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Barfi! Movie Review by Top Critics
Ratings:3/5 Barfi! Review by Rajeev Masand Site:IBNLive (CNN IBN)
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. Not content telling a simple story without any fuss, he complicates the narrative with confusing timelines and a needless whodunit subplot. 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.
Ratings:4/5 Barfi! Review by Taran Adarsh Site:Bollywood Hungama
BARFI! cannot be slotted in any particular genre.The beauty of the film lies in the fact that it instantly absorbs you into Barfi's world. I wish to specify that one should not correlate BARFI! with disability. It's more about characters who face the challenges that life has to offer, yet live a more gratifying life than anyone else. It's about living each day of your life to the fullest, giving happiness, feeling love. It's a unique love story between three exceptional characters, something we haven't witnessed on the Hindi screen earlier. On the whole, BARFI! is unusual for Bollywood. You don't formulate movies like BARFI! targeting its box-office potential or its commercial prospects. You create such films for the passion of cinema. BARFI! is akin to a whiff of fresh air. Its foremost triumph is that it leaves you with a powerful emotion: Happiness! I sincerely believe, no Hindi movie buff should deprive himself/herself of watching this brilliant motion picture. Also, the viewer needs to savor Ranbir, Priyanka and Ileana's paramount performances, one of the strengths of this movie. Strongly recommended!
Ratings:3/5 Barfi! Review by Anupama Chopra Site:Hindustan Times
This is a film made with love, bolstered by wonderfully etched vignettes, Ranbir Kapoor's stupendous performance and a gorgeous soundtrack by Pritam. And yet, for me, Barfi was a singularly frustrating experience there was so much to like, but the film never became more than the sum of its parts. As long as Basu stays with the love track, the film moves, but then we are sidetracked by suspense, which isn't all that suspenseful because you can predict exactly who did what. The film insists too hard that we find the magical in the mundane. I wish Barfi! the film was as magical as Barfi the character. See it for him.
Ratings:3.5/5 Review by Raja Sen Site:Rediff
A well-crafted script with an intriguing back-and-forth narrative -- set in the present day, 1978 and 1972 -- Barfi! intrigues, right to the point somewhere down the middle, when it becomes more than apparent exactly what the film's story is, after which all goes south. And yet so impressive and earnest are most parts of Barfi! that one is inclined even to forgive its flawed centre; we want badly to overlook the film's peach-seed heart, and concentrate on the rest of its juicy joys. And these it provides in abundance.
Ratings:---- Review by Komal Nahta Site:ETC
Had the drama been more compact and linear, the film would’ve been far more universal in its appeal. The post-interval portion, especially, is long-winding and, therefore, boring. .On the whole, Barfi! is a heart-warming love story which is different. It will be loved by the class audience and the city-based public, especially by those who frequent multiplexes. As for the masses of the single-screen cinemas and the audience in ‘B’ and ‘C’ class centres, they would not find the film as satisfying.
Ratings:4.5/5 Review by Madhureeta Mukherjee Site:Times of India (TOI)
Everything that has to go wrong will go wrong, but not if you brave it with a broad smiley. So 'mute' the high decibel chaos and deafening melodrama around and tune into Barfi ki duniya; which is simple, sweet and SILENT! Yet, extreme emotions of love, joy and pain resound - at different 'frequencies'.For a story riddled with disabilities, Barfi is more than ably handled by Anurag Basu. He remarkably immerses you in his world of sounds and verbose silences, recreating Chaplin's antics, stripping two superstars down to basics and sensitively spinning a magical world of unconditional love. The narrative is too non-linear at times, and the pace slows in the second half. That apart, it's truly path-breaking for Bollywood.
Ratings:4/5 Review by NDTV Site:NDTV
Barfi! celebrates life without dismissing the dark passages and roadblocks that we often encounter as we travel through that craggy road to death.To be able to celebrate life so warmly and sensitively the filmmaker has to know death closely. Basu, a concer survivor, has been there.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.
Ratings:3/5 Review by Shubhra Gupta Site:Indian Express
'Barfi’! does take several brave strides. It’s good in many ways; what stops it from being a great film is a degree of fuzziness, and an insistence on prettiness.Still, I’d weigh in on the film’s side. It is so hard to find a Hindi film which does disability with any seriousness, and with sensitivity. ‘Barfi’ has its heart in the right place, and doesn’t waver from its intentions
Ratings:4.5/5 Review by Blessy Chettiar Site:DNA
From start to finish, director Anurag Basu never gives up on Barfi's quirkiness. The storytelling leaves you positive, rekindling a lost belief in old-style, unconditional loving. For someone who cries easily at the movies, Barfi! is a thorough tearjerker. Dissecting a film that left you speechless is difficult. Just let go, indulge in the magic of Barfi!
Barfi! Hindi Movie Review by Other Critics
Ratings:3.5/5 Review by Roshni Devi Site:KoimoiWhat’s Good: The spell-binding direction; the wonderful performances; the cinematography and the music.What’s Bad: The movie stretches a bit; the plot gets convoluted in between.Loo Break: None.Watch or Not?: Barfi! is a movie that will tickle you and bring tears to your eyes with equal ease. Don’t miss this sweet story.Barfi! leaves you with that warm, cuddly, magical feeling with a few tears to match. It’s really worth a watch.
Ratings:--- Review by Rachit Gupta Site:Filmfare
Ranbir Kapoor has proved he’s the actor in town. And Barfi is one more addition to the films we’ll remember him for. Barfi! is that rare film that can make you smile and make you cry in the same scene. Its technical brilliance is only outdone by its emotional complexity and depth. Pritam’s music adds a nice silent-era charm to this already fantastic story, making it an occasion when words simply aren’t enough.
Ratings:3/5 Review by Martin D Souza Site:Glamsham
BARFI! is a one-man show - Ranbir Kapoor.Barfi and Jhilmil together is just not logic. It is tragic. Take away the character of Jhilmil and Basu would have been on a roll.There are a few poignant moments in the film and this is thanks to the three 'bechara characters' who tug at your heart. Visually, the film is appealing. It has a different treatment and a hatke cinematic appeal. The three star rating is not for the brilliance of the film; it's for the genius of Ranbir Kapoor. A performance worth a watch!
Ratings:3.5/5 Review by Pooja Rao Site:BollySpice
All praises aside Barfi isn’t short of its minuses. There are moments when the film gets droopy, with two of the primary three characters not having any dialogues; the silence gets unnerving that you fight the urge to not get distracted. However thankfully Ranbir flawless act saves the day.With heaps of charm and poignancy, Barfi traces human spirit, relationships, thru chaplinesque comedy in some parts and smiles through tears in many others. You get as involved in Barfi’s journey as all his fellow co-stars and you’re taken on this breezy ride with the right amounts of effervescence, leaving you with warmth in your heart.
