biggest stars etc. Talaash on the other hand has been mostly kept under wraps, its first promo shown on TV for first time only now in September, its teaser was only kept online, its been quite delayed, they’ve never held launch events for trailers (Aamir had held launch events for each promo of Ghajini and 3I in past, not for Talaash), they are not going to promote it much except for last 29-30 days leading up to the film’s release and it is releasing on a non-holiday/non festive weekend, it’s any day a darker film than superhero or action films – so how can it be compared to Ra One?
Talaash trailer hasn’t been screened at cricket matches 8 months in advance! People who check film stuff online were aware of Talaash but ordinary people in real life didn’t know anything about this film. It did not even rank in Top 20 in Ormax Media survey of awareness around unreleased films!
And everybody knows how much festivals add to a film’s box office success – a benefit which Talaash doesn’t enjoy.
Does anybody compare TZP or CDI to OSO or Welcome? At least films should be of similar scale to make any comparisons! Of course it is not a Dhobi Ghat. But it is not even in hardcore commercial mode of an ETT.
And if ETT is an atypical Salman film or Ra One was a “risk” for SRK, then Dhoom 3 should be a bigger risk for Aamir since 95% world thinks he’s miscast for Dhoom series! 😀 [But I’m sure people like you are not going to call D3 a risk for him, otherwise how will you bash him?]
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September 14, 2012 at 7:19 PM
Saw barfi today–review later
@ prateek– u make some good points
Don’t really care about comparisons with ra1, OSO etc..
To see the whole ‘context’ of the target and prediction-u need to read my other comments properly -all the best lol
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September 14, 2012 at 7:01 AM
Barfi movie review “Relish the sweetness of Barfi” by my friend shivakrishna
@
http://amarcinekatha.blogspot.in/2012/09/barfi-perfect-sweet.html
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September 14, 2012 at 7:25 AM
Barfi will leave you speechless: Times of India
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-13/news-interviews/33815918_1_barfi-ranbir-kapoor-anurag-basu
——
Barfi will embrace you with all its warmth:
http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/movies/movie-review-barfi-will-embrace-you-with-all-its-warmth_119082.htm
————-
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September 14, 2012 at 7:25 AM
Barfi! comes as close to being a modern masterpiece as cinematically possible. To miss it would be a crime. To embrace it is to serenade the sublime.
http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=743
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September 14, 2012 at 7:26 AM
Critics verdict: Barfi is a must watch
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/CRITICS-VERDICT-Ranbir-Kapoor-s-Barfi-is-a-must-watch/Article1-929208.aspx
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September 14, 2012 at 7:27 AM
Overwhelmingly positive reviews for Barfi all over.. Really looks like something special.
Ranbir on a roll
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September 14, 2012 at 1:02 PM
raja sen’s review seems more balanced here, less hyperbolic. and more in line with what i’d expect from a movie like this. otherwise critic reaction is entirely expected here.
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September 14, 2012 at 7:33 AM
From Boxoffice India:
Barfi! has taken the third biggest opening of 2012 at multiplexes of 2012 after Ek Tha Tiger and Agneepath, both holiday releases. The occupancies at multiplexes at chains like PVR and Inox are even better than Agneepath.
The film has opened to 85% collections in Mumbai city multiplexes and the only teo other films to open here were Ek Tha Tiger and Agneepath.
The first day all India multiplex business of Ek Tha Tiger was around 17-18 crore and Agneepath around 12.50 crore nett and none all the other films released this year managed to cross 8 crore nett and Barfi! should surpass 8 crore nett on day one from all India multiplexes.
The single screen contribution will be limited due to a lower opening and limited release
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September 14, 2012 at 7:35 AM
This is incredible news considering that both Agneepath and Ek Tha Tiger were hardcore commercial films with popular item numbers.
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September 15, 2012 at 1:54 AM
ETT has no item numbers!
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September 15, 2012 at 2:21 AM
I don’t know if they technically counts as item numbers- but when you have Katrina belly-dancing seductively (Mashallah) and posing in a number of sexual costumes (Banjara)- the film’s commercial viability is going to be considerably boosted.
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September 15, 2012 at 5:05 AM
Ami, screw Kat and Ett and check out Barfii- easily the best film of the year alongwith The Grey- DO NOT MISS THIS- And everytime Ileana appeared my heart stopped beating- south chicks are hot
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September 15, 2012 at 6:14 AM
Illena is not a ‘south chick’- she is Goan. 🙂 And I will be watching Barfi sometime soon for sure…
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September 15, 2012 at 10:07 AM
Ha Amy –actually didnt like the track ‘mashallah’ at all (though katrina performed well)
As for banjara and other tracks–the local sounds /musical instruments and sights interestingly added in.
As for banjara-don’t remember any ‘sexual costumes’ though–
Only simple rugby and hockey shorts/attire 😉
Anyhow folks–
Priyanka chopras new single
Will-I am
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September 14, 2012 at 7:42 AM
B.O. update: ‘Barfi’ opens to marvelous response at plexes
By Taran Adarsh, September 14, 2012 – 16:07 IST
BARFI! has silenced the naysayers! The film, which defies stereotype in every respect, caught the film industry by surprise as it opened to an outstanding response at multiplexes. The opening was, on an average, 85% to 90%, with several sites reporting 100% occupancy as well. The buzz for the film is super-strong and the glowing reviews by critics who matter has acted as sone pe suhaaga.
BARFI! is expected to collect a robust figure in its opening weekend. As per early trends, the Friday numbers may cross Rs 10 cr nett.
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September 14, 2012 at 7:44 AM
stupid commentary but glad to see it open well.
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September 14, 2012 at 7:43 AM
Was already planning to check barfi this weekend.
But due to the positive reviews–have got a few ‘offers’ for today as well–may catch it today in a couple of hours maybe 🙂
Confirms-the ranbir ‘angst’ in rockstar was genuine class …
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September 14, 2012 at 7:44 AM
If audience’s reaction is as encouraging as the reviews, Ranbir is easily on his way to delivering his first 100 crore grosser, and probably much beyond.
I’d be happiest if this manages to usurp ETT’s collections.. Too much to ask for this early, but who knows 😛
One of my friends in Kuwait has already watched it though, and he loved it to the core (He dislikes Ranbir and hayes Bollywood in general) 🙂
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September 14, 2012 at 7:49 AM
This is what my friend had to say in his movie review
@
http://amarcinekatha.blogspot.in/2012/09/barfi-perfect-sweet.html about the audience reaction
The audience mainly consisted of college girls. (mostly Ranbir Kapoor fans). But as the movie progressed towards the climax about 25 % percent left the hall. The theatre was 50 % full in occupancy on a friday first show in Mangalore, Karnataka at the start of the show. This is to focus on the point that Barfi is not film for todays Rowdy Rathore, Housefull,Ek tha tiger Fans. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie from start to finish but its a classy movie rather a mass movie.
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September 14, 2012 at 7:53 AM
@ tony montana Its too much to ask from the indian Audience to make Barfi an 100 crore grosser. Whatever gross it will make will be primarily because of Ranbir kapoor’s star value and the qulaity of the film is insignificant in india when movies like rowdy rathore, housefull2 are celebrated her
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September 14, 2012 at 7:56 AM
max barfi will be a 60 crore grosser. That too with the blessings of the likes of komal nahatha’s and taran adarsh’s. But no doubt a good movie but too hi-fi for the indian audience
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September 14, 2012 at 11:39 AM
Komal Nahta’s review http://komalsreviews.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/barfi-review/
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September 14, 2012 at 11:39 AM
Gonna try and watch Barfi! this weekend hopefully. Good to hear Ranbir’s coming in for praise.
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September 14, 2012 at 11:51 AM
He’s probably assured of another Filmfare this year.. the film looks to gross quite well too..
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September 14, 2012 at 11:55 AM
He’s definitely the new Filmfare darling…which we should try not to hold against him!
On another note I’m going to try and also catch The Master. It’s been getting some very strong reviews.
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September 14, 2012 at 12:31 PM
Filmfare award is very much on the cards. Not that it really means a whole lot. More importantly, Ranbir has been getting consistent praise for his performances and his film choices have also been encouraging. And, BO also seems to like Ranbir.
We might finally have a big star after a long time who is more than just a decent actor ( ala the Khans). HR is a huge star and a sincere performer but Ranbir is definitely more talented.
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September 14, 2012 at 1:05 PM
being a filmfare darling will always come with a certain minimal level of skepticism, even ridicule. on the other hand, ranbir seems to take it with a pinch of salt himself which makes him more bearable, unlike kings of the past.
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September 14, 2012 at 12:39 PM
BTW, we havent devoted much bandwidth to Raaaz 3 but must admit that it has been quite a surprise. A 75 crore here is an excellent gross.
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September 14, 2012 at 12:59 PM
agreed!
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September 14, 2012 at 1:10 PM
this new Gere seems worthwhile:
http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/movies/richard-gere-in-arbitrage.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120914&pagewanted=print
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September 14, 2012 at 1:15 PM
The reasons that drive people to dislike a piece of art are sometimes those that you cannot think of in a hundred million years.
I was speaking, recently, to a young filmmaker. The conversation was initiated with single-minded purpose – he wanted to pick my brains about something (I still don’t know how much I was able to help him with what he wanted) – but it gradually expanded to include anything and everything. We spoke about the nature and the purpose of criticism. We spoke about the tendency of people in the film industry to gloat over the failure of their peers. (You haven’t seen Schadenfreude, first hand, until you’ve watched the glee spread like sunshine over the faces of industry folk when a much-lauded director lays an egg; it’s chilling.) And we spoke about the humbling nature of audience response. Each of us had experienced this in different ways – he through the people who have seen his work, and I through those who have read my work. And funnily enough, both of us produced an anecdote about Mani Ratnam to illustrate our experiences.
K’s story revolved around Kannathil Muthamittal, which (in case you don’t know) is about a little girl who’s told by her father that she’s adopted, and that her birth mother is from Sri Lanka. This becomes the impetus for the family to journey to the island, where they are trapped in the midst of war – not just in the general disruptions to normal life caused by a long-running civil war (which makes it difficult for them to make enquiries about people and travel from place to place), but also in the gunfire that erupts around them when they are seated in a park. And K said that a friend of his who worked in advertising didn’t care for the film at all. I thought that maybe the subject was too grim for her. Or maybe, like those who worked in the adoption circles, she felt that the way the child had been apprised of her reality was very cinematic, and this killed the film’s premise for her.
But no. K told me that his friend’s reason for disliking the film was that there was no duet. I said, “Surely you’re not serious.” And he smiled and said he was. The friend’s logic was simply this: How can you have Madhavan and Simran in a movie and not have a romantic song picturised on them?
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September 14, 2012 at 2:15 PM
Saw Barfi half an hour back- inspite of being slightly longer than required, this is a film which charms u from the word go. i am slightly sad to say this but i liked it even more than AV- alongwith The Grey, it’s my fav film of the yr by a mile.Ileana looks ethereal and acts competently (this is probably the most confident debut by a heroine since Rani in KKHH). Priyanka’s act is a winner- she never commits the mistake of hamming.
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September 14, 2012 at 8:21 PM
“this is probably the most confident debut by a heroine since Rani in KKHH”
KKHH was not Rani’s Debut movie…
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September 15, 2012 at 4:43 AM
Barfi! is by far the best product this year. I liked the screenplay. It is sweet, funny, poignant. All three main leads and character actors aced it but IMO director is the main hero. Ranbir did far better jobs than Rockstar. He may get more than Filmfare! But this movie also showed how much Rakesh Roshan interfered with Basu during Kites.
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September 15, 2012 at 6:46 AM
Kites was never the Basu kind of venture and he shouldn’t have taken it on. Plus Rakesh and Hrithik also erred in selecting him for the film.
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September 15, 2012 at 6:51 AM
Unlike everyone, I didnt think kites was total crap.
It had some moments esp for someone who like Hritik.
Barfi shows exactly why roshans got impressed enuf to take basu on board for kites. Barfi also shows why (the more streetsmart in bollywood) Rakesh roshan had to restrain basu in kites –though roshan overdid it.
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September 14, 2012 at 2:27 PM
And Ranbir’s was the most fluid performance since Dutt’s in Munnabhai- my fav lead perf. since Abhishek in DMD- Basu really scores by making this film a ‘fable’ with Calcutta being a Malgudi- Pritam’s music serves the story really well. But the best part is how comedy (physical and situational), old fashioned romance, tragic scenes and suspense blend seamlessly with each other. And the film never becomes pedantic or tries to suck u dry for tears/emotions- Hirani (and hrishida) would have been proud of this
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September 14, 2012 at 2:44 PM
Alex Adams- found the perfect name for the movie-
Thanks to Great Bong-
Ria SenSex…..
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September 14, 2012 at 2:46 PM
Masand:
Barfi Review
Rating 3/5
September 14, 2012
That rare film that puts a smile on your face even before a single frame of the story is revealed, Anurag Basu’s Barfi envelopes you like a warm blanket from the moment you settle into your seat. Even as routine acknowledgements appear on a black screen, you’re charmed by the accompanying ditty, Picture shuru, whose chorus instructs you to switch off your phones and submit yourself to the experience that follows.
There’s a lot that’s admirable about Barfi, particularly the simplicity of its characters and their actions. This is a film about inherently decent people faced with tough decisions. There are no villains in this story, only honest people who make wrong choices occasionally.
Ironic then that Basu himself suffers the same affliction… Not content telling a simple story without any fuss, he complicates the narrative with confusing timelines and a needless whodunit subplot. But more on that later.
Spanning forty years in the life of Murphy — or Barfi as he calls himself — a poor chauffeur’s son played by Ranbir Kapoor, the film unfolds in the early 1970s. He’s a happy-go-lucky deaf-mute boy in Darjeeling, forever on the run from a portly cop (Saurabh Shukla) for his petty misdemeanors. Doffing their hats to Chaplin in these comical chases, Basu and his star deliver a range of delightful slapstick moments.
Barfi falls for the delicately pretty Shruti (Ileana D’cruz), whom he woos relentlessly. But, in a scene lifted straight out of The Notebook, Shruti is reminded why their romance can have no happy ending. In a later scene, one of the best in this film, Barfi wordlessly acknowledges the gaping divide between Shruti and himself. Gesturing towards his torn pockets, his ripped shoe, his inability to hear or speak, Ranbir beautifully conveys Barfi’s deep hurt at being rejected. His life finds new meaning when he’s saddled with his childhood friend Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra), an autistic girl belonging to a wealthy local family.
The film works best as a love story, and Basu infuses humor and heart into the relationships between his three leads. There are lots of lovely little gems in Barfi, like those moments in which our hero repeatedly ‘plucks’ his heart out and offers it to Shruti. Or the test of unconditional friendship that Barfi puts his loved ones through, that involves a collapsing streetlight. How can you not break into a smile when Barfi exposes his own leg to a fellow passenger leering at Jhilmil’s bare calves during a truck journey?
Yet these lovely bits are offset by a messy screenplay packed with too many flashbacks, and a long-drawn second half that doesn’t benefit from the Gone Baby Gone-inspired subplot about a botched kidnapping. The tone now shifts abruptly from gentle humor and quirky romance to clunky suspense.
And yet, despite the indulgences, it’s hard to overlook the sheer skill invested in this enterprise, starting with Ravi Varman’s remarkable cinematography. Each frame is lovingly composed, the camera caressing those Darjeeling and Calcutta landscapes with unmistakable affection. Pritam’s music, some of his best work yet, is an assortment of charming melodies that lace the silences in place of dialogues. Basu particularly films the title song, Aala Barfi with startling originality.
Filling out smaller roles with relatively lesser-seen but fine actors like Rupa Ganguly (as Shruti’s mother) and Akash Khurana (as Barfi’s father), Basu draws heartfelt performances from his committed cast. Ileana leaves a lasting impression in her Hindi film debut, conveying both love and pain through those beautiful, expressive eyes. Priyanka escapes the typical pitfalls of playing an autistic character, making Jhilmil a wholly believable girl whom your heart goes out to.
The film, however, belongs to our silent hero, and Ranbir Kapoor owns the part completely. Never turning Barfi into a caricature or a stereotype, Ranbir adds wonderful layers to this seemingly simple fellow, and once again proves why he is his only competition.
Sadly, Basu’s film goes on too long and drags its feet in the end. Barfi had the potential to be great cinema, but as it stands it’s a respectable film that’s still better than a lot else you’re likely to see. I’m going with three out of five for director Anurag Basu’s Barfi. It’s a treat like the mithai it takes its name from. Go on, indulge your sweet tooth.
http://www.rajeevmasand.com/reviews/our-films/sweet-rush/
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September 14, 2012 at 3:10 PM
Course correction by Komal:
Ek Tha Tiger showed a continued pattern of fall in it’s 4th week at the domestic box office. The movie made a small 0.23 Crores on it’s 5th Thursday at the box office.
The Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer’s total domestic collections as of now is 196.47 Crores. Ek Tha Tiger‘s another 50 Crores plus at the overseas box office brings up it’s worldwide box office collections to 246.47 Crores.
The movie which was expected to beat 3 Idiots records now will only end up being the 2nd largest grosser Bollywood flick especially coz Ek Tha Tiger could not maintain the momentum it generated in it’s 1st extended weekend.
After losing a lot many screens to Raaz 3, Ek Tha Tiger had been struggling the whole week for numbers. With the release of Barfi! today the movie will again lose most of the screens it was enjoying as of now.
It seems Ek Tha Tiger will not make more than a couple more crores before it goes off screens in the coming week. It seems Salman fans will have to wait for Dabangg 2 for the Tiger Khan to break 3 Idiots record.
http://www.koimoi.com/box-office/ek-tha-tiger-4th-week-box-office-collections/
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September 14, 2012 at 3:13 PM
BOI would probably end around 187-190 crores.
Regardless, it is a mammoth total and a testimony to Salman’s charisma and pull.
It did sustain a little better than I had expected and it is final tally is around 25 crores above my prerelease prediction.
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September 14, 2012 at 3:18 PM
I’d be surprised if Dabanng 2 broke this record of even did as much as ETT. I don’t have any faith in Arbaaz’s direction though I’m willing to be surprised! The same for Sher Khan which sounds like a turkey.
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September 14, 2012 at 3:28 PM
One has to give it to Taran and Komal. hey valiantly tried to help ETT overcome 3I. In the end, it was too much of an ask.
Carrying forward the twisted logic on the Talaash thread.
If 3I made 203 crores releasing in less than a third number of prints 2 years back, how much ETT (coming on the heels of Dabangg, BG and Ready) releasing on 3300 prints and a couple of years later should have made to be considered ‘rea”y’ succesful? How does a figure of 300 crores sound??
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September 14, 2012 at 3:33 PM
Fair Q.
Only AA can answer this or OG and Sm can pitch in for him !
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September 14, 2012 at 4:00 PM
as I said before had ETT trended like 3I it would have made 340 crores, had it trended like Ghajini it would have done 275, had it trended like Ready 225, had it trended like BG 220, I could keep going on..!
On Taran and Nahta yeah I’m afraid they’ll have to make some personal contributions to get it to 200!
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September 14, 2012 at 5:47 PM
No offense but is it fair to bring in stuff like prints, ticket prices etc. in discussion about 3 Idiots and ETT? If next year Dhoom 3 does only 200 crore or marginally goes past 3 Idiots (204 cr nett or so) then what would you say? Biggest actor, biggest actress, biggest banner, biggest franchise, prints, marketing, hype since 2 years – D3 has it all. And what about Peekay? If 3I combo comes again in 2014 or so and doesn’t manage around 250 cr or more, then?
I don’t think it’s fair to bring in such factors to question other films’ achievements when nobody knows whether D3 or PK would manage to come close to 3I or completely topple it (4-5 cr more than 3I isn’t toppling!).
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September 15, 2012 at 5:23 AM
Komal has left KoiMoi. His name no longer appears.
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September 14, 2012 at 3:29 PM
correction-
To be considered ‘really’ successful
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September 15, 2012 at 12:07 AM
Satyam Ji,
Love to read reviews of film Barfi.
” Iss Ranbir Ka Main ‘Kya Karu…Main Kya Karu..” by Divya Solgama http://www.gomolo.com/barfee-movie-review/40846/1839291
Thanks
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September 15, 2012 at 6:53 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Barfi Fri *est* 9.20 cr nett. Limited shows at plexes. Excellent!
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September 15, 2012 at 6:54 AM
Barfi! Has Good First Day
Friday 14th September 2012 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Barfi! had a good first day collecting around 9 crore nett as per early estimates. The collections were excellent at metro multiplexes and that helped it get to a 9 crore nett total.
Multiplexes outside metros were average and single screens were low. Comparing with Ranbir’s last release Rockstar the collections were on par or better in big cities but lower elsewhere. The release was also smaller which kept it one crore nett less than Rockstar.
The film will emerge a success on the strength of big city multiplexes and if other centres can show good growth on Saturday then the film could have a very good run for a couple of weeks.
Barfi! did well in Mumbai city, Pune, Delhi NCR, Kolkata and Bangalore while collections in UP, Bihar, CP Berar, CI, Rajasthan and Gujarat were low.
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September 15, 2012 at 6:54 AM
Barfi! First Day Territorial Breakdown
Saturday 15th September 2012 12.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Barfi! collected around 8.50 crore nett over on its first day. The film was very good in big circuits but let down by smaller circuits. The territorial breakdown for day one is as follows.
Mumbai – 3.20 crore
Delhi/UP – 1.85 crore
East Punjab – 88 lakhs
West Bengal – 40 lakhs
Bihar – 7 lakhs
CP Berar – 31 lakhs
CI – 25 lakhs
Rajasthan – 40 lakhs
Nizam – 39 lakhs
Mysore – 61 lakhs
Others – 20 lakhs
TOTAL – 8.56 crore
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September 15, 2012 at 6:55 AM
Top Opening Days 2012: Barfi! 9th
Saturday 15th September 2012 11.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Barfi! had the ninth biggest opening of 2012. The top opening days of 2012 are as follows.
1. Ek Tha Tiger – 31 crore
2. Agneepath – 21.72 crore
3. Rowdy Rathore – 14.39 crore
4. Housefull 2 – 12.87 crore
5. Bol Bachchan – 11.25 crore
6. Coctail – 10.85 crore
7. Raaz 3 – 10.25 crore
8. Agent Vinod – 8.72 crore
9. Barfi! – 8.55 crore approx
10. Jannat 2 – 8.17 crore
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September 15, 2012 at 6:53 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Raaz3 [2nd Week] Fri *est* 2.25 cr. Grand total: 57.50 cr nett.
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September 15, 2012 at 7:12 AM
Kashyap talks about the profit margins on 100 crore films towards the end here:
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/more/videos/view/id/1560322
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September 15, 2012 at 7:32 AM
The salubrious Darjeeling fable-barfi!
Saw barfi yesterday. Needless to say that reviews of this movie shall be very positive, it will be cool to love this film, box office more than reasonable, and may land ranbir with another filmfare!
A wholesome feel good effort and amongst this years best Bollywood films (though I had some issues outlined below).
A)Occupancy
In my local (overseas) multiplex–only two other bollywood stars manage a houseful recently –SRK, Hritik roshan (note the absence of salman, aamir names even now)–with this movie- a third name joined the other two!
B) opening and the related The talaash conundrum
With reports of 100% occupancy in multiplex for barfi in some places– the claim of those who are damn scared of the job for aamir to open talaash well seems even more hollow!
Is barfi less or more conventional /mainstream than talash?
Is a deaf-mute ranbir with totally deglam autistic priyanka more mainstream than a moustachioed fist pumping aamir with ‘prostitute’ Kareena and ‘ace actress’ rani in toe!!
Think this answers the ‘debate’ much earlier than talaashs incumbent release
Time that Satyam& followers admit it now officially-no excuse left!
C) direction/cinematography
Anurag basu shows to himself and his detractors what he is capable of. Wonderful cinematography and use of visual color palettes, individualised vignettes and creation of a fairy tale fable with authentic use of Darjeeling and Calcutta landscape and ambience
D) music
Again shows why people pull down pritam a bit more than needed.
After rehman (& SEL in form) -in the mainstream setup, nobody can touch him -if one takes into account volume, hit rate and range.
E) ranbir kapoor
Goes without saying that he is brilliant–infact expectedly so-something thats heartening to say so early in his careers
He again proves his acting genes and presents a delectable mix of Chaplin, Roberts benigni and yes, raj kapoor himself!
G) issues with ranbir
This is minutiae and relative but imo he tries to do too much sometimes here.
A bit of subtlety, restraint aka in rocket Singh may have helped in sme scenes like the one where he takes away his broken bicycle from Ileanas house (after being effectively dumped ).
H) comparison to rockstar
I’m sure everyone will prefer this ranbir performance to rockstar -though I prefer the latter somewhat.
As for the film, barfi is a more wholesome and accomplished work technically.
But to me, rockstar, even though flawed, incomplete worked more (but that is personal taste and resonance & also rehmans music)
I) female cast-Priyanka
Uniformly good and competent!
Priyanka chopra -it maybe a surprise to some but not to me
Always felt Pc is a class act and here she excels in not ‘over acting’
But in that obsessive endeavour, felt PC somewhere did not let herself go completely & held herself back a bit-but this criticism is relative!
But PCs performance here again reminded me and reinforced my belief in the epic iconicity of the rani mukerjee black act!! That one was simply more superior and even PC couldnt beat that!
J) ileana da crux
If there is one genuine ‘take home’ (no pun intended) for Bollywood here, it is ileana da cruz!
My first film of hers and not that she performed out of the blue or extraordinary . But there’s something about her presence and appeal that Bollywood needs —
Also I couldn’t really reconcile inspite of being told that she is south Indian since her body language/structure/ essence wasn’t (in no way derogatory to either-just that is was different)
–no wonder i was right bcos Amy just informed me that she is infact Goan .
So well, I would place her in my own rating in recent Bollywood just slightly below nargis fakhri(rockstar)& Diana panty (cocktail)
Obviously this ‘list’ has nothing to do with acting, or anything sane and don’t expect anyone to agree with it haha
K) issues
1) all the vignettes, items are brilliant but as a sum total leave something to be desired
2) basu excels in his poetic vision and cinematographic escapades which are enjoyable but the ‘depth’ and integration into plot may have been better though was done bette than most
3) The timelines were slightly erratic and the back n forth narrative while ‘intelligent’ sometimes overdid itself( for this genre)
The ‘suspense’ element was overplayed and not commensurate
4) there were plausibility issues as well but we can give that a blind eye given the ‘fairy tale’ ambience
But again—these ‘issues’ are relative and minutiae compared to the overall merit of this film and not intended to take away from a good overall effort !
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September 15, 2012 at 10:30 AM
this review reflects my sentiments about films like barfi in general (haven’t seen the film):
http://sudhishkamath.com/2012/09/15/barfi-let-there-be-light/
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September 15, 2012 at 10:37 AM
Thanx anya- that’s a nice review and I agree to most things there!
The other ‘issue’ I had was PCs ‘autism’..
Correct me but she was shown as a total mental retard who surprisingly inspite of being one –harbours ‘secret feelings’ for ranbir through out and even tries to ‘copy’ Ileanas ‘waist’ etc
Not trying to run down the film/pc at all though as my random thoughts above illustrate
What is your take on ‘true autism’ since that’s your subject …
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September 15, 2012 at 10:42 AM
I haven’t seen the film but there are different kinds of autism. It’s a whole spectrum. It’s a hard condition to represent in a film either way and admittedly Hindi cinema doesn’t necessarily do the best job. For example SRK though his act was otherwise endearing in MNIK didn’t really seem autistic. They had a few gestures (he avoided eye contact for example) but otherwise he came across as just a slow guy. But again I haven’t seen Barfi. Hope to tomorrow.
The film I really ‘want’ to see is the Master but it’s not playing at my end unfortunately.
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September 15, 2012 at 11:47 AM
I would like to add to this…I have seen a ‘true’ autistic person at my hospital and from an educated point of view I found srk’s portrayal of autism to be way more sensitive and true. Pc was more the ”I am confused! How do I play this cute” sort of acting that is pretty stereotypical. In fact, even from a casual standpoint I was surprised to find my patient to have every characteristic motions of srk’s acting. Btw I am a true blue srk hater! Lol
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September 15, 2012 at 11:52 AM
Thanx Krishna suresh–so u r a doc too!!
What dya specialise in and where…
SRK had aspergers apparently not ‘true autism’
As Satyam suggested -there is a spectrum
But the key is –are they mentally retarded and are they capable of harbouring ‘secret feelings’ etc 😉
Thanx for telling that u are an SRK hater–u are jn the right forum –what say Satyam 😉
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September 15, 2012 at 1:24 PM
I am just a recent graduate. Got my fmge screening test soon so yeah am supposed to study. Ya got a lot of like minded people here..hehe. Feels like home on this blog. Hmmm I may be wrong but I think no disorder has been properly discovered in its entirety. If that was the case alternate medicine would never have worked so I really think yes, it’s safe to believe autistic people could have a tendency to have deep feelings that a ‘normal’ person would have. Forgive me for my parenthesis but I am a ‘parenthesis’ man :p
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September 15, 2012 at 1:43 PM
“Got my fmge screening test soon so yeah am supposed to study”
Hmmm good man…
Though u seem to be more into alternate medicine already!!
Ps: anyhow since u r preparing/studying hard, man, give us tips of how to concentrate for long hours nonstop for boring online work ..
Ive been @ it right now till I can withstand it –testing my limits 😉
Ps: what do u want to specialise in and we can extract free advice from u lol
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September 16, 2012 at 8:41 AM
yes, the term ‘autism’ really does cover a wide spectrum, the ones with a more pervasive type can also be ‘slow’ or ‘intellectually challenged’. that’s why it can be used as a ‘pick and choose’ condition where you can show the parts you want, srk admitted as such during mnik. so bw films (but also hw and others) can twist it they want to get their characters and their actions to fit the story they want to tell. that’s why these films will always be manipulative, no matter what.
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September 16, 2012 at 10:21 AM
@ Krishna suresh-thanx for the helpful reply
The (unanswered) question that interested me here is-
Is ‘autism’ technically ‘mental retardation’
And does the sufferer have awareness/insight that he/she suffers from a mental issue?
Also -the autistics surely can having ‘deep feelings’ but my point was -do they have the ability to ‘hide’ them tactfully?
Btw Thanx suresh for unknowingly contributing to’inspiring’ me to kick some work-will need more in the next couple of weeks 🙂
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September 16, 2012 at 1:28 PM
Hello Krishna suresh –I’m missing this ‘parenthesis man’–after inspiring me to catch up on work etc hope he isn’t doing objectionable stuff lol
Anyhow -have a ‘soft corner’ for the hard working and brainy medics
One should hae good role models and company–ESP when saddled with loads of pending work to focus on–
Ps: in his absence will be forced to fall back on and get inspiration from /play with the cute n sensible Anya –as long as she doesn’t unleash her ‘pet’ on me 😉
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September 17, 2012 at 4:10 PM
Hehe man, let’s not discuss medicine now. I get relief from all that when I indulge myself in this blog. I mean I really think this blog has the right dose of mixed minds as in we aren’t the kind that just thinks of mindless cinema and nor are we the ones who blabber on about art cinema. And this is a relief from the mundane :p and man would I be lucky enough to meet the cinema crazy ladies on this blog…hard to meet such minds around me. I mean a word on the philosophy behind good movies and I have girls who would kill me for talking too deep. Btw people did you read that debate on the political correctness of the dark knight series on The Hindu Yesterday? I Mean the last thing that Christopher Nolan would imagine is that 2 writers are debating about the deep intricacies of the story of his batman series in India. At least that’s what I think. I’m too random already
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September 17, 2012 at 4:20 PM
Welcum bak Krishna suresh (KS= Kama sutra )
Mate I’m joking 🙂
It seems u were just ‘waiting’ for me lol
So u want to meet the ‘cinema crazy ladies of this blog’ –hmmm
That’s quite fast/impulsive/direct of u m8!
Who do u fancy btw –I will help– I know them well.
Ps1:In your absence –cute anya is looking after me (read above) and helping me to ‘focus’ on my pending jobs ….group study /work 🙂
Ps2: no wonder, anya is not gettin a chance to write any posts here since …she is ‘preoccupied’ haha
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September 17, 2012 at 4:52 PM
@ Krishna suresh–hope u don’t mind my jokes lol
On a serious note–in response to your this query to me–“and man would I be lucky enough to meet the cinema crazy ladies on this blog…hard to meet such minds around me. ”
Let me think—
U can try interacting with a girl Amy -she is nice n intelligent film buff & loves your comments
Don’t worry -I will ‘prompt’ u, if needed 😉
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September 18, 2012 at 6:14 AM
lol…the less said the better about cinema loving ladies for now. Btw, being funny is all about a sunny life right? atleast that is what barfi teaches us :P. do check out what basu said to subash k jha – “It’s not a perfect film but it’s my most personal film”
Thank God for that. I am glad he speaks with humility. Btw, who is the other doctor here? is it satyam? Maybe thats why there is some cloud of intimidation that I find while spending time on this blog :P. Ok since you have offered to help AA..”hi amy” :PP
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September 18, 2012 at 6:38 AM
And really sorry for the unanswered question. The sad part is i can’t get into the research now 😛 maybe later. but hey this is what I think – Mental retardation is not a completely isolated disease. There are various causes that cause MR. and a part of the definition(s) of MR states the designated IQ level and percentile that has to to do with. So autism can cause MR and/or you could say – autism and MR interfered with each other or crossed their routes in the same individual. And then we still have to bring the idea of genetic predisposition etc.
But this is still my casual point of view and not a studied one. I remember I had to do community work for school at a home for the mentally challenged. I was petrified to work initially with the patients there since my work was simple but scary (intially) that I had to do like giving a bath to them, feeding them etc. But at a point one grows into each other by which i mean “vice versa” – the patient grows his/her interest in me and at the same time I find the magic in them. I cherish those moments cause in Singapore (where it all happened) you rarely get to find such magic in daily life cause life is so “concrete” there. By no means can every handicap people find happiness the way it is portrayed in Barfi. Even if a director portrays it in a depressing light it is still justified cause that is a story tellers duty after all – to make you smile/cry/scare/depress etc. IT IS NOT WRONG IF A DIRECTOR PORTRAYS THE MENTALLY HANDICAP IN POOR LIGHT IF ITS SENSITIVELY DONE ..there you go! i said it and that was for all those excited mongrels who go on and compare Barfi (which is a lovely movie at its own right) with movies that apparently showed the mentally handicap in “poor light”. A movie is a movie is a movie is a movie. :PP the rest of the stuff like box office numbers blur in my sight (easy for me to speak yeah? since i dont make movies)
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September 19, 2012 at 3:15 PM
@ Krishna suresh- just saw your lengthy explanation.been hectic
“Ok since you have offered to help AA..”hi amy””–hmm
Im quite busy/tied up next few days but try to skim comments and will try to ‘help u out’ when possible 😉
Anyhow—we may reassess your ‘progress’ with amy after a few days..
All the best in your pursuits 🙂
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September 15, 2012 at 10:37 AM
fair piece though I think the reading of Black is off the mark. Bhansali’s treatment is very consciously operatic. This might not be to one’s taste but that’s a different matter. and the operatic mode doesn’t always work in Bhansali’s films. For example Devdas was too plodding despite this sort of treatment (partly the mode was not as fully exercised here as in Black).
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September 15, 2012 at 11:38 AM
Though I hate both devdas and black from the deepest depth of my heart, I found it really interesting to think how it would be if devdas had the visual tone of Black instead of the gawdy gloss. It is fun to imagine in such ways about a couple of movies :p
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September 16, 2012 at 8:43 AM
yeah, they are both awful films, no matter the tone.
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September 15, 2012 at 9:46 PM
which cocktail do you prefer? This is also a threesome 😉
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September 15, 2012 at 10:28 AM
NY Times:
September 14, 2012
Movie Review
An Unconventional Romance
By RACHEL SALTZ
The lovers in Anurag Basu’s engagingly odd “Barfi!” — he’s deaf and mute, she’s autistic — are a particularly pure expression of a cherished Bollywood theme: love is the supreme goal. (Cue the songs: the movie does.) Stripped of conventional social expectations, Barfii (Ranbir Kapoor) and Jhilmil (a deglamorized Priyanka Chopra) have nothing to follow but their hearts, and nothing to battle but kidnappings, death and venality.
“Barfi!” is billed as a romantic comedy, and there are several nods to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. The deaf Barfii — his own contortion of his real name, Murphy — plays the silent clown, and Mr. Kapoor, who gets better as the movie goes along, often seems to be channeling his grandfather Raj Kapoor, who incorporated aspects of Chaplin’s Tramp in his screen persona.
The comedy registers mostly as pathos, but the silent-movie influence remains strong. “Barfi!” has long sequences with minimal or no dialogue, putting the emphasis on the visuals. In one scene Barfii blows bubbles that enclose fireflies, mesmerizing Jhilmil. The two sometimes communicate with light, bouncing its reflection off mirror shards. (Ravi Varman did the movie-lush cinematography.)
Bollywood isn’t afraid to be mawkish. “Barfi!” is at times, though not noticeably more so than most Hindi movies, despite its premise of special lovers with a special lesson to teach. And at 150 minutes, it may try your patience. Or it may wear you down (another Hindi movie specialty) as it builds its emotional slow burn. Against your will, you may even shed a tear.
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September 15, 2012 at 10:28 AM
must say this is one of the more meaningful ‘capsule’ reviews Saltz has done for a Hindi film.
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September 15, 2012 at 2:01 PM
That is a better review. The movie’s genre (presentation) is more western than anything from bollywood.
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September 15, 2012 at 2:49 PM
Thought that firefly scene was awful
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September 15, 2012 at 12:26 PM
8.5 crores on Fri is good but not really great and a touch below my expectations given the orgasmic intitial indications. Hope it grows on Sta and Sun considerably.
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September 15, 2012 at 3:12 PM
those reports were always grossly exaggerated Rajen. Is it really believable that it could have opened better than Agneepath in Indian multiplexes given that the latter had 22 crores or so on day 1? Now we learn it’s only some major city multiplexes. Even that couldn’t universally be true. Why would more people show up for a small, different film like this one than Agneepath? It just doesn’t stand to reason. It is true that the Fri number is behind Rockstar’s as well, by a bit not by much. But even this isn’t surprising given that Rockstar was a more commercial subject. I think this is a very good number for this kind of film. The rest was just crazy hype by taran and BOI. sounded absurd even yesterday.
On the rest a lot of people are suggesting the film is longer than it needed to be. The second half looks to be weaker than the first in this sense and this might impact the film. Nonetheless I would still expect it to rather very or even very well. The weekend should be 30-35 crores. Even if Sat stays at the same level Sun should be much stronger.
But again the reporting on this was crazy. One gets taken in despite knowing this. The problem isn’t just exaggeration. They lie about this stuff. There’s nothing more to it. Taran is incidentally at 9 crores.
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September 15, 2012 at 4:18 PM
Only for small time it felt its is slow in second half (*Spoiler- When Jhilmil dissappears*). But I would commend the way story was presented, you never feel bored. There are flaws (it is not a serious movie so that you want to nitpick) but I will ignore them for mere attempt of this genre in hindi movie industry.
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September 15, 2012 at 5:07 PM
thanks Munna.. good to know..
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September 16, 2012 at 2:34 AM
satyam, this is for u in case u haven’t seen it:
abhi looks more “in the groove” and the man has just found his B.O. rhythm i guess – good going. Nice to see.
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September 16, 2012 at 8:12 AM
thanks Idea..
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September 16, 2012 at 10:03 AM
The other so-called issue abt Barfi is supposed to be the ‘suspense’ track which is said to be ‘forced’ into the plot- my reading of this was that since Basu was creating a Ray like fablesque- world in Barfi, he may have wanted a certain story-thread paying homage to Feluda stories-thought it was a masterstroke.On the pacing issues folks need to realise this isn’t Race. Btw saw Armitrage. found this a very watchable and engrossing thriller. And inspite of the fact i dislike Gere, found him effective here
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September 15, 2012 at 2:58 PM
Barfi! has a whole bunch of entertaining comedic sequences and sight gags. However while it is an homage to silent films, and perhaps to the dialogueless cartoons, the fact that it used a character who is actually deaf and mute largely for comedic entertainment made it,for me, a little exploitative of people with disabilities. Barfi is shown to be working class with touches like his beedi smoking and drinking.There is an effective and brief sequence where Barfi conveys his frustration with poverty and his disability to Shruti through gestures. But apart from that the character motivations and feelings dont really come through( There are repeated scenes showing the deaf Barfi not hearing another character trying to reach out to him , but all this is for the benefit of the viewers to go oh nooo). There is a bit where Barfi repeatedly puts his friends through ‘a friendship’ test , the payoff for this is fairly obvious but there doesnt seem to be any real motivation for him to do this. Shruti is the narrator and her perspective comes through. Into this mix is introduced Jhil Mhil(Priyanka Chopra) who is autistic. She does not get the benefit of cinematic props or narrator perspective. Unfortunately the movie gets labored with the introduction of this character and the whole track of ‘suspense’ around Jhil Mhil’s abduction comes of as just a McGuffin to re-unite Barfi and Shruti.
At least thats what i thought http://www.desidvd.com/2012/09/barfi-2012-hindi-review.html
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September 15, 2012 at 5:02 PM
Just came back from watching Barfi in the night show..
Barfi is beautiful and rich but if only it was more engrossing.. Failing in narrative consistency and its length somewhat diluted the impact. Still it deserves to be seen for the acting of all three performers and many a poignant moment that aren’t in-your-face or manipulative. The film grows on you.
A good film that just falls short of being truly great.. This is what Hindi films should be like. Well done Anurag Basu.
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September 16, 2012 at 5:12 AM
Barfi!: The ultimate tribute to Mani Ratnam
http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/barfi-the-ultimate-tribute-to-mani-ratnam/
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September 16, 2012 at 5:15 AM
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September 16, 2012 at 8:30 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Barfi Fri 9.20 cr, Sat 11.50 cr. Total: 20.70 cr nett. Sat witnesses 30% to 40% jump in several circuits. Limited shows at plexes. Superb!
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September 16, 2012 at 8:31 AM
Barfi! Has Huge Growth On Saturday
Sunday 16th September 2012 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Barfi! saw huge growth on Saturday as collections were around 35% up from Friday. The Saturday collections were around 11.50 crore nett taking the two day figures to 20 crore nett for the film. The jump was across the board with most circuits jumping in the 30-50% range. This sort of Saturday growth is a first for the year for films that opened well on day one.
The Saturday approx figures from some circuits are below with Friday numbers in brackets.
Mumbai 435 (320)
Delhi/UP 260 (185)
East Punjab 118 (88)
Rajasthan – 49 (39)
Mysore 97 (61)
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September 16, 2012 at 8:30 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Raaz3 [2nd Week] Sat *est* 2.75 cr. Total: 60.25 cr nett. Excellent.
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September 16, 2012 at 9:30 AM
Interesting chat : anurag, dibakar, anand gandhi and habib faisal ( TIFF)
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September 16, 2012 at 10:14 AM
^May watch it later in entirety when time permits –If someone doesn’t summarise—
But as always– caught the crucial bit where kashyap ‘flaunts’ (like a child) the fact that he has a ‘French wife’ haha
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September 16, 2012 at 1:07 PM
Agree with Kashyap’s point here on how 100 crore films could be 300 crore films with better scripts. In fact I’d take it further — other than Ghajini and 3I (and possibly Singham) there is no 100 crore film where I cannot identify things that could be improved (in small or major ways) to get to a more successfully ‘realized’ effort. Even the better films in this ‘club’ could be a lot better. Remember saying in 2006 that had D2 had a better script it would have made 100 crores right then instead of the 80-85 crores it ended up with. Today again almost all the 100 crore grossers are about 5-7 days of initial numbers. The dishonest trade conversation coupled with the bankruptcy of many elsewhere who refuse to see this obscures this fact. D2 made almost 2.5 times its week 1 number. And it could have done 100 crores easily. Today films that have a 70:30 ratio seem decent. 60-65% in the initial period seems pretty good and anything less seems astonishing. Leaving aside Aamir in ever case because his trending is off the charts compared to the other stuff. Fundamentally the other films are just very week or just about ‘passable’ on the writing. Hence we see these results. These films are not true blue hits in any serious sense. Changing the debate and making it only about who gets to a 100 or 200 doesn’t alter the basic common sense questions and ways of accounting for cinematic success. Even with all kinds of technological changes and distractions and so worth and even after making allowances for these there are some things that still hold. And we see this in Hollywood. No industry relies more on big initials, no society operates with greater distractions. and yet with all this the trending standards haven’t been lowered here. Including on the accounting side. And so the Avengers needed to make 400m in the US to be profitable for the studio. It made 620 or so. Now had it made 350 that would still have been more than most films but they would have called it a commercial loser in many ways as they have for other films. No one would have said ‘oh most films don’t get to 350’. Because those aren’t the standards Avengers was working with.
I should also add here that I see the whole 100 crore club ‘naming’ as pretty much a way of dealing with the Aamir anxiety by those trade figures who’ve reluctantly come over to Aamir’s side after a long time because they could no longer deny his success but who are otherwise in the tank for others and who invented this label to expand the club. As I always ask why isn’t there a 200 crore club?! So on and so forth. To say there’s a 100 crore club when one film makes 105 and another 195 is absurd. It obscures everything. Are films that make 30 crores and those that make 80 crores sort of the same?! What if we had once called it the 30 crore club?! Similarly the equal absurdity about films over time getting more and more of this final 100 or 200 crore gross in their initial periods! So you could have a film open to 170, tank completely, become a horrible flop and get to 200, and people could say it was part of that club.
But here the fans of most stars (including recently Aamir’s) are equally responsible. In fact, and again as I’ve said before, some of the Aamir fans have become the worst in this regard because they too have joined this very vulgar bandwagon. At least many of the other stars were never about anything more than the crores. Aamir has was more than a decade trying to come up with commercially viable meaningful cinema more often than not mixed in with some ‘obvious’ projects (even here he nonetheless tries to get the best script for that terrain), over time he’s landed these massive initials but he’s never started out trying to do this (which is why 3I didn’t have the biggest release imaginable) and even today he’s trying to mix it up (D3 but also Talaash, Hirani is a very interesting director anyway) but all some of the fans can talk about is whether he’s getting to 250 or 300 or whatever. Now the latter is a fair box office debate can be had but it shouldn’t be introduced as Aamir’s only calling card the way say SRK fans once used to do for their favorite star.
I also find it laughable when everyone starts celebrating a film like Barfi and suddenly it’s all about appreciating a meaningful film and having one’s life changed forever and what not! if one really were that kind of audience one wouldn’t be crazily counting crores and positing this as the last word on any film! One can of course like all kinds of films, that’s not what I’m arguing about but let’s not pretend one’s into cinema only for such meaningful efforts!
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September 16, 2012 at 1:54 PM
Agree that most of these films (barring ghajini and 3I) had lots of scope for easy ‘tweaking’
Anyhow -so barfi after a good start (for its genre) shows further growth of sat /sun -hmmm..
Ps:have no qualms in admitting openly — barfi was a better film and I liked it (views above) but I perosonally enjoyed both ETT and cocktail more 🙂
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September 16, 2012 at 3:20 PM
OT Satyam, I’m amazed that among this entire noise abt GoW’s subversion of Masala elements, there has been absolutely no mention of Kaminey which subverted these elements very effectively. I also thought that there is a fine line between paying a lovingly mocking masala and lampooning it- IMO Kaminey did a better job at it. Also found it technically very impressive.Aside i never find u mentioning OUATIM while discussing these new masala films.find it second only to Ghajini (thought Devgn was damn good here)
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September 16, 2012 at 3:45 PM
OUATIM though an enjoyable film was too slight for me to take seriously as masala. It had the elements, Devgan was superb with his gesturality but there wasn’t enough emotional depth to the story. Haven’t seen GoW yet though I have the DVD of part 1 lying around but on Kaminey’s masala retreading I made some points here:
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September 18, 2012 at 9:06 PM
this jumping on ‘good movie doing good business’ bandwagon is an easy way for people who are not really into movies but are into celebrity worshipping (and use openings and gross to decide which celebrity they currently worship, explains all the salman fans coming out of woodwork lately). praising a smaller non-threatening film of a non-rival star in a patronizing way makes them feel all superior while continuing to fight about box-office gross on other threads. and critics do the same because the bar is so low that anything above average seems better than it really is. when something like kahani or barfi does somewhat well, all the commentary actually makes you feel more depressed, makes you realize how bad things are.
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September 19, 2012 at 3:19 PM
^ Wow what an insightful comment anya 🙂
Btw was it u -who gave me the idea of YouTube links on creating different outfits from same tops, belts etc
I passed it on to some female colleagues who were v appreciative-if it was your tip—thanx
Ps: any tips for how to slog with pending paperwork for days nonstop inspite of sleep deprivation etc …plz
Must be familiar for u 🙂
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September 19, 2012 at 8:34 PM
wait until the last minute, then let the fear of missing deadlines and the consequences thereof to flood your system with enough adrenaline to make it past the finish line just in time. that’s the way i have been doing it since my first ever school boards 🙂
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September 20, 2012 at 8:28 AM
Thanx anya — so that means we share the same dictum 🙂
Btw it will be good to have u around for ‘counselling’ in this ‘intensive’ phase of few days lol
The issue is that sometimes plain ‘adrenaline’ ain’t enough!
Ps: how much caffeine aka coffee can one consume daily safely?
Included cappuccino, lattes etc 😉
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September 16, 2012 at 10:08 AM
Rangan appears to have liked it a lot:
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September 16, 2012 at 4:58 PM
YUP, Rangan gives an enthusiastic approval.
Interested to know if Satyam, GF,Q or Ami has seen and if so, what are the viws.
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September 16, 2012 at 5:04 PM
Haven’t seen it yet.. planned to yesterday but wasn’t able to..
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September 16, 2012 at 5:04 PM
Arre aap bhi dekh sakte hain aur apne vichaar prakat kar sakte hain!
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September 17, 2012 at 10:26 AM
Re.-Arre aap bhi dekh sakte hain aur apne vichaar prakat kar sakte hain!
Munna Bhai- Kyon itnee sweet, innocent movie ka review Pantybhasha mein padhna chatey ho ??/ LOL
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September 17, 2012 at 12:20 PM
haha..It seems you have seen it?
we use to own a Murphy radio for the longest time (Actually Dad got it in marriage). I started listening to cricket commentary on it. Later its tuner got bad but I use to open it and do the manual tuning.
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September 17, 2012 at 12:31 PM
Ya we had a Murphy Radio as well…lekin power hee nahee aati thee issliye battery operated Transisters ( Philips) were used more…Just the other day was talking to friends- we have studied on Takhtee- Dawaat, ate 5 paise wale churan kee golee, eaten 20-25 mangoes at a time at the Mango ka baagh , ssala aajkal key bachcho I-pad sey kum toh baa hee nahee kartey ..loo
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September 17, 2012 at 12:43 PM
That is true. But then I think problems is there is no concept of “Mohalle ke bacche”. If kids have time (after study) then kids don’t know what to do and easy route is Ipad or other electronic gadgets from parents (I am also guilty of that). My seven year old daughter plays “words with friends” and facetime with Nana-Naani in India on Ipad which is good. But then she wataches her jake and the neverland pirates and other kids shows from netflix on it instead of playing.
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September 17, 2012 at 12:59 PM
True , but problem is when you have gatherings the older kids are all on thier phones playing games/ watching videos etc. and not interacting as much..
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September 17, 2012 at 4:41 AM
Saw it yesterday. In a word, delightful.
I think the film moves at a slow pace but there is a cheerful, charming moment around at every corner. Really wonderful performances from the whole cast.
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September 17, 2012 at 12:06 PM
Haven’t seen it yet. Plan to do so, hopefully this week…
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September 17, 2012 at 1:10 AM
Barfi! Has Excellent Weekend
Monday 17th September 2011 10.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Barfi had an excellent weekend of around 34 crore nett as per early estimates. The film opened very well at multiplexes on Friday and the multiplexes which opened lower jumped huge either on Saturday and Sunday. By Sunday the film was doing well all over apart a from a few single screen dominated areas.
The film was released on around 1300 screens on 700 theatres and these collections are phenomenal for such a release. The occupancies were huge at multiplexes with houses running at capacity or near capacity. Other big openers are being released on 2500 screens nowadays with likes of Ek Tha Tiger even going close to 3500 screens.
The trending on the weekend suggests it will hold up very well on Monday as multiplexes will see very strong collections. The weekend has emerged the biggest for a Ranbir Kapoor starrer edging out the multi-starrer Raajneeti which collected in the 33 crore nett range.
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September 17, 2012 at 8:42 AM
Midweek: ‘Barfi’ & ‘Raaz 3’, back-to-back hits!
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September 17, 2012 at 3:25 AM
‘The Dark Knight Rises’ now ranks ninth on the all-time worldwide chart with $1.057 billion
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/
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September 17, 2012 at 12:52 PM
Asli Stunt and Action : Breathless
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September 17, 2012 at 1:02 PM
It came like Salman Khan for a photo shoot 🙂
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September 17, 2012 at 1:12 PM
😀
Oops! I missed to insert ‘ Tiger’ word
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September 17, 2012 at 2:03 PM
‘The Master’ smashes box-office records; latest ‘Resident Evil’ film opens at No. 1
By Associated Press, Published: September 16
LOS ANGELES — Paul Thomas Anderson’s cult drama “The Master” commanded a huge following in its opening weekend, smashing records on just a handful of screens.
The Weinstein Co. release made $729,745 in five theaters in New York and Los Angeles for a record-setting per-screen average of $145,949, according to Sunday studio estimates. The hugely anticipated film, which just won several of the top awards at the Venice Film Festival and will open in more cities in upcoming weeks, stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a charismatic cult leader and Joaquin Phoenix as his wayward protege.
The No. 1 film at the box office was “Resident Evil: Retribution,” which took in an estimated $21.1 million in its debut. This is the fifth film in the Sony Screen Gems action franchise, starring Milla Jovovich.
That topped the 3-D re-release of the Disney Pixar animated favorite “Finding Nemo,” which opened in second place with $17.5 million.
The 3-D “Resident Evil: Retribution” was directed by Jovovich’s husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, who has made three of the five films. It features the actress once again as the warrior Alice, the last hope for the human race as an evil corporation unleashes a deadly virus that creates more flesh-eating undead on a worldwide scale. And fittingly, the film performed even better internationally, where it made a healthy $50 million.
“You have to give so much credit for that to Milla,” said Rory Bruer, Sony’s head of distribution. “She’s such an incredible star and absolutely just works so hard in every country. Whether it’s Russia or Japan, everywhere she’s gone, she’s worked so hard in regards to making the franchise a success.”
The re-do of “Finding Nemo” follows in a recent tradition of Disney converting its classic animated movies into 3-D for a whole new audience. The 2003 underwater comedy about a tiny, lost fish named Nemo, featuring the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres and Willem Dafoe, won the Academy Award for best animated feature.
Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com, said the No. 1-opening for the latest “Resident Evil” movie came as a bit of a surprise. He figured “Finding Nemo” would come out on top, given the track record of the Pixar brand and the strong opening a year ago of Disney’s “The Lion King” in 3-D, which debuted at No. 1 with $30.1 million.
“The Screen Gems label, they know how to create a profit-making franchise,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s become so important if you have a star who resonates in the international marketplace — you can have a real winner worldwide.”
Last week’s No. 1 movie, the Lionsgate exorcism thriller “The Possession,” fell to third place with an estimated $5.8 million. It’s now made about $41.2 million over the past three weeks.
Among the other new movies this weekend, “Arbitrage” opened in 12th place in limited release with nearly $2.1 million. Richard Gere stars as a hedge-fund billionaire juggling scandals that could destroy him personally and professionally.
The huge opening for “The Master” beats the per-screen-average record for a live-action feature debut set earlier this year by Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom,” which made $522,996 when it opened on four screens in May for an average of $130,749.
Asked who the audience was for “The Master,” Weinstein Co. president of theatrical distribution Erik Lomis said: “We didn’t do exit polls but from eyeballing the ArcLight (Cinemas), everyone in Los Angeles showed up.”
Part of the allure was the rare opportunity to see the film projected in lush 70mm, which was possible at four of the five locations where it was playing. Expertly paced trailers released over the past few months revealed nothing, and unannounced screenings in select cities created more buzz. And some of the film’s mystique may have come from its parallels to the origins of the secretive Church of Scientology. Anderson has said the church’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, provided inspiration for Hoffman’s character.
“We knew we would do a lot of business but we didn’t think it would be this big,” Lomis said. “We knew from not only the pop-up screenings and the guerrilla marketing PTA does but also from the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto (International) Film Festival that we had something special. But you can never expect these kinds of numbers — it blew the doors off the theaters.”
As Dergarabedian phrased it: “Paul Thomas Anderson, among film buffs and film fans, is a directing god. He’s on Mount Rushmore with Christopher Nolan and some other great filmmakers. When he puts out a movie, it’s a long lead time — we’re forced to wait for a new Paul Thomas Anderson film. ‘There Will Be Blood’ was 2007.
“In the independent world, directors are the stars,” he added. “They draw people to the theater and fill theaters.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Resident Evil: Retribution,” $21.1 million ($50 million international).
2. “Finding Nemo,” $17.5 million.
3. “The Possession,” $5.8 million.
4. “Lawless,” $4.2 million.
5. “ParaNorman,” $3 million.
6. “The Expendables 2,” $3 million ($7.5 million international).
7. “The Words,” $2.88 million.
8. “The Bourne Legacy,” $2.875 million ($9.1 million international).
9. “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” $2.5 million.
10. “The Campaign,” $2.4 million.
___
Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. “Resident Evil: Retribution,” $50 million.
2. “The Bourne Legacy,” $9.1 million.
3. “Masquerade,” $8.3 million.
4. “Ted,” $8.1 million.
5. “The Expendables 2,” $7.5 million.
6. “Prometheus,” $7.1 million.
7. (tie) “Brave,” $6.9 million.
1. “Madagascar 3,” $6.9 million.
2. “The Dark Knight Rises,” $6.4 million.
3. “The Watch,” $4.3 million.
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September 17, 2012 at 2:06 PM
Dark Knight will end up at 445m, could even scrape by to 450.
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September 18, 2012 at 1:11 AM
445-450m in US & 1.1 billion wordlwide would be a terrific final figure for TDKR…7th on all time list…could have done 475-480m had not the Colorado shooting affected initial collections.
“The Master” looks really enticing…can already foresee a serious firefight between Hoffman, Phoenix & Daniel Day Lewis ( Lincoln ) for Best Actor at next year’s Oscars !!!
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September 17, 2012 at 2:07 PM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#EkThaTiger [5th Weekend] Fri 8 lacs, Sat 11 lacs, Sun 20 lacs. Grand total: 198.78 cr nett. All Time Blockbuster.
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September 17, 2012 at 2:07 PM
LOL, Taran will really have to start counting the pennies now to get it to 200!
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September 17, 2012 at 2:08 PM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Barfi Monday trends: Multiplexes of urban centres at par with Sunday morning shows. Fabulous!
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September 17, 2012 at 3:28 PM
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-barfi-20120917,0,1728205.story
Review: ‘Barfi!’ is just too much
Writer-director Anurag Basu’s Bollywood import is long and dizzying. Ranbir Kapoor stars.
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September 17, 2012 at 5:27 PM
Bachchan talks briefly about Barfi in today’s blog.
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September 18, 2012 at 1:14 AM
Kashyap’s tweets today :
@ankash1009
“Finally met Big B after 13 years of silence and angst and sorted everything. Now to make a film with him someday. #dreamcometrue”
“and for the record @SrBachchan didn’t approach me. I did..”
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September 18, 2012 at 1:45 AM
BigB in an Anurag Kashyap film will be something to watch out for !
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September 18, 2012 at 2:19 PM
As a combo deal, maybe he can take in Abhishek too!!!
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September 18, 2012 at 6:42 AM
Flaky…
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September 18, 2012 at 1:13 PM
Satyam Satyam @Satyamk
@ankash1009 Good to hear though your greater problem is with the name ‘Bachchan’! The ‘effects’ of this signature remain unresolved for you.
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September 18, 2012 at 1:27 PM
Satyam @Satyamk
@ankash1009 @SrBachchan nice gesture on your part..
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September 18, 2012 at 1:45 AM
Barfi! Is Excellent On Monday
Tuesday 18th September 2012 11.30 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Barfi! had excellent collections on Monday as it dropped just 25% from Friday. The collections on Monday were around 6.50 crore nett as per early estimates. The collections are only behind Ek Tha Tiger, Rowdy Rathore, Agneepath and Housefull 2 for 2012 on a Monday.
The collections at some centres were better on Monday than Friday. Many centres where the opening was not strong saw better figures on Monday. The multiplexes were just excellent as tickets rates come down 20-25% on Monday and collections saw more or less a similar drop meaning similar footfalls to Friday.
The film has grossed over 40 crore nett in five days and with holiday on some parts of the country on Wednesday, the week should finish around 55 crore nett.
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September 18, 2012 at 6:51 AM
This is heading for a big number!
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September 18, 2012 at 2:32 AM
OT,
Anurag of वासेपुर @ankash1009
Finally met Big B after 13 years of silence and angst and sorted everything. Now to make a film with him someday. #dreamcometrue
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September 18, 2012 at 3:52 AM
Anurag of वासेपुर @ankash1009
and for the record @SrBachchan didn’t approach me. I did..
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September 18, 2012 at 10:46 AM
the chamchas like slob and the bawla sardaar ka kyo hoga ab??
becharey chup- chaap hain…..
Aside- just a few days back Kashyap told the bawla sardaar to shove his opinions up his you know where…..
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September 18, 2012 at 1:59 PM
bawla sardar???? navjot??
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September 18, 2012 at 3:58 AM
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/media/entertainment/entertainment/audience-lap-up-barfi-brand-of-film-making-more-takers-for-flicks-like-vicky-donor-kahaani/articleshow/16441243.cms
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September 18, 2012 at 2:37 PM
Extremely happy with Barfi’s outcome..
after long we have an unconventional hero with a concept thats far from being audience-friendly.. yet a film that’s set to gross huge.. probably more than 100 crores..
Looks set to be Ranbir’s highest grosser
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September 18, 2012 at 4:27 PM
that’s not completely clear yet.. Rajneeti did about 90.. Barfi also has come competition from Heroine this week. Leaving all this aside Barfi would have to double its gross. It certainly seems to have the WOM to do so but few films do this in any circumstance these days. But yeah whether 90 or greater, this would be an enormous triumph for him.
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September 18, 2012 at 4:49 PM
I think that most big-budget films post 3 idiots haven’t enjoyed such positive post-release buzz except Barfi.. Yes there have been a lot of masala moments in the form of Singham and RR and Dabangg etc but that was more of a timepass variety. Films belonging to the other category that had great WOM were ZNMD, Delhi Belly, Kahaani and Vicky Donor but their prospects were limited to multiplexes only rather than on an all-India basis. But here it seems that Barfi has struck a chord everywhere except for a few single-screen dominated areas.. I think this should be huge. with such a response, overtaking ZNMD is given, though I admit it’s awkward in this manner after just a four-day total.
anyways, I dont think Heroine should be such a competition. Think Barfi will hold its own against competition from a Kareena starrer
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September 18, 2012 at 6:03 PM
If HEROINE is no competition to BARFI, will the outcome then be – ‘Ranbir screws Kareena???!!’
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September 18, 2012 at 7:52 PM
Singham though trended very well.. better than every single masala movie other than Ghajini.
Heroine it’s true might just fizzle out. Would be surprised if it got a TDP-like reception.
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September 18, 2012 at 6:51 PM
Don’t think it will reach 90, still excellent business though. That such a film is allowed to exist in thrive in the Salman era (a 2 yr long era) is in itself a cause for cheering. It is definitely better than a houseful type deal what most people agree on. Whether it is something great on it’s own is where opinions might differ.
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September 18, 2012 at 8:17 PM
“That such a film is allowed to exist in thrive in the Salman era (a 2 yr long era) is in itself a cause for cheering.”
LOL, true!
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September 19, 2012 at 12:05 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Raaz3 is holding very well in Week 2: Mon 1.65 cr. Total: 65.95 cr nett. Excellent!
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh
#Barfi Monday *early estimates* 6.3 cr. Total: Rs 40.90 cr nett. Note: Ticket rates are reduced on weekdays at plexes. SUPERB!
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September 19, 2012 at 4:22 AM
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September 19, 2012 at 8:18 AM
Love at second sight
http://dawn.com/2012/09/18/love-at-second-sight/
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September 19, 2012 at 10:10 AM
@amul_mohan
#Barfi : fri – 8.50 cr, sat – 11.50 cr, sun – 14.00 cr, mon – 6.50 cr, tue – 6.00 cr, total 46.50 cr.
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September 19, 2012 at 10:11 AM
@taran_adarsh
#Barfi Fri 9.2 cr, Sat 11.5 cr, Sun 13.9 cr, Mon 6.5 cr, Tue 6 cr. Total: Rs 47.10 cr nett. Fantastic!
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September 19, 2012 at 10:15 AM
At this rate, Barfi could well cross Raaz 3 1st week gross…terrific !!
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September 19, 2012 at 10:18 AM
Not to forget also that Barfi was released with a limited screen count as compared to the recent biggies.
Makers could have very well milked opening week & gone in for a huge release…it could have well ended up with 70-75 cr. 1st week…wise decision in the end !
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September 19, 2012 at 10:30 AM
‘The Dark Knight Rises’ passed ‘Shrek 2’ yesterday to move up to seventh place on the all-time domestic US chart
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm
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September 19, 2012 at 12:44 PM
Interesting piece from ‘Tanqeed’ blog which has set media sites and twitter discussing it 😀
http://tanqeed.com/forum/barfi-scenes-inspiredcopied-from-the-notebook-charlie-chaplin-and-other-movies/
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September 19, 2012 at 11:25 PM
This is truly deplorable. I always knew AB had a pre-disposition toward ripping off..but not to this extent. This is way, way, over and out of ‘inspiration’ territory and right into the heart of plagiarism.
I just wonder how the western critics missed it..from NYT to LAT to washington post…
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September 19, 2012 at 1:31 PM
OT- I have always felt that Asad Rauf shouldn’t be in the Elite Panel (our Hariharan is much more deserving than him)- he couldn’t hear and see a clear inside edge today. Anyway Afghans gave Indians a run for their money today. Zaheer’s and Gambhir’s form is an area of concern. Btw since the pitches expectedly are turning a lot and Yuvraaj bowled beautifully, Dhoni might want to get Harbhajan in inplace of Pathan/Rohit
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September 19, 2012 at 3:33 PM
French ‘untouchable’ to oscars!
Talking of ‘disability’ films–cluzet and sy’s ‘untouchable’ chosen by the french to be sent to the oscars (imp after the artist!)
Have seen bits of it –good.
Also it’s done well globally —
Will Bollywood follow suit with a barfi-esque take ..?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/sep/06/untouchable-french-comedy-disability?intcmp=239
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September 20, 2012 at 12:17 AM
AN JO: : I just wonder how the western critics missed it..from NYT to LAT to washington post…”
THey did NOT miss it. Just that they are alittle smarter, and wiser, and know the difference between blatant plagiarism, and reworking of material from classic sources.
It is not Anurag Basu’s fault if some lids, who , just because they have access to the Net and have a blog of their own, think they know cinema, when thery can’t even differentiate between plagiarism and homage, reinterpretation, inspiration and quotation.
Rangan’s comment puts it well :
” Like I pointed out in my review, “Barfi! looks like it was written after a marathon session of viewing the great silent films, both comedy and drama, after which Basu chain-linked the bits he liked and wove a sketchy story around them. (Sometimes, the inspirations are overtly showcased, like Ranbir Kapoor’s routine with a dummy that recalls Donald O’Connor’s Make ‘em laugh number from Singin’ in the Rain.)”
There’s no doubt (or major revelation) about the fact that bits have been “borrowed” from silent films. About “Koshish,” I guess a plot that’s similar *will* have certain similar elements, like if you feature a blind girl, you most likely will have a scene of her not being able to see something that’s visible to the audience.
To me, a “Namak Haram” (or, in Anurag Basu’s case, “Murder”) is more problematic in this regard because those films are almost entirely reworkings of a whole plot. Unlike something like “Barfi!”, which appropriates things and refashions them in the service of a new plot.
Is the last scene from “Michael Madana Kamarajan” inspired by “Gold Rush”? Yes. But is “Michael Madana Kamarajan” inspired by “Gold Rush”? NO!
There’s a difference. It’s like the link that Vashisht Das points out above. I can definitely see the similarity, but there’s not enough to claim that it’s either a “tribute” to Mani Ratnam or a “ripoff” from “Thiruda Thiruda.” Or what Avik Pramanik says about “Apur Sansar.”
I’ve discussed this in these posts here:
In this post, I talk about a very interesting quote in this regard by Krzysztof Kieślowski. There’s also one by Tarantino.
In this post, I talk about how “ot all inspirations are alike and plagiarism (very, very different from inspiration) needs to be punished, but we may enjoy our movies more if we focus on achievement instead of antecedent. If that’s good enough for Godard, maybe it ought to be good enough for the rest of us”
And in this somewhat tangential post, I talked about how “Namak Haram” was “reworked” from “Becket.”
As always, the comments in these posts are very rewarding.
And regarding the music, if riffs are enough to posit a claim of “plagiarism,” then no composer is completely original. Speaking of music, here’s how Bob Dylan responds to charges of plagiarism against him: “quotation is a rich and enriching tradition.” The article is here.
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September 20, 2012 at 2:31 AM
LOL..
Its not reworking of some scenes but hell lot of scenes. It seems no scene is original …
Critics are not wiser but fools and have to hold their positions, Ego plays big part and I respect rangan but that doesn’t mean What rangan says is gospel and May be he has missed it.
I m sometimes Surprised, You go on quoting spree to prove your point and quote rangan and when same rangan differs with you then you say He didn’t got it… So this selective quoting is dangerous just to satisfy one’s ego…
NO critics wants to eat Crow so they will still defend it.
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September 20, 2012 at 2:46 AM
Bliss: Obviously when I feel he didn’t get it, I say he didn’t get it. And when I feel he got it, I say he got it. As you can see That is the difference between using your brains to form your own opinion versus treating someone’s words as the Gospel Truth or the Devil’s Scriptures.
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September 20, 2012 at 3:09 AM
I dont Quote anyone just to prove my point or satisfy my Ego, neither is something Gospel nor devil’s scripture. I see things as they are and Trust it, I don’t need rangan or anyone else to prove my point.
So you dont quote if he is right, you quote because it proves your point. so you can also be wrong…
To form opinion on Barfi one has to just go through that post and no rangan can save it. Its simply unashamed copy/plagiarism of not few scenes but whole movie itself.
Re : That is the difference between using your brains to form your own opinion
Using one brains is not to quote selectively, that’s called manipulative brain 😀
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September 20, 2012 at 3:53 AM
Bliss: I quote someone when someone expresses what I want to express in a more concise and articulate fashion. Not to prove a point.
“Its simply unashamed copy/plagiarism of not few scenes but whole movie itself.”
And you are the only one who recognized it? The critics of LA and NYT whose exposure to world cinema should not be insignificant could the spot this aspect, is it?
I haven’t seen the film yet. But I kind of find it hard to believe.
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September 20, 2012 at 4:03 AM
Utkal SIr, you are completely right here (not sure if Bliss has tried to understand what u are saying here… I am not sure what is the need of her attacking you everytime since she otherwise comes across a very sensible Laidy)… while some scenes have an overt resemblance to other films even after amalgamating them, Barfi has become a completely new product- whoever has seen Notebook or Koshish can say that Barfi is not either of them. As far as bgm is concerned, this might be true since Pritam is at helm here.
And hell there are so many films lncluding Sarkar which have scenes identical to Godfather (including Rajneeti) but they are completely new works. Sholey has borrowed liberally (including lifting of scenes from the iconic Leone westerns, yet no one confuses it with being a copy of any film (btw here too the bg score resembled the one composed by Ennio Morecone). The thing is there is a huge difference between a copy and plagiarism. Matrix borrowed a lot (the ideas, story threads, even the landscape features and colour palette) from Dark City- was that a copy too?!
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September 20, 2012 at 5:28 AM
Saurabh :
I dont attack and it was not attack. I just posted a blog and that blog speaks for itself. and Why do you think its attack ???
Just LA and NYT or some other western didn’t find it or missed it doesnt mean it can’t be like that.. This is absurd logic. One doesn’t believe what one sees but belives only what few western critics say or have to say. can’t they be wrong or they did miss it ??? That’s point. and Why you take everything as Attack.. coin has other side also.
One holds some position and than does everything to hold it. i have no problem but that doesn’t mean the position you hold is true and right.
Utkal dismisses everyone who doesnt agree with him, that seems no attcak in your eyes, eg
Utkal quote ” It is not Anurag Basu’s fault if some lids, who , just because they have access to the Net and have a blog of their own, think they know cinema, when thery can’t even differentiate between plagiarism and homage, reinterpretation, inspiration and quotation.” So it means Utkla only know everything and rest all on blog are Kids 😀
Its better to read clearly before coming to wrong conclusions, Saurabh
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September 20, 2012 at 6:02 AM
Bliss Ma’am, Firstly the problem I have here is that you (and some others too) have been trying to mock Utkal Sir for quite some time (i noticed it on another thread too sometime back- as I said before I find this baffling bcos I have always seen u talk in a genuine, respectable manner). Now he is a gentleman so he refuses to give it back in kind. And sometimes for a change there is no harm in accepting that someone may know more about some stuff than u and me
Secondly he may not have seen the film but I have so I hope u wouldn’t dismiss my opinions abt the film (regarding the plagiarism charge) too in the same manner. Also let others like Tony and Munna Sir etc (who have seen the film) too speak about it
” It is not Anurag Basu’s fault if some lids, who , just because they have access to the Net and have a blog of their own, think they know cinema, when thery can’t even differentiate between plagiarism and homage, reinterpretation, inspiration and quotation.”- Actually I don’t think Utkal Sir meant that he knew more than quite a few other kiddo bloggers but even if he did, it wouldn’t be far from the truth though it wouldn’t win him many admirers.
On the plagiarism part, I have already mentioned with quite a few examples that copying and inspiration aren’t one and the same thing. But in any case I am ready to accept that barfi is a copy provided u accept that Sholey and Matrix and Sarkar and Bluffmaster too are blatant copies. A rip-off is what Sanjay Gupta does, what Mahesh Bhatt did ‘at times’- the best example here is The Killer and Knock Out (Phonebooth)- now I am not denying the resemblance between Barfi and the other films and I also agree some marks can be deduced from Barfi’s scoresheet for being derivative of such films but such treatment should also be then meted out to Matrix, Sholey, Bluffmaster (here the entire climax and so many story threads were taken from so many films)- some time I did have a debate over this with Satyam and GF too where I mentioned BM’s inspirations
Also the central line of Barfi is completely different from Notebook and Koshish. Also one needs to know there is no harm in one’s work being influenced from other films around the world till it tries to say something ‘new’- actually it’s almost impossible for a film not to be influenced/inspired from any other film- now ofcourse there are brownie points for being ‘original’
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September 20, 2012 at 6:18 AM
Here is the famous scene from SHolay which is directly lifted from Once Upon A Time IN The West- both of them have been compared in this video
Apart from this as far as I know the famous train robbery sequence in SHolay is also taken from WIld Bunch
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September 20, 2012 at 9:46 AM
Saurabh :
I dont mock ppl( some one not agrreing with you or majority doesnt means mock, its easy way to hold hlier than thou attitude), I have trouble with hyperbole’s and I do register my protest. I protest when someone is dismissive and quotes western writers( as it hpnd on rahman thread) as if they are gospel. It can be said other way around also that His hyperbole’s mocks us 🙂 … I dont Dismiss something entirley even though i may disgree. Even negativity has some postivity to it 🙂
( just for sake of argument) You being a Amitabh fan and someone comes and says Salman is bigger than Amitabh now, why than you get provoked ?? hyperbole and dismissive attitude is not right. see things, read both sides and than one can have opinion, right or wrong, but one should not dismiss other opinion as entirely wrong. Opinions are just Opinions not Universal truths and everybody has it.
Let you show me one sentence where I mocked him and i show you his dismissive stmnts and throwing western critics as Gospel…
Ps: Just call me Bliss, no madam or sir 🙂
Having more knowledge doesn’t mean having Right knowledge.
Let’s stop here.
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September 20, 2012 at 5:33 AM
Utkal : And you are the only one who recognized it? The critics of LA and NYT whose exposure to world cinema should not be insignificant could the spot this aspect, is it?
I haven’t seen the film yet. But I kind of find it hard to believe.
I alone didn’t recognise it its there on Blog. you have not seen movie and you believe critics but not what’s before one’s eyes, Lol that’s called Blind faith and fanaticism ( sorry to use that word) 😦
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September 20, 2012 at 4:44 AM
Yes, Saurabh, Shlay is agod example, where not only crucial scenes , gags and musical pieces are borriwed , even the basic story isa reworking of the Seven Samurai. In fact my guess is: Sholay has more resemblance to Seven Samurai than Barfi to any film it has borrowed from.
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September 20, 2012 at 8:06 AM
The point is that Basu in an interview said his movie was original whereas movies like Sarkar and Sholay acknowledge that they are inspired from Godfather and Seven Samurai.
From Filmigirl:
Let me first bring you an extract from an interview with writer/director Anurag Basu:
“How difficult was it to bring in the fantasy-fun element in a subject so serious and thoughtful?
“I’ve to confess it was a lonely journey. I had no reference points. It was like entering a dark tunnel. I just pushed through. While shooting we had lots of fun. Aur film banti gayi. Yes, it took me 10 days to get a hang of the subject since it is a completely new genre. We even re-shot the initial portions.”
So the man had no reference points? Interesting… considering this delightful post from Tanqeed picking apart all the scenes copied directly from Hollywood films.
http://filmigirl.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-few-thoughts-on-barfi-plagiarism.html
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September 20, 2012 at 8:24 AM
Barfi-The herd mentaility -from adulation to blood bath!
Think that this has been a real disclosure about the number of inspirations/plagiarism employed in barfi.
Missed me initially and seems missed most!
Enjoy (& luv) filmigirls posts and see her point here 🙂
As for this new trend to discredit basu –let’s stop though…
Forget about inspirations etc
People haven’t been able o make a good coherent film from ‘direct scene to scene lifts!!’ in many occasions !
@ least basu has come up with a good narrative / flow etc
I’ve had numerous issues with it myself (& to prove my point-my thoughts –)
But let’s not climb onto poor cancer (& kites) survivor anurag basu!
His movie is still much better than mot of the stuff being dished out from Bollywood
It’s interesting to see how folks turn from extreme adulation (check out the barfi posts on fri/sat to the baying of basu blood now suddenly!)
There’s this herd mentality on view here and in media in general!
Someone needs to get their perspective right from time to time 😉
If not for anything else- basu deserves credit for a nice flowing charming film and for introducing ileana da cruz!
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September 20, 2012 at 12:09 PM
Utkal and Saurabh:
I really do not understand why suddenly this over-protectionism toward Basu. Nobody — at least on this blog — is criticizing Basu’s ability to hold an audience through his movie. BARFI is a good film that holds you. The question is the ‘way’ scenes from other movies have been used and still the director says ‘I had no reference point.?
http://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-interview-with–anurag-basu/20120918.htm
BARFI as a whole is not a plagiarized movie. But almost ALL the gags are taken from other films. Basu could not present a SINGLE gag on his own? I am very poor with musical analysis – but I remember Utkal pointing out in his assessment somewhere the ladder scene and how the music changes when he is see-sawing on the ladder to when he is slipping down the ladder. Look at the Buster Keaton scene; the same change in musical tone is there!! I mean, ‘inspiration’ to such an extent? It is fine..but at least acknowledge..that’s all people are asking I guess.
RGV opens SARKAR with the claim that his movie would not have been made if GODFATHER had not been made by Coppola. Mahesh Bhatt openly says he has copied and ‘he’ sees no wrong in lifting themes/ideas lock, stock, and barrel.
I agree SHOLAY would never have been possible if the westerns weren’t made. And RAMESH SIPPY has made it clear I think that SHOLAY is indeed a ‘curry’ western! He didn’t claim he had no ‘reference’ points!!
BLUFFMASTER has similarities to MATCHSTICK MEN. If Rohan Sippy denies it, screw him. If BHANSALI says BLACK didn’t have anything to do with THE MIRACLE WORKER, screw him. I don’t support such ‘visionaries.’
And I don’t say there is anything wrong with BARFI having some inspirations from SADMA and KOSHISH. It is fine; because BASU here has not really cut, copied, and pasted.
But really, so many scenes? Just make a count!! Almost all the ones that made us LOL are taken from somewhere? (I pray to God someone doesn’t find RANBIR showing off his hairy legs to the guy on the truck is taken from some movie!!)
About Utkal’s tall claims of the western critics being smarter..well, they may be, but when it comes to reviewing (I read Manhola Dargis and AO Scott’s review of non-Bollywood movies regularly
) Bollywood movies, they act like they are viewing a movie from MARS. I remember a critic from NYT (not Saltz) wrote in a review of KJO movie how the leads in the movie manage to get travel visas so regularly that keep hopping across Budapest and the Alps and NYC and London to sing and dance!!! They definitely might have more knowledge than us mortal folks, but they are surely not the holy grail!
So just because ABasu is accused of plagiarizing, does it mean now we have to pull in line all film directors from 1913 onwards and bombast them? Can’t we assess them on the relative merits? A Basu has a way with depicting man-woman relationships in movies. Inf act, he is very, very good at that. But does it wash-off his other sins?
When I wrote my review, I could only see Chaplin, Mr. Bean’s, and Jackie Chan’s ‘shadow’ hanging; however, since I am not so internet ‘savvy’ I could not dig in and find similarities the way the TANQEED post did. And so expressed my shock seeing so many ‘memorable’ scenes being direct lifts. Fareed Zakaria is not even a Ranji cricket player compared to this!!
Wonder what the APA (American Psychological Association) has to say to the ‘number’ of scenes that can be lifted..they will have to revise their FIVE WORD RULE if they want to apply it to the movies..
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September 20, 2012 at 12:38 PM
Now this is an honest and sensible criticism An but if u notice Tanqeed and other bloggers are not saying the same thing as u. But if u notice I already said that marks should be deducted from Barfi’s scoresheet for lifting scenes- and no I am not saying that Basu is some visionary who can never copy stuff- he ripped-off Unfaithful in Murder and Firefly in Saaya. But Barfi’s ‘major storyline’ is not a copy at all and this is what is important and my major arguement is based on this
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September 20, 2012 at 10:09 AM
I am ready to accept that Barfi has been plagiarized provided the guy saying this also accepts that he/she is a dickhead! BTW Rohan Sippy should also be charged with plagiarism since in BM he not only took scenes from films but also major story threads. And by the same standards RD Barman should be the biggest copy-cat in the world, even bigger than Pritam.
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September 20, 2012 at 10:39 AM
why left Rahman 🙂
Its just not fighting idea with idea 🙂
RD is not God, he is also human, imperfect and with limitations. There are no holy cows in this world.
Anyways, let us stop and remember Satyam’s diktat ; no out of the context stuff.
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September 20, 2012 at 10:12 AM
^^ agreed–good points –on barfi, and also for bluff (sippy) master and rd burman…
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September 20, 2012 at 10:41 AM
AA, you go in selective amnesia??? 🙂 when rockstar posted rahman plagiarising some old song, you didn’t commented there 🙂
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September 20, 2012 at 10:47 AM
There’s NOBODY who has never ‘plagiarised’ or got ‘inspired’ from a technical sense of the word!!!
It’s the extent and frequency that matters!
And foremost — the end ‘result’ outcome….
And that’s applicable to everyone including to Rahman …
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September 20, 2012 at 10:56 AM
I remember Alex once putting up a link which clearly showed how Rahman had only taken a ‘part of a tune’ whereas Burman had copied entire compositions- but let’s leave Burman guys, his apparent ‘step-father’ (SD) is still there to trouble him. Devil help some RD fans who think he was a genius started composing stuff when he was an embryo just like some who think that an opinion like ‘Barfi is a copy of Notebook’. And if Devil doesn’t help them i am there to lobotomise such folks
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September 20, 2012 at 11:06 AM
It was wrong to get in discussion with you, it was not my fault but you poked in. when one has no ideas put forward but to go from barfi to rd burman to lobotomise. Thats is what i call ppl getting dismissive when they are lost 🙂
You can say this to yourself also, remember when you point one finger, 3 are pointing towards you :
“And if Devil doesn’t help them i am there to lobotomise such folks”
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September 20, 2012 at 11:19 AM
That lobotomise line wasn’t meant for u at all- i was pissed with those folks who have been putting unfair charges on Barfii and badmouthing it on the net. Sorry if u took it that way (in any case u have been mostly cordial with me so i would never utter such stuff abt u). On not wanting to interact with me, u can continue to do whatever u think is right. On not having any ideas, i think i have already given u examples as well videos but u can choose to believe those wannabe blowhards
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September 20, 2012 at 11:30 AM
According to India a jump in collections of Barfi on Wed ( a holiday in some parts of the country).
Trending is really good so far.
Saw it on Mon and found it to be delightful.
Excellent performances. Ranbir is superb but I expected it.
Priyanka is the surprise package here. Went in not expecting to like her but have to say IMO, this is a fabulous performance.
Ileana is good but gets the short stick in the second half.Wouldnt mind seeing more of her in Bollywood films at all.
One gripe is the choppy narrative in the second half. Drags a little bit in the post interval phase but as the Ranbir-priyanka storyline develops, it again picks up. But, the constant back and forth between flash back and the preent gets a little annoying and confusing.
I am sure there are quite a few scenes that are inspired/copied but when the end product is so pleasing, who gives a damn.
There is a concerted movement to discredit Barfi that I can see on various blogs – some from people who always like to find faults and seem to be unable to be happy for anyone, some who prefer others to Ranbir, some who just like to be contrarians and have to try and discredit any critically acclaimed film. There is a whole army of people who like to criticise Black thinking it makes them look smart or nuanced when actually they just come across as dumbfu$#s without an iota of sense or taste.
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September 20, 2012 at 11:39 AM
But then some people should not diss movies like Life in a Metro , Kites or ETT or RNBDJ either as either copied or crass..you like Barfi so you want to defend it but who gives a right to tell the people who likes Metro/or ETT or RNBDJ that nahee nahee- tumhe kya pata achchi pictue kya hotee hai……TUm woh dekho jo humen achchi lagtee hai……everything is subjective….
Aside- who the Fu.K likes movie like OSO, Boduguard, Kambakht Ishq, Salaame E Ishq , (new) Agneepath and Dhobhi Ghaat anyways…………
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September 20, 2012 at 11:53 AM
Aap to chingari mili nahi, dehak gaye 🙂
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September 20, 2012 at 12:00 PM
ab kya karey Munna…yeh zamana hee aisa hai…
My sister loved the movie in Pune, she said she will watch it again to clear some pints coz it was bbit confusing for her..
she goes- ab tum log naye zamane ko ho toh phataak sey samajh jaatey ho, humne thodsa time lagta hai..kyon kee flash back mein flashback tha na….LOL
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September 20, 2012 at 12:09 PM
haha..I thought it was presented well. Hum internet par kuch bhi bolein, our opinion doesn’t constitute 0.00001% of the population. If they were listening to us then ETTs, Rowdies won’t be doing such a great business.
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September 20, 2012 at 12:13 PM
True and TBH it should count but only to the 0.00001% extent..too often we start thinking we know all….
Aside- Kejriwal will also find this bitter truth soon enough…Internet support is not sufficient..Anna did well to distance himself from him…
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September 20, 2012 at 12:17 PM
I will support him but I don’t think he will get far. It is a muky world out there and people memories are fleeting.
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September 20, 2012 at 12:24 PM
I too appreciate his selfless devotion to the cause but I think going political is the wrong move specially when he stands no channce of winning more than 1-2 seats.. and then you loose the moral highground to protest………
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September 20, 2012 at 12:02 PM
LOL,Rocky at your response.
There is some truth to what you say.
All opinions are ofcourse subjective. Except mine!
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September 20, 2012 at 12:10 PM
LOL..I think the most Objective (Non subjective) members on this blog are Satyam and OldisGold…LOL
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September 20, 2012 at 12:13 PM
I think OG would pip Satyam by a mile when it comes to being objective!
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September 20, 2012 at 12:16 PM
Someone poated a 4 word review of Barfi on my FB-
Mute Husband- Mad Wife !!
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September 20, 2012 at 12:33 PM
Mute husband- mad wife….
Yaane ghar ghar ki kahani! LOL!
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September 20, 2012 at 11:50 AM
Before I found that many scenes were copied, I thought it was the best movies of the year. Even with many scenes copied from different movies, I think it has a very cogent screenplay and main story line is not pilfered. I didn’t mind constant to and fro between different timelines.
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September 20, 2012 at 11:31 AM
Sorry according to BOI.
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September 20, 2012 at 11:40 AM
Bliss…shaant lady bheem shaanti…………
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September 20, 2012 at 12:32 PM
I have been so fed up by some senseless activity on the blog lately
that it is a treat to see Munna,Rocky and NYKavi being active here today.
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September 20, 2012 at 12:35 PM
Ha ha ….SRK kee movie aa rahee hai auy hum active na ho……aisa ho nahee sakta- Jab tak Hai Jaan !!!! LOL
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September 20, 2012 at 1:25 PM
An Jo: When I say Western critics being smart, I only was referring to their ability to spot the rip offs from Hollywood and European movies. It is quite unlikely that they cannot spot the sources. And if they don’t mention it , it means it is in line with what is known as homage and inspiration.
Otherwise I dot give a whit about western critics writing about mainstream Bollywood films. They don’t understand the language at all. It would be like reading the critique of a Bharatnatyam performance by a ballet crtic. They may get a few things right, and a few things wrong. But the point is I wont refer to such a review for any kind of guidance or elucidation.
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September 20, 2012 at 4:39 PM
Just Back from Barfi and must say I loved it. There were times after the first twenty minutes or so when I was feeling a little listless saying to myself Gangs of Wasseypur was so much more fun , but the film pulled itself up quickly enough and delivered a charming fairy tale that warms the cockles of your heart and moistens your eyes. I don’t know who but he said, “ film sare meant to take you on an emotional expedition’ and this one surely takes you to places you haven’t been in Hindi film recently.
Just like in Gangs of Wasseypur, what I loved most was the stylistic adventure. Whoever thought one could use “ Teri Meherbaniya’ during a funeral procession nad make it sound perfectly natural, is what I wondered while watching GOW. Here I was wondering, who in today’s time would think of using ful-blown slapstick gags in a heart-touching love story involving two differently able protagonists? But Anurag does and he manages to pull it off magnificently.
As I had mentioned sometime back, Indian films are so bad in physical comedy in general because we do not have that tradition, unlike the Chinese. That is why I was so impressed with Ranbir’s act in Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Khnai and many sequences of ‘ Eega’. Now this one goes a step further as it manages to integrate the slapstick into a serious telling quite seamlessly.
And some of the gags are truly inventive. Take the the scene where he races ahead of the police man on the track on tht raileay sled. When he starts using the rod as an oar the gag goes to another level. I also like the way Ranbir plays these gags without appearing like a clown or buffoon unlike how Kamal Hassan does in his films. Nothing wrong with the way Kamal plays his roles,. But this is a welcome change. And it has Ranbir’s own stamp. And there isn’t another actor on the horizon who can match him in physical comedy of this kind.
For the record, I did not feel the weight of what it had borrowed from where at all. I mean one can say Tom and Jerry borrows from Silent films or that Mr Bean borrows from Charlie Chaplin. Actually the onle scene that reminded ME of a sequence from another film was the sequence of Barfi throwing his shoe up in the air to announce his presence to Jhilmil. It is quite possibly inspired from Adoor Goplakrishnan’s Mathulikal where the woman prisoner chucks rose twig in the air to announce her presence to the Mammoty character on the other side of the wall. What a wonderful appropriation of the idea and usage in the film!
In fact if all the sources from which the film has borrowed as some have pointed out are true ( I am not that prolific a film viewer), the achievement of Anurag is even more commendable. Because the film looks remarkably seamless and one of a piece without any disjointedness or awkward feel. It also does not remind one of any particular film. It is like a collage. Only that Anurag has lifted a collage to the level of a master artwork .
Two things work so well apart from the performance by Ranbir. One is the performance by Priyanak. If Ranbir’s performance gives the film its body, Priyanka’s gives it its soul. Together they manage to present an ideal of love that is easy to buy into. The scene where Ileana is rummaging through Jhilmil’s belongings, mostly knickknacks, and Ranbir snatches them away from her protectively, making Ileana that Barfi now loves only Jhllmil, embodies that so palpably. The other is the pacing and jumps between timelines.
I think without the deliberate slow pacing at times the ruminations on love that the director wants you to have won’t be possible. And the same goes for the back and forthing of the timeline. In Brectian terms it could be acled a device of alienation. Without it we would just be hurtling along to the finish of the story. And to me a film is selling itself short if it is just a story. In its present format it expands itself to something atht lingers on , something that stays with you.
And yes, I loved the songs and the lyrics. Someone like Bhansali who claims to make operatic films should learn how to get good, meaningful songs written and how to use them in films. ( take a bow Swnand Kirkire, Neelesh Mishra and Syed Qadri) ) . The pick of the lot after seeing the film is ‘ Itni si Khushi” which has a distinct Sali Chaudhury flavour.
And the final shot with the musicians under the tree…Anurag and Pritam got it right this time after the contrived attempt in Life In A Metro.
Oh sorry, one last thing. It was a masterly touch.. that dance sequence with its masks and coloured lights ( Is it Seraikella Chhau?). It really gives the film a final high and a splendid transcendence.
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September 20, 2012 at 4:52 PM
Good stuff,Utkal. Agree almost entirely except the back and forth between timelines which I found a little dizzying .
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