Bareilly Ki Barfi - A Perfect Tale of Love, Humor & Drama

Pratayay Sur

The true pursuit of love is an adventure where two souls are destined to meet in spite of their imperfections and inhibitions. This one-liner is illustrated in Ashwini Iyer Tiwari's romcom film “Bareilly ki Barfi”. The film revolves around three pivotal characters; the protagonist, Bitti Mishra (Kriti Sanon) a tomboy , small town girl of Bareilly, Chirag Dubey (Ayushmann Khurrana) the lovelorn lover, publisher & writer of the namesake storybook “Bareilly ki Barfi” and Pritam Vidrohi (Rajkummar Rao) the catalyst caricature who steals the show with nonchalance. The plot may well have been inspired by the novel “The Ingredients of Love” by Nicolas Barreau. The film is highly recommended for those who prefer to indulge in a romantic excursion. The predominant theme of love which eventually stands the test of disillusioned prejudices underlines the message of the story. The revival of faith in love for Chirag and the approval of truth in Bitti that love is beyond all imperfections make a good yarn to weave an interesting plot.

The typical north Indian flavour and parochial interest make the screenplay very convincing and the simplicity pervades the entire film. Bitti, an extrovert is often misunderstood and misfit in marriage proposals is a concern to her mother while her father is a silent supporter. The film is wrought with humor that is etched by subtle acting specially churned in moments when Bitti’s mother (Seema Pawha) rent the scene with her power-packed typical middle-class emotions contrasted by her father’s (Pankaj Tripathi) sustained nonchalance. The storyline may be a little predictable but the humor in dialogues and plausible character play by supporting roles make the film most engrossing.

Sanon has aptly portrayed Bitti as a free-flowing candid girl next door and ably complemented by her counterpart Ayushmann whose character is tailor-made for Chirag as the intellectual “Dev Das” languishing lost love yet burning within in agony for vindictive revenge. On the other hand, the character of Pritam, clinically performed by Rajkummar Rao is of real flux contributing to the element of drama and keeps the audience to their toes. The scenes where Chirag rehearses with Pritam to transform himself from a saree salesman to an author, that too having to flaunt his opposite demeanour gives glimpses of Shahrukh’s Rab De Bana di Jodi feats. However, Rajkummar Rao has inimitable flamboyance which shows when he also eclipses his co-actors in his scenes. Ayushmann Khurrana is unmistakably known for the genre of his quintessential roles in a common man’s story.

The chemistry between Chirag & Pritam gives the story a purpose, otherwise, the destiny is loud and clear, it’s only how Chirag finally compensates his failure in love for Babli coupled by the loss in his book “Bareilly ki Barfi” (a bad investment until the only reader brings luck). The film is neither an attempt to startle the audience with an ideal nor a bland tale with cliches. But the real bonus of the film is the narrative by Javed Akhtar which lends a poetic essence to the film and Nazm Nazm feat which is daubed in lyrical romance.

Those who haven’t watched the movie yet, you definitely check it out. The movie is currently streaming on ZEE5 right now.