“The worst of our faults is our interest in other people’s faults” – Imam Ali
In a world where people yearn for a perfect relationship, a perfect partner and a perfect family that leads to a perfect life, I believe it’s the faults and imperfections of the people you fall in love with that keeps you in love with them. Yes of course, attraction through beauty, brains and other qualities in a person is what pulls you initially. But when you fall real hard for someone and you know it’s the toxic kinda love that has overtaken you, you know that it’s the faults and imperfections that you have accepted with all your heart and you move from falling in love with the “ idea of love” to actually being ‘in love with someone.’
Bareilly ki Barfi is the story of Bitti (Kriti Sanon) who is her Mother’s daughter and her Father’s Son. A fearless, brave and opinionated girl who is brought up with tremendous love and courage by her loving and doting parents, is unable to find a match for marriage because she is not afraid to do and think what every boy out there is allowed and encouraged to do by the society. Frustrated and fed-up with the non-stop “rishtas” and rejections, a dejected Bitti decides to run away from home believing she is the problem and her leaving would bring peace to her parents’ lives. But as she is eloping, she stumbles on a book that changes her perspective about herself and what the society makes her believe are her faults and imperfections are actually admired and loved by a few, particularly the author of the book.
What then follows is her search to find the author of the book, who she has already fallen in love with. Now the twist in the tale is she finds him but also doesn’t know it. It is this conflict in the story of Bareilly Ki Barfi that is the real Hero of the film as it ensues a series of events bringing Chirag Dubey (Ayushmann Khuranna) and Pritam Vidrohi (Rajkumar Rao) in her life who at every point of time in some way, reassure her that who she is as a person is worth someone’s love and appreciation and would be accepted by him as she is.
Director Ashwini Iyer Tiwari has created a master piece with ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ and it is a natural progression from her first movie, ‘Nil Battey Sanata’ that I absolutely loved too. She manages to capture the essence of the story and portray it so authentically on the screen that be it a heated conversation between two men who are in love or the emotions of a woman so in love with a man who admires her flaws, is absolutely gold, refreshing and a delight to watch.
Kriti Sanon has finally bagged a role where she can display her skills and mettle as an actor and she executes it flawlessly. She does complete justice to her character who wants to be loved and accepted for what she is more than what she looks like. An average girl but with a strong mind and a sense of self who loves to give her parents a hard time, not because she intends to but because what she is as a person, is someone who is understood and admired by a very few.
Ayushman Khurranna and Rajkumar Rao are established actors and the two of them only add to the goodness in the film, giving you more reasons to love it. Bitti’s parents Seema Bhargawa and Pankaj Tripathy are pure gold in the film, both character and performance wise. This is such good casting in a long time and all the actors have managed to elevate a beautiful script further, which rarely happens anymore.
The music and dialogues that encompass the 123 minutes running time are a treat -adding to its already long list of positives- and extremely relatable as well as enjoyable, making it a complete package of a well thought out and sharply executed Bollywood Romantic Comedy that is an adaptation of Nicolas Barreau’s book The Ingredients of Love.
Bareilly Ki barfi is a breath of fresh air and a story that is not new but presented in a manner that is refreshing. Embroiled delicately with emotions and thoughts of the various people that are involved when two people slowly find and discover each other and ultimately decide to commit to each other is what has been beautifully curated and portrayed on screen.
I never saw the trailer of the movie (not even now) but decided to go for it anyway because it garnered a lot of good reviews within a day of its release. Yes, definitely the key to a good movie now a days is low expectations and I guess that played in my favor with this one.But if you’re in for an unapologetic Bollywood romcom that still holds its semblance, Bareilly ki Barfi is your pick for this week. It is the sweetness of Bareilly Ki Barfi that is all you need to re assure your shaky faith in Hindi Cinema.
Also Javed Akhtar turns Sutradhar with this film which is the cherry on the cake and makes your day, as the ace lyricist and my favorite writer/ poet gives the movie that earthy, rustic feel that cannot be replicated.
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