Billu- A Story of a Barber and a Superstar
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6 Weeks ago I had written about why I look forward to Billu ( Barber) ( check out the link- http://passionforcinema.com/why-i-look-forward-to-billu-barber/ ) and now after seeing it I want to share with you my feelings on the movie. So yes by now we all know the movie is a modern day adaptation of the Krishna- Sudama story which was first made in Malayalam as Kadha Parayumbol and later made in Tamil-Kuselan & Telugu- Kathanayakudu.
Simply put “Billu” is the story of a barber- Bilas Rao Pardesi(Irfan Khan) who lives by his principles in a village with his beautiful wife (Lara Dutta) and kids. One day his childhood friend, superstar- Sahir Khan (SRK) comes to the village for a film shoot & Billu’s life then undergoes a journey of dramatic twists. First things first Priyan has done an almost honest remake of the Malayalam original and has not put in any of the bizarre extravagant stuff that the Tamil & Telugu versions were much maligned for.
Screenplay by Priyan and Mushtaq Sheikh doesn’t deviate from the core story and keeps it simple. Pritam has given some chartbusting music. Luckily SRK’s songs have been blended into the narrative and do not stick out like a sore thumb.V.Manikandan’s camera captures some good shot’s of the outdoors in Pollachi ( near Coimabtore). Performances wise Irfan is definitely good & he is natural in it. In some scenes he reminds me of the chaiwala role that he played in Mumbai Meri Jaan.Lara Dutta in a deglamourised role is quite effective.Om Puri,Rajpal Yadav,Rasika Joshi,Asrani,Manoj Joshi,Jagadish and the others do an ok job.
There are a lot of light moments in the movie interspersed with the emotional moments. Yes talking about SRK the actor, let’s just say he does well in the climax which is one of the best moments of the film. Also there are a lot of scenes where he speaks cheekily with reference to industry related events and peculiarities. SRK the producer tries to do a balancing act between allowing the spotlight on Irfan and also trying to keep himself in front reasonably enough with an eye on the box office.
He is able to do a decent act of balancing the same. So don’t I have my concern areas? Sure, here I go- sometimes you get a feel SRK is trying to be there in every frame without being there (you see him in posters everywhere) and this could have been toned down a bit. Also some of the characters appear like caricatures and at times the pace of the movie does drop. But overall the movie is fairly engaging and it is a decent family entertainer. Those who haven’t watched any of the earlier versions (Malayalam,Tamil,Telugu) will find it even more interesting. Path breaking cinema it isn’t, but then did it ever pretend to be one? ïŠ
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
I hope SRK is in movie as actor not star.Nothing else
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IMHO the movie was pathetic! it’s as bad as CC2C!
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Sethu: Priyan shouted his mouth off and said that the Tamil version was spoiled when compared to the original Malayalam! Do you think he has gone right with the Hindi version? (Even in the Tamil version, I thought it as good as a film – where they failed was that it was pitched as a Rajni film and also it was priced like a Rajni film).
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Sorry, what I meant was it was good as a film.
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I saw it. I liked it. I was not expecting a lot from the movie. So that helped. Its a sweet endearing simple film without any complications.
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Yup the climax was nice. The movie had few real nice moments too.
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Irrfan ruled. He was the hero of the movie. SRK was the STAR. I loved the song Ae Aa O which depicted his stardom.
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Not path breaking cinema, but the way cinema should be, at times.
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Joyjit- not necessary everyone has to like it.
Yayaver- you see the actor in SRK in the climax
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Anand- yes Priyan has more or less stuck to the Malayalam original.The movie has projected Irfan as the hero & SRK is smart enough not to overdo anything here.And if I’m right the movie has been at a very reasonable cost & also has been sold at a reasonable rate.So that ways its definitely a better proposition than Kuselan/Kathanayakudu.
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Vishesh- Yes I agree with whatever you said & my review does say the same I guess
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gotto watch it 2de
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Billu Actually Bhayankar
I did not have much expectations from this movie. Reason being the kind of fare that Priyadarshan has been dishing out in the last couple of years – Chup Chup Ke, Dhol, Bhagam Bhaag, Mere Baap Pehle Aap. The problem with this could-have-been-maestro (remember Muskurahat, Saza-E-Kala Paani, Gardish, Virasat) is that post Hera Pheri, he’s got so much stuck in the comedy mould that even in a movie demanding serious treatment, you see usual suspects like Asrani, Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav et al indulging in physical comedy. Mind you, we all just loved this kind of comedy in Hera Pheri & Hungama. But soon, we got tired. And Priyan Sir too. And, whenever his serious attempts like Kyun Ki & Mere Baap Pehle Aap tanked, he chose to play safe and reverted back to comedy, though without much success. And his movies based in villages (Virasat, Hulchul, Malamaal Weekly, Bhool Bhulaiya and now Billu) just lack the authenticity needed coz you see almost all men wearing shining white dhoti-kurtas, as if sponsored by Rin, Tide, Surf Excel, Ariel all put together. The language is also a problem. You have each character speaking in that many different accents. Some, in north Indian, some in South Indian, some with a Marathi hangover. And then Mr. Priyan can’t stop whining when Slumdog Millionaire receives accolades from all quarters.
But the little expectation that I had was from the banner Red Chillies. After delivering an entertaining Blockbuster in Om Shanti Om, one would have expected SRK to go all hog in ensuring that the follow up would be equally engaging if not entertaining fare. But alas!! That was not to be. I suppose SRK must have thought that signing Priyadarshan was enough for him to ensure a hit. And the lack of effort shows here.
I think everybody knows the story by now, so I will desist from treading in that territory. The problem here is the treatment. Utterly lame done-to-death jokes. I usually say “Aise jokes toh main k.g. class mein bolta tha”, but my wife has coined a new term “Prenatal Jokes” i.e. “Aise ghise-pite jokes toh bachcha apni maa ke pet mein hi rehkar sun chuka hota hai”. And I fully agree. (as if I have a choice!!!!) The screenplay was so loose that you hardly felt the helplessness and pain of Irrfan, the angst of the villagers, the disappointment of the kids and also the strength of friendship. The main reason for the last point here could be that (and this is very important) even though SRK plays the character of filmstar Sahir Khan, we still are bombarded with posters and scenes of SRK films ranging from Pardes, Josh to Main Hoon Naa, Om Shanti Om. Now, come on, we all know very that these are all SRK films. Then how can we pretend that these films are done by some Sahir Khan. So the character of Sahir Khan just doesn’t register in our minds. Then how can we believe in his friendship with a barber.
And what was the need for the director to shoot in a village. Because if you notice, the fight sequence (a la star wars) and Mar Jaani song were both shot on sets, with the village elements nowhere in sight. So does Priyadarshan want us to believe that instead of the comfort of putting up a set in Mumbai, the film crew went all out to a remote village and transported all the stuff and set up their set there. Tch Tch. So much for recession.
And a very prominent continuity lapse – in one scene in Irrfan’s hut, the calendar shows the month of April 2008. In a later scene, in the school meeting, there is exam timetable for the month of November 2007 written on the blackboard. SO MR. PRIYADARSHAN, STOP “FILMING” AND START “DIRECTING” MOVIES
And didn’t SRK have the guts to convince the protesting hairdressers that BARBER word is not derogatory. Coz it was really ridiculous watching the word muted completely in the song as well as the scenes throughout the movie. Why be politically correct at the cost of being faithful to the script. Take a stand man!!
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Sajid- If you noticed the movie within the movie, SRK plays the role of bichde hue twin brothers.While one of them leaves in space, the other guy is a dehati.So its for the shooting of the dehati scenes that SRK suggests that they do it in a real village & not in a studio.Now you cant shoot the space scenes actually in space atleast as of now right?
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The movie is such a waste!!
It’s like the modern take on Krishna & Sudama….but then it looks so unreal…
Irrfan was the only cherry on the top and kept me glued…be it in the tittle song or the scene where he picks up his shop’s old chair and mirror….he is so much like the character….errr I mean he really made the character look so real.
SRK was so fake infront of him …I know he is a star but when he gives that speech in the school …and gets emotional…eh he was lookin so unreal….I did not like it.
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It was a fine family movie.
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SRK is trying his best to generate interest in the movie by creating fake controversies like the ‘barber’ thing and somebody throwing bottles at his bungalow etc. He is as usual talking big and talking too much in the media but most of his tricks seem to be failing this time.
The songs being bombarded for past one and a half month are outright irritating and the village part that is being shown in the promos is so stale and uninteresting. Nothing about the film is making me want to watch it. This review and some comments may just seal it for me. I am not going to watch this film.
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Sameer- watching it or not is always your choice.But please understand that even Aamir has a habit of picking controversies whenever his movies are about to release be it TZP or Ghajini.So its not like SRK is the only doing it.And personally speaking the songs in Billu are quite good.Wont say anything else though.
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The film was better…[:D]
“The film was definitly better than SRK’s teeth close up in the end monolouge.”
The film was aweful.My valentines day almost got screwed after watching this cliched effort.
and one question:-why do all Priyadarshan movies have people dressed in white kurta payjamas.he saves a lot of money re-using them.
Good or bad u can take a call,But the film was definitely BORING..
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Nopes Sethu, I had not seen the South versions before I saw this one !
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i found the music loud horrible and badly choreographed
they arent selling at all either
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The film was a far much better remake than Kuselan and Kathanayakudu. In those versions, Pee Vasu tried to glorify mentalkanth for an hour while at the same time shoehorn in Vadivelu’s vulgar and double entendres. Add in Nayantara’s on-the-border dance act and you end up seeing a totally bad version of Kadha Parayumbol.
Having seen Kadha twice (once before Kuselan, and right before Billu), I can safely say it’s not a direct by direct remake. Firstly, the college tutor (played by Mukesh in the Malayalam version) was cut off for time but smartly, Priyan roped in Manoj Joshi to do one of the over-smart school administration roles. In Kuselan/Kathanayakudu, the role was chopped off and replaced by even waste of space in the form of DCP Prabhu Ganesan and Manobala, which had no impact to the story at all. At the same time, Pee Vasu also chopped off the Bard Poet (Rajpal Yadav in the hindi/Comedian Salim Kumar in the original) in his versions just to reserve it for Mental and Nayantara.
Unlike the Tamil/Telugu versions, Priyan’s done a good job incorporating the smart and subtle dialogues as well as the humor, which is usually loud in his past films. Even the most-talked Climax was really well done and I was touched by it as I was when Mammooty did the same in Malayalam.
Irfan Khan tops the film and is a class actor. Even Lara Dutta shines well for a de-glam role. Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani and others do well in their roles. SRK lives up to being the superstar role and brings the actor in him in the climax. Unlike mentalkanth, SRK gives more space to Irfan as it’s his film as Mental refused to do it for Pasupathi/Jagapathi Babu.
Pritam’s music is decent. Maybe the Priyanka version of Khudhaya Khair could’ve been chopped off as well as Love Mera Hit Hit. But the rest fit the film and don’t deviate from the story as the Tamil/Telugu versions didn’t. Khudhaiya Khair and Jahoon Kahan were my picks.
But overall, Billu gave me that “Virasat” vibe. Intially it starts out empty, but word of mouth should pick up. I highly doubt Delhi-6 would do any good (maybe ppl will go for Rahman’s music, let’s see.)
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anyone noticed om puri’s sidekick with a twisted mouth? i didnt find it funny at all, to make fun of someone’s physical disability..
i watched it on sunday evening at INOX in pune, and the hall was not even half-occupied. is billu going the kuselan way?
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Nick dude- I do agree with you that Billu is much much better than P.Vasu’s Kuselan & Kathanayakudu.You’ve identified most of thepoints well.But you have gone wrong as far as Manoj Joshi’s role is concerned.The role was not chopped off by P.Vasu.In fact R.Sunderrajan played the same arrogant character.He in fact asks Rajni quesions like ” neenga adikadi en imaya malaiki pogaringe”? or ” arasiyalikku varuvingala illaya”? ( why do you often go to the Himalayas?will you enter politics or not?) in fact this particular scene was supposed to have made the Rajni fans upset & all that
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Jha- To the best of knowledge Billu wouldnt go the Kuselan way.While I know the initial response isnt all that great.I have 2 strong reasons to feel Billu wouldnt go the Kuselan way-
1. Kuselan was made at a budget of 30 odd crores & was sold for 65 crores.So it had a lot of hype & expectations riding on it due to the money.
2. Billu’s budget would be very very nominal.Plus its not got pushed & promoted like a typical SRK movie.
My guess is that the movie will breakeven & probably earn some money.Not sure of anything more than that.
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hello, i am new to this site. i got introduced by a friend. i watched billu barber tonight and i thought it was good fun. the dialogues were hilarious, acting by everyone was remarkable, the village scene especially the markets and all were very well done. i dont understand why anyone would not find it a good fun-filled time-pass. i was not bored for a second. even the sad scenes were captivationg when billu gets arrested. then the last scene though a little overdone got the message across.
briefly put, i loved it and recommend it to everyone.
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Since I haven’t watched Katha Parayumbol,I cannot compare both films.But Billu Barber by Priyan far exceeded my expectations.This film again proves that SRK is not only a superstar,but a fine actor also if utilized properly.The real star of this film is Irfan who does really well.Other actors also performed well eventhough I found all item songs disappointing.
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I really felt anger towards audience who could tolerate a crap movie like Ghajini and make it the biggest blockbuster which has nothing in it,silly dialogues,cartoon villain whereas a good movie like Billu with its witty dialogues,restrained performances,and above all a heartwarming tale don’t have any takers
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Sharath – I repeat again that the movie is definitely worth watching especially for family audiences.Its not as good as Kadha Parayumbol but certainly much much better than Kuselan & Kathanayakadu.
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@Sethu
Have not seen Malayalam nor the Hindi hope to catch both soon.
As for P.Vasu is concerned Remember What he did with Manichitrathazu in Tamil.
I think most of Actors Down South have to Thank Mohanlal, because whenever an actor faces a tough time,they pick up a mohanlal movie and some crap masala and release it.Rajni did with muthu ,Vishnuvardhan did with Manichitrathazu Kannada Version.
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@fayfay
Dear…grow up. Zillionth times Priyan has shown the same characters uttering the same dialogues. They were funny when we saw them in Hera Pheri, or say Hungama…but he keeps on feeding the same thing to us, the audiences, every time.
Haven’t you got bored of watching a Asrani or a Rajpal Yadav or an Om Puri in the same getup, uttering the same lines, wearing the same costumes and creating the same so called funny situations?
I really expected something different this time (in spite of the presence of SRK), but I guess will have to contend and forbid myself watching any Priyan movie from next time.
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Cinemausher- What P.Vasu did to Manichitrathazhu was still ok when compared to what he did with Kadha Parayumbol.Thankfully I dont think Rajnikanth would wanna support any more misadventure of his again.
Galaxian- chill dude, you didnt like the movie, whereas fayfay liked.So whats the big deal?
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@Sethu,
Yes do not forget Muthu,which was remake of another malayalam movie.
@Sethu,
You should write an article on how malayalam movies remake had helped many people’s career.
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@ 20 Satyendra,
I don’t remember any scene where the side-kick was being ridiculed. He was just there to fill frame,I think.
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Umm, Billu is very gentle movie, IMO. It does not have lot of conflicts or any operatic scenes. It just flows gently. I liked that bit about the movie. May be I was in that frame of mind.
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Haan, Sethu, I think it will be at least an average money spinner.Definitely not a loss making proposition.
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Cinemausher- Muthu was a remake of a Priyan movie- Thenmavin Kombathu- Mohanlal & Shobana rocked in it.You’ve given me a good idea for an article.Will do it soon
Yes Vishesh- the movie is doing more than decently in the U.K & U.S.Even in India the movie will be called an average movie overall.
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@Sethu,
Eagerly waiting for the article.
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i liked Ghajini, and Billu Barber might be a good answer to the film… SRK lives up to his King Khan stardom… and Irfan Khan shines throughout the movie… absolutely loved it…
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