Movie: Bareilly Ki Barfi
Director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kriti Sanon, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, and Seema Pahwa
What's it about:
The movie is inspired by the English translation of a French book, titled Ingredients of Love and makes a smooth shift from Paris (in the novel) to Bareilly. The Mishra family - father (Pankaj Tripathi), mother (Seema Pahwa) and daughter Bitti (Kriti Sanon) live in Bareilly. Bitti had been brought up in a liberal environment. She is bold and brash, and this results in a couple of broken engagements. After another marriage proposal goes awry, Bitti chances upon a novel titled Bareilly KI Barfi, the protagonist of which is very similar to her. She begins a search for the author, which leads her to Chirag Dubey (Ayushmann Khurrana), a printing press owner, who had authored and printed the book five years ago after a heartbreak. Not wanting to put his name on the book, he had used his friend Pritam Vidrohi's (Rajkummar Rao) name. Which leads Pritam to leave his city and take up a job in Lucknow. Now Chirag begins up the charade of being the messenger between her and the author. However, things take a crazy turn when Chirag decides to track his friend and prove how unsuitable he is for Bitti. What happens next, forms the crux of the movie.
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What's hot:
The writing is clever and the humour, clean. Writers Nitesh Tiwari and Shreyas Jain keep the characters real and rooted. The protagonists we see here, thankfully, aren't painted in just one shade. Ayushmann may be a guy smitten with the girl, but he isn't another Mr Goody-Two-Shoes ready to sacrifice his love. He is selfish and a borderline bully. Rajkummar is a pushover, but he can stand-up for himself, Kriti while being a confident girl, has her share of insecurities. Director Ashwiny keeps the narrative simple. The music is in-sync with the tone of the film. Ayushmann is on point with his character. Despite the flaws in his character, you root for him. Rajkummar is a delight as he switches from a meek guy to a rowdy dude back-and-forth easily. While Kriti shares great chemistry with both the actors, it's the scenes between Ayushmann and Rajkummar that draw maximum laughs. This is Kriti's fourth film and definitely her best performance so far. Pankaj and Seema are great performers and add so much depth to the film.
What's not:
The editing could have been sharper. The film does drag at times and shortening the narrative would have helped. The reason behind Ayushmann wanting to portray Rajkummar as an unsuitable candidate seems a bit flimsy, especially considering the fact that this is what a large part of the movie is based on.
What to do:
This is an entertaining, romantic film laced with humour and feel-good moments. Watch it, you won't be disappointed.
Ratings: ***
