I had been looking forward to watch Barfi! and I finally did last night. As endorsed by everyone, the movie is lovely but it was one of my worst movie-watching experiences.
The row behind ours was occupied by a rather noisy family of about 8; they were more but the ladies were seated right behind us. Add to that a 3-year-old child who was least interested in the film. The troupe arrived a good ten minutes after the show had started, so they spent some time in expressing their disappointment about being late. Following that, they settled down, but they were still discussing about how a certain Gurpreet had still not reached despite starting much before they had.
Soon enough Gurpreet arrived and took her seat and then there was the mandatory round of "kahaan thi, kya hua, itni der kyun lagi" and so on. By this time, Gurpreet must have been hungry, so they pulled out their popcorn. And then some packs of wafers were heard being pulled apart. And then someone forgot to bring the juice along, so some scolding and consoling happened.
My friend and I had begun to look behind trying to silence them with the turning around itself, but to no avail. They were all looking at one of them who had received a call and was telling the caller how she was right about the movie being very good. I could take it no more, and under my definition of politeness asked them if they could do their talking during the interval. "Aap aage dekhiye na" was what I got in return! The lady who sat right behind me took it personally I guess, she kicked the back of my seat through the rest of the screening.
Three-year-old Sonu had to make his humble contribution to this cacophony. He was already running up and down the stairs as though he'd just discovered them. Seeing that my group was shushed by his brave mummy, his leash had been stretched a little longer. He stood behind me and felt my hair whilst gushing, "Kinne mast baal hain, mama!" His mama didn't say a word, and Sonu took the next step - he started pulling my hair. Yes, pulling. But looking behind and giving him a stare was useless; mama had forgotten Sonu because it was more important for her to distribute the next round of snacks. Honestly, I was more interested on focussing on the movie than shutting the crowd up. I ignored the chatter after a while and believed that at some point they would too. Thankfully, they did.
There were many scenes in the film that had the audience in splits. I was in a single-screen theatre, so I could even hear the whistles and claps during key scenes. Of course, my friendly Punjabi family gushed over Ranbir as 'sona munda' even when there was no Ranbir on the screen. However, I couldn't help but think if something was wrong with me - I didn't find myself laughing my head off. Indeed some portions in the film are sweet and you will catch yourself smiling... you might also tear up through it - I did, I admit! But none of Ranbir's Chaplinesque antics were funny to my head. Have I forgotten how to laugh... or have I outgrown slapstick humour?
I am very sensitive to the topic of special children and I was hoping I don't burst into tears whenever they showed Priyanka's or Ranbir's helplessness or ignorance or unawareness. A spoiler maybe, but the rolling credits have an entire sequence on special children and I just could not watch it.
All in all Barfi! is a beautiful film although it has some glaring flaws. Do watch it if you haven't already - Ranbir, Ileana, Priyanka, Saurab Shukla, Rupa Ganguly and every other actor with even the shortest of screen time are so impressive. And if your hands aren't full with the imagery and performances, you have the music as an added takeaway!
The row behind ours was occupied by a rather noisy family of about 8; they were more but the ladies were seated right behind us. Add to that a 3-year-old child who was least interested in the film. The troupe arrived a good ten minutes after the show had started, so they spent some time in expressing their disappointment about being late. Following that, they settled down, but they were still discussing about how a certain Gurpreet had still not reached despite starting much before they had.
Soon enough Gurpreet arrived and took her seat and then there was the mandatory round of "kahaan thi, kya hua, itni der kyun lagi" and so on. By this time, Gurpreet must have been hungry, so they pulled out their popcorn. And then some packs of wafers were heard being pulled apart. And then someone forgot to bring the juice along, so some scolding and consoling happened.
My friend and I had begun to look behind trying to silence them with the turning around itself, but to no avail. They were all looking at one of them who had received a call and was telling the caller how she was right about the movie being very good. I could take it no more, and under my definition of politeness asked them if they could do their talking during the interval. "Aap aage dekhiye na" was what I got in return! The lady who sat right behind me took it personally I guess, she kicked the back of my seat through the rest of the screening.
Three-year-old Sonu had to make his humble contribution to this cacophony. He was already running up and down the stairs as though he'd just discovered them. Seeing that my group was shushed by his brave mummy, his leash had been stretched a little longer. He stood behind me and felt my hair whilst gushing, "Kinne mast baal hain, mama!" His mama didn't say a word, and Sonu took the next step - he started pulling my hair. Yes, pulling. But looking behind and giving him a stare was useless; mama had forgotten Sonu because it was more important for her to distribute the next round of snacks. Honestly, I was more interested on focussing on the movie than shutting the crowd up. I ignored the chatter after a while and believed that at some point they would too. Thankfully, they did.
There were many scenes in the film that had the audience in splits. I was in a single-screen theatre, so I could even hear the whistles and claps during key scenes. Of course, my friendly Punjabi family gushed over Ranbir as 'sona munda' even when there was no Ranbir on the screen. However, I couldn't help but think if something was wrong with me - I didn't find myself laughing my head off. Indeed some portions in the film are sweet and you will catch yourself smiling... you might also tear up through it - I did, I admit! But none of Ranbir's Chaplinesque antics were funny to my head. Have I forgotten how to laugh... or have I outgrown slapstick humour?
I am very sensitive to the topic of special children and I was hoping I don't burst into tears whenever they showed Priyanka's or Ranbir's helplessness or ignorance or unawareness. A spoiler maybe, but the rolling credits have an entire sequence on special children and I just could not watch it.
All in all Barfi! is a beautiful film although it has some glaring flaws. Do watch it if you haven't already - Ranbir, Ileana, Priyanka, Saurab Shukla, Rupa Ganguly and every other actor with even the shortest of screen time are so impressive. And if your hands aren't full with the imagery and performances, you have the music as an added takeaway!
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