Barfi !

Romantic Comedy

Director: Anurag Basu

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana DCruz

Barfi wins your heart even before the credits start. Its cheerful bubbly jingle advising you to keep your children and cellphones off because the picture has started sets the tone for the rest of the film.

Surprising, especially given that most Hindi films with disabled protagonists (like Sargam, Saajan, Nache Mayuri, Black) are so full of hamming, self-imposed sacrifices and self-pity.

Not so Barfi. Although this film is about a deaf-mute man and his search for love, it is told with humour and sensitivity. Barfi is born to a poor couple in Darjeeling. His mother passes away shortly after his birth and Barfi- discovered to be deaf - is brought up by his driver father. Barfi is not a shy guy, he is a mischief-maker, an attention seeker, an insecure friend and warmly demonstrative with all those he is attached to. He follows young girls like Shruti around town declaring his love for them and asking them to be friends after they reject him. Barfi falls in love with Shruti. And although Shruti is attracted to him, she prefers to be sensible and marry the man her parents have chosen for her. Barfi is also deeply attached to the neighbourhood rich girl Jhilmil who is autistic and whose own parents find her difficult to love. The film is about Barfi's love for these two women and their love for him.

As Hindi films go, Barfi is also slightly off-centre in its notions and motivations of romantic love. It ruminates on love and how it thrives in the way Barfi and Jhilmil and Shruti need and trust each other. But the story’s greatest strength is its cheer and charm.

It treads evenly over the rough terrain of Barfi’s life and losses using slapstick and sensitivity to show sorrow. With Chaplin’s charm and wit, Anurag Basu makes Barfi negotiate his way through sticky situations to stick by the people he loves.

Director Anurag Basu offers a film which is lovingly detailed, with warm fuzzy layers and golden hues. Pritam’s music and background score matches the warm cheerful hues of the film.

The only problem is its constant and incoherent time switches. The flashbacks are disjointed and it’s difficult to figure out the chronology of the story within the different time zones in the film. There is also a spot of suspense that the film could have easily done without; most in the audience knew whom to suspect anyway.

Ileana makes a mature debut. Although she looks too young for her role, she manages to be competent. Priyanka does a super job. Her Jhilmil is awkward ungainly and mistrustful but thoroughly lovable. It could have so easily turned into a Sadma. But Priyanka manages to infuse her autistic character with charm, guile and intelligence.

Ranbir, of course, rocks. He bears the vain, mischievous, darling Barfi with such ease and grace; that actor is truly gifted. All in all, Barfi is warm, tender, spirited and really funny –a truly delightful film. So the question one would like to ask is: If Anurag Basu directed Barfi, who in the hell made Kites?

MANIPUR EXPRESS

MANIPUR EXPRESS film review.

"Watta padabi leirangni chamna kedabi maithongni..."

Manipur express is a Manipuri digital film directed by O. Gautam who won the best director award in the 59th National Film Awards 2011. The story is written by L. Dhanachandra and produced under the banner Kangla Films.
Rubber boy 'Mahes' takes the lead role 'malem' and Bala takes the role of heroine 'Tampha'
The film has mixed reviews and it has more negative reviews than positive ones. The film sometimes shows out its poor quality.
The sequel of the film is:
Malem(Mahes) meets Tampha(Bala) at college and he feels the love for her at first sight. but he got a slap from her while giving a rose to her. Tampha tries to avoid the boys who seem to be iritating her most of the time. Tampha learns Manipuri Classical dance hidingly after college.

 one day Tampha's mother scolds her for returning late from college. Sudenly Malem comes to the rescue,  telling Tampha's mother  that Tampha gives tuition to him.
Thus friendship starts between the two. Gradually a bonding developed between them.
They were planning to meet at a place and Male waited at the place.
On the way Tampha met Minister Khaba's son John(Tamanao) and he told her that her father is in the hospital. He then took her to a placed and raped her ang after that he even tried to kill her by hitting by a van. Malem took Tampha to the hospital and she remained in comma.
Mimister Khaba comes to know that his son is the real culprit and tries to accuse Malem. Malem is caught by the police and he is being tortured. He got a narrow escape and later brought out the real culprit.
The film tries to show the present trend of power which lies in the hands of the wealthy and the bureaucrats.
The film features some seasoned artists and the acting of Vidyananda as a police officer is above par. The song sequences and the action scenes are well executed.
The film also has many mistakes and weakpoints. The camera was really poor. The picture is  blurred in every scene and makes the viewer irritated.
'The helmet used by Mahes changes when he reached the spot...this is due due to poor directorial and still works. Moreover the comic elements seem useless. People donot expect such careless work from the award winning director like O. Gautam.
Overall rating 2.5 out of 5.
 

Review of Yaiskulgi pakhang angaoba

YAISKULGI PAKHANG ANGAOBA

film review

A still from yaiskulgi pakhang angaoba.

The two words "dasanihe" and "yo" have become so popular that it has become a part of our daily conversation. Its because of the film "Yaiskulgi pakhang angaoba."

Yaiskulgi pakhang angaoba is a Manipuri Digital film produced under the banner of Kangla Films by Premjit Naoroibam. It is written and directed by Homen D'wai.

The film shows that every person faces a change in character in the adolescence period. But we should overcome the temptation to become successful in life. The story weaves around the life of a simple and career oriented boy. Ace star Bonny Sharma takes the character of Sanatombi who spent half of his life in boarding schools. He changes his behaviour to impress a girl. He left behind his old ways and started to create a 'yo' image after he met Mazaru, a Kabui girl. Cutie girl Bala takes the role of Mazaru. One day Sanatombi went to Keisamthong to repair his luna seat. He met Mazaru there and she told him the he doesnt look like a Yaiskul pakhang.

Bala in the film

Sanatombi then consulted Kaboklei Inaocha and his team to transform himself into a 'yo' boy.

He loved Mazaru with all his heart. He even sold his golden locket to treat Mazaru and her friends. Mazaru pretented to love Sanatombi. At last Sanatombi realised that he was in a foolish trap. This made him a heart brokrn person and he became insane. His parents were worried about their son's behaviour. After treatment he returned to his old ways and cleared the MBBS entrance examination.

Like other films, this film also has a happy ending. The film is filled with romance, comedy. The dialouges of Kaboklei Inaocha makes every viewer laugh heartily. The director executes every shot carefully.

The title song of this film is a household song of Manipur. Bony lends his voice for a song "Nungshi nangbu keida leige" which became a song of all age groups.

The most important feature of this film is that it creates a special bonding between different age groups.

overall rating: 4 out of 5.

..By Rosn Lai..