Barfi!

About the film

Barfi! is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Anurag Basu, and produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures. The first UTV project to be released under the Disney·UTV brand, the film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D'Cruz (in her Hindi film debut) with Saurabh Shukla, Ashish Vidyarthi, Jisshu Sengupta, Roopa Ganguly and Haradhan Bandopadhyay in supporting roles. Set in Darjeeling, Kolkata and Jalandhar of the 1970s, the film focuses on Barfi (Kapoor), a deaf-mute young man based in Darjeeling, and his relationships with two girls, the beautiful Shruti (D'Cruz) and the autistic Jhilmil (Chopra).

Made on a budget of ₹35 crore, Barfi! was released on 14 September 2012. The film received widespread critical acclaim for the cast performances, direction, screenplay, cinematography, music and the portrayal of physically disabled people. It was a major commercial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of 2012 in India and overseas, grossing ₹175 crore worldwide. Since its release, Barfi! is remembered for its refreshing story, soundtrack, performances of the cast, and feel-good factor.

Plot

In 1972 in Darjeeling, Murphy, universally known as Barfi, is a charming and optimistic young man born deaf and mute. Raised by his father, Jungbahadur, a humble chauffeur, after his mother's death during childbirth, Barfi develops into a notorious local troublemaker whose whimsical antics frequently leave him fleeing the local police chief, Inspector Sudhanshu Dutta. Barfi's life changes when he crosses paths with Shruti Ghosh, an educated young woman who has recently arrived in town. Although Shruti is engaged to be married, she quickly falls in love with the smitten Barfi. Her mother intervenes, warning her that Barfi’s lack of wealth and physical disabilities would make a stable future impossible. Reluctantly yielding to her mother's pragmatism, Shruti breaks off contact, marries her fiancé, and leaves Darjeeling.

Sometime later, Jungbahadur suffers from severe kidney failure, leaving Barfi desperate to raise ₹7,000 for his life-saving surgery. Following a botched, chaotic attempt to rob a local bank, Barfi turns to a desperate alternative: kidnapping his autistic childhood friend, Jhilmil Chatterjee, who is the wealthy heiress to her grandfather's fortune. When Barfi arrives at her estate, he discovers that Jhilmil has already been abducted by professional criminals, prompting her corrupt father, Durjoy, to arrange a ₹50,000 ransom. While evading Inspector Dutta after the bank robbery, Barfi spots Jhilmil trapped inside a getaway van. He sneaks aboard, drives the van away, and shelters Jhilmil in his apartment. Barfi issues a scaled-down ransom note for ₹7,000 to Durjoy, collects the cash, and races to the hospital, only to discover that his father passed away just before the payment could be processed. Devastated, Barfi attempts to leave Jhilmil at her old caretaker’s village, but she adamantly refuses to leave his side. Recognizing her deep emotional attachment to him, Barfi takes Jhilmil to Kolkata, assuming full responsibility for her well-being.

In 1978, Barfi and Shruti happen to cross paths and reunite in Kolkata. Shruti, trapped in an unhappy marriage, rekindles her close bond with Barfi. This sudden intimacy triggers intense anxiety and jealousy in Jhilmil, who abruptly vanishes into the sprawling city. When a frantic Shruti files a missing person report, Inspector Dutta tracks the lead from Darjeeling, leading to Barfi's immediate arrest under suspicion of foul play. Shruti's relentless efforts to legally defend Barfi estrange her husband, who permanently abandons her. During Barfi's interrogation, a new ransom demand is made in Darjeeling, and Jhilmil is seemingly killed during a botched exchange, though her body is never recovered. Inspector Dutta is deeply perplexed as to why a ransom note would materialize in Darjeeling for a girl who had been residing secretly in Kolkata for over half a decade. Eager to close the high-profile case, the police administration prepares to frame Barfi for Jhilmil's murder. However, Inspector Dutta, who has grown genuinely fond of Barfi over years of investigation, quietly releases him to Shruti, urging them to start over. Shruti complies, secretly hoping that with Jhilmil gone, she can finally build a life with Barfi.

Production

During the production of his previous directorial venture Kites (2010), director Anurag Basu wrote a two-page short story which was later developed into the script of Barfi!. The film script that Basu wrote alternated between two time periods, and he retained the nonlinear narrative structure. He said that the script required a 30-year time span for the characters' love to grow and thus set the backdrop of the film in the 1970s.

In June 2010, Anurag Basu confirmed that his film would feature three lead roles, a deaf-mute man, a mentally challenged girl, and a narrator. With former titles like Khamoshi or Silence, media reports said the story was grim or dark. However, Basu stated that on the contrary, the film was happy. According to Basu, he paid homage to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin by adding scenes inspired by the era of silent cinema and using physical comedy in the film, involving silent portions.

Key details