I’m actually writing a review for a movie that has released very recently. Wonders will never cease!
Right, so Barfi is a sweet tale of people with disabilities finding friendship and comfort. It’s not sickly sweet. It’s nice. The narrative is peppered with humourous scenes. Actors are competent – have done their job well.
The problem is it rings false. Barfi is a deaf ( and hence mute) boy since birth. That disability has not been studied by the research team – which is strange. The reason I say this is because Barfi is literally ONLY Deaf and Mute – his character does things Charlie Chaplin style ( therez humour, pathos etc) – But Charlie Chaplin was not deaf and mute – his cinema was – Big Difference!
I have interacted with some people who have congenital deafness and are mute – some through an NGO close to my house. They are affected in many ways – they don’t/ can’t behave almost like a normal person which is what Barfi is! Barfi is exuberant, expressive, mischievous and capable of doing pretty much everything and more than a normal person – of course except that he can’t hear … or speak! He does things that a normal person might not be able to – like taking care of an autistic person.
It’s very nice and sweet that Barfi and Jhilmil share a language that no one else does… but ..
..the makers have lost the core plot in trying to make a sweet saleable film – and this is our entry for the Oscars!
