Producers: Junglee Pictures & BR Studios
Director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Star Cast: RajKummar Rao, Ayushmann Khurrana, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Seema Bhargava, Swati Semwal & Rohit Chaudhary
Music: Sameer Uddin
Ms. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari in her previous outing Nil Battey Sannata had created quite an impact with her decent enough tackling of a timely womencentric subject. But in her latest outing Bareilly Ki Barfi, an unusual title, she makes a good start by warmly introducing her 3 main characters namely Chirag – Bitty – Preetam caught in their own triangular web of their intertwined love stories but alas their love saga starts off with a whiff of fresh air and ends up on an awfully dragging not. But of course the silver lining in the cloud is its perfect setting of the North Indian milieu.
Since more than a decade, our filmmakers have started churning out films set in small towns, particularly North India. Such rooted stories work big time, especially if they provide ample entertainment. The success of Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Sultan, Dangal et al in recent times which have made it evident how such “desi” flicks have a large audience acceptance.
And Bareilly Ki Barfi, this week’s release, too is based in Bareilly, as the title suggests, and looked entertaining from the promos. So does it manage to tickle viewers’ funny bone or turns to be yet another flop in the season of debacles, let’s analyze.
The scripted scenario of Bareilly Ki Barfi is about a printing press owner who devises a unique plan to woo the girl he loves but the idea backfires. Chirag Dubey (Ayushmann Khurrana) runs a printing press in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
After being heartbroken, Chirag writes a book called “Bareilly Ki Barfi” on the girl he was in love with. Fearing that she’ll be slammed if he writes the book in his own name, he puts the name of Pritam Vidrohi (Rajkummar Rao), his shy, soft – spoken friend, as the book’s author. The book fails big time but 5 years later, Bitti Mishra (Kriti Sanon), the coolest girl in town, buys it one day from the railway station, when she was about to run away after her mother Sheela’s (Seema Pahwa) constant rants over her marriage. In the train, Bitti reads “Bareilly Ki Barfi” and is stunned to see that the girl described in the novel is very much like her – free spirited, break dance lover, smoker, film buff & quie progressive too.
She immediately returns back to Bareilly and meets Chirag, since he had printed the book, and asks him for Pritam’s contact details, since she is impressed by the book. Chirag slowly falls for Bitti but is not able to tell her that it’s him and not Pritam who wrote the book titled “Bareilly Ki Barfi”.
Chirag then devises a plan, he tells Pritam after tracking him down who has by now fled from Barilly fearing worst consequences, to have a makeover, meet Bitti, break her heart & run off again. At this point, Chirag would take over and hopefully woo Bitti successfully.
But sadly enough for Chirag, Bitti slowly starts falling for Pritam. How Chirag then attempts to ensure that doesn’t happen forms the rest of the story.
Bareilly Ki Barfi begins well and the introduction of characters is done in a neat manner. But the film really picks up steam when Pritam enters the narrative. His transformation & the whole process is hilarious and in several ways, is the best portion of the film.
Chirag & Bitti’s sequences in the 1st half aren’t great but make for a nice watch. One sequence which particularly stands out is Bitti celebrating Chirag’s birthday. Post interval, things look fine initially. The comic & dramatic moments continue and entertain but after a point, the film drags.
Barielly Ki Barfi never was illogical but yet, a few aspects of the film seem too difficult to digest. 1stly, why did Chirag not use a pseudonym to write his novel? His character is also shown to be quite a “dabangg” who has no qualms in ragging & terrorizing Pritam.
Yet, Chirag never gathers the courage to tell Bitti how much he loves her. There’s a twist in the tale in the finale which does catch viewers unawares and it brings a relief since the climax was getting clichéd. But the explanation given behind the twist again turns out to be too unconvincing.
Bareilly Ki Barfi is adapted from the book “The Ingredients Of Love” by Nicolas Barreau. Nitesh Tiwari & Shreyas Jain’s story is weak and needed quite a bit of polishing. Their screenplay is effective at places but otherwise, it drags. While their dialogues are terrific and probably the best thing of the film.
Yet credit goes to Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s direction which is uncomplicated & simple and that’s her biggest victory. But the director, who helmed the well – made Nil Battey Sannata last year, could have done a better job and kept the film tighter.
The music of the film is not memorable.
“Sweety Tera Drama” is the only track that registers. “Badass Babuaa” is relegated to the background during the entertaining montage of Pritam’s transformation. “Nazm Nazm” fails to make a mark while “Bairaagi” is wasted. “Twist Kamariya” is forced but since it’s added during opening credits, one won’t mind. Sameer Uddin’s background score is highly entertaining & uplifting.
Gavemic U Ary’s cinematography is nothing special but the very 1st scene is very well captured. Chandrashekhar Prajapati’s editing is pacy but goes off track in the 2nd half.
Performance wise Ayushmann Khurrana as always appears confident and dominates some of the sequences quite well. He looks convincing as the lover boy as well as the bully in his scenes with Rajkummar and this is quite praiseworthy. However, his friendzoned avatar does remind one of his act in his previous film Meri Pyaari Bindu. It’s amusing to see that he played a role in a similar zone in 2 back – to – back films. Kriti Sanon delivers a decent performance and has even worked on her accent, mannerisms et al to appear as a decent small – town girl. She doesn’t succeed completely but nevertheless, it works for her progressive character. But of course Rajkummar Rao is a scene – stealer. He’s seen as the shy, demure person and post the transformation, he turns out to be an outgoing, brash guy and he essays both the avatars brilliantly. If Barielly Ki Barfi will be remembered in the years to come, it will be primarily for this National Award winning actor’s performance!!! Pankaj Tripathi as Narrotam Mishra is funny and also excels nicely in emotional scenes. Even he has played roles in the similar setting but he manages to ensure each of his performance stands out. Seema Bhargava leaves a very huge mark. Her constant rants over Bitti’s marriage and the way she sparkles everytime she comes across a prospective groom is nicely done. Rohit Chaudhary as Munna is fine as Chirag’s sidekick. Same goes for Swati Semwal as Maya.
Tail Piece: On the whole, Bareilly Ki Barfi indeed has its moments of “Barfi” oriented sweetness & boasts of great performances but it’s too unconvincing. Also, lack of face value & low – key promotions coupled with insipid music as well as domination by Toilet – Ek Prem Katha will surely spell doom for the film at the Box – Office turnstiles. In fact Barielly Ki Barfi can be strongly recommended for the classy cine goer’s & more suitable for a film festival scenario.
