*~*~`* Billu Barbar Fanclub`*~`~*Stills PG 15 - Page 26

New Int'l. Release

Billu Barber
(India)
By DEREK ELLEY

An Eros Entertainment release of a Red Chillies Entertainment production. (International sales: Eros, London.) Produced by Gauri Khan. Executive producer, Sanjiv Chawla. Directed by Priyadarshan. Associate director, Abilast Nair. Screenplay, Mushtaq Sheikh, Priyadarshan, Manisha Korde; story, P. Shrinivasan.

With: Irrfan Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Lara Dutta, Om Puri, Asrani, Rajpal Yadav, Manoj Joshi, Jagdish, Rasika Joshi, Pratik Dalvi, Mitali Mayakar, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor.
(Hindi dialogue)

Bigtime Bollywood meets small-town India with quietly entertaining, finally moving results in "Billu Barber." Simple tale of friendship cleverly manages to bring together superstar Shah Rukh Khan, in full-on pin-up mode, with Irrfan Khan, who's developed into one of the industry's best character actors, in a movie that straddles both mainstream Hindi cinema and more specialty fare. Mid-February release, produced by Khan's own company, Red Chillies, won't approach the grosses of his last starrer, "Rab ne bana di jodi," but is way more engaging on an emotional level.

Bilas Rao Pardesi, aka Billu (Irrfan Khan), is a struggling barber in the small country town of Budbuda, with a young wife, Bindiya (convincingly deglammed Lara Dutta), and two kids (Mitali Mayakar, Pratik Dalvi). When Bollygod Sahir "King" Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) hits town to shoot his latest blockbuster, Billu's life is sent into a free spin as word spreads that he's an old friend of the star's.

Everyone is suddenly Billu's pal, from venal moneylender Daamchand (vet Om Puri) to the local school principal (Rasika Joshi). The downside is that Billu doesn't think Sahir Khan will remember him, and becomes embarrassed by all the attention heaped on him, even though his business now flourishes.

First half takes its time drawing the local community and contrasting it with the actor's privileged lifestyle, as he's perpetually surrounded by bodyguards and assistants in a Bollywood bubble. But the wait is worth it: Post-intermission, the two worlds start to come together, with a final half-hour that pulls a couple of surprises prior to an understated, affecting finale.

Flashy, well-staged musical numbers are inserted with no attempt to integrate them into the drama. They're simply from the film Khan is making, with a roster of Bollywood glamour: Deepika Padukone (from "Om Shanti Om"), Kareena Kapoor (in the pic's standout number, "Mar Jaani") and Priyanka Chopra. When Dutta is unexpectedly featured in one number, it ends suddenly, with her waking up as she falls from her bed.

In between, the film has some fun with the sheer fascination Bollywood exerts on the lives on ordinary rural Indians when it descends into their midst. But that never impinges on the main story, which remains firmly centered on Billu and his family.

Jack-of-all-trades helmer Priyadarshan hits a career high here, aided by striking lensing of the Pollachi locations and saturated color processing that's sharp and detailed.

Camera (color, widescreen), V. Manikanandan; editor, Arun Kumar; background music, Sandeep Chowta; song music, Pritam Chakraborty; lyrics, Gulzar, Sayeed Qadri; production designer, Sabu Cyril; costume designers, Manish Malhotra, Neeta Lulla, Naresh Malhotra, Anahita Shroff Adajania, V. Sai Babu; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS Digital), Raja Krishnan; visual effects producer, Keitan Yadav; visual effects, Red Chillies F/X; choreography, Farah Khan, Pony Verma, Prasanna. Reviewed at Cinestar Potsdamer Platz 4, Berlin, Feb. 17, 2009. Running time: 137 MIN. (I: 68 MIN.: II: 69 MIN

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939712.html?categoryid=31&cs=1

Film Journal Billu Barber- - Spoilers

A small Indian village gets upturned with excitement when a big Bollywood film comes to shoot, and the townsfolk think their local barber is great buddies with the star.

Feb 19, 2009
-By Frank Lovece

There is a type of movie, particular to the U.K., that I like to call "Stiff Upper Brit": A village of charming eccentrics either pulls together or seems to come apart before recovering when an important newcomer arrives, or there's an emergency or a contest at stake. The classic is Bill Forsyth's Local Hero (1983), in which an oil-company rep only thinks he's in charge of negotiations with a seaside village all too eager to sell out, and others, of course, include the likes of Waking Ned Devine (1998), Blow Dry (2001) and The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995).

The Bollywood film Billu Barber (its onscreen title in the U.S. and the U.K., after objections by the Hairdressers Associations of Mumbai resulted in the removal of "Barber" from the title in India) is one of these, and a delight it is. Irrfan Khan, the police inspector in Slumdog Millionaire, plays poor, decent, put-upon barber Bilas Rao Pardesi, a.k.a. Billu, in the fictional provincial town of Budbuda. A more modern hairstyling salon has stolen most of his business, local ne'er-do-wells hang around the entrance to his modest shop, and the local elementary school is threatening to remove his two children, daughter Gunja (Mitali Mayakar) and son Duggu (Pratik Dalvi), for lack of tuition payment. His only consolation seems to be that his wife, Bindiya, unaccountably looks like Miss Universe—which indeed co-star Lara Dutta was in 2000 before starring in a score of films.

When Bollywood superstar Sahir Khan (real-life superstar Shah Rukh Khan, playing a thinly veiled version of himself) arrives in town with a major film crew to shoot a picture in the quaint, northern India village, the sleepy town understandably goes bonkers. It gets even more crazy after Billu's kids, to whom he's said that he used to know Khan, brag about their dad's connection—feeding the local gossip chain until everyone from the local rich blowhard (Om Puri) to the local bad beatnik poet (Rajpal Yadav) all think Billu can introduce them. No matter how hard Billu tries to dissuade them, the deluded denizens won't listen. No good can come of that, and doesn't. But thank goodness for superstars with long memories. What? Did you think it wouldn't have a happy ending?

Billu Barber reaches that point with sharp pokes at self-important bureaucrats, merchants, "artistes" and others, and wry humor throughout. What makes it work, however, is that neither Billu nor his situation is played for laughs—his hardscrabble poverty isn't glossed over, and neither is his wife's longing for acceptance in the class-conscious village. And a climactic speech by Khan at a school gathering works fully well emotionally, despite a huge potential for hokiness—and incidentally provides concrete reason why real-life Khan, who's often starred in glowering action-hero roles, is a genuinely top-notch actor in addition to being a popular star.

Speaking of which, babelicious Bollywood starlets Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra appear as themselves in pretty ka-pow musical numbers from two movies-within-the-movie.

http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/reviews/specialty-releases/e3i83b3be812614cf9914f15c8b1f8ec0c9
--

Irrfan Khan steals the show in charming film about friendship

Docky Dockrat's Bollywood Scene Published:Feb 22, 2009

Billu Barber (8/10): "It's so simple to be difficult yet so difficult to be simple" was a famous dialogue sprouted by Rajesh Khanna in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's 1972 classic Bawarchi. The late Mukherjee was the master of "simplicity". If another Indian filmmaker was required to step into his shoes, Priyadarshan would get my vote. To put it plainly, he is simply taking "simplicity" to another level.

For evidence, take this engaging film about a village barber with bleak prospects who suddenly becomes popular with his neighbours after a top Bollywood star, with whom he claims to have enjoyed a childhood friendship, arrives to shoot in their locality. As the star-struck villagers go berserk, so the barber is elevated from ignominy to local celebrity.

Getting to meet the star to prove this "friendship" ends up being almost impossible as the star's minders are under strict instructions to keep the public at arm's length, and the barber is uncertain if the star remembers him and is afraid to find out. As a result, the people who previously celebrated him resort to belittling him.

It's the classic tale of a commoner reluctant to claim ties to the king as he is unsure if he will be welcomed to the palace or thrown out, and that's essentially all there is to the story, but Priyan embellishes it with a moving screenplay that delivers a heart-warming movie brimming with moments of joy, humour and tears.

Priyan's direction meanders, he takes the scenic route through the countryside rather than the highway that would have got him to his destination quicker. As with all his films, there is a stage-like quality to the proceedings, with the cast delivering their lines in an orchestrated manner.

Shahrukh Khan, though, is excused. As the producer, he is allowed to do as he likes and he relishes the freedom. This is probably the least-demanding role he has done as all he is required to do is be Baadshah Khan. SRK uses the opportunity to mock the absurdity of his superstar status and poke fun at his (though not always true) rivalries with Salman and Aamir.

Shahrukh's role is defined as "incidental", as it's mainly confined to performing songs that resemble aerobics. He does secure the movie's defining moment through a lengthy soliloquy delivered as only he can, with warmth and passion. He also includes some memorable footage from his past roles that further highlight his superstar status. His colleagues Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone prance and dance and do little else. The film's charm lies in Irrfan Khan's performance. If SRK brings glamour to this film, Irrfan instills it with heart. He carries proceedings and his presence sets this film apart. Unlike SRK, Irrfan never resorts to an "in your face" approach to be noticed, he simply gets on with it.

Although his acting is not spectacular, it's so self assured that, with seemingly little effort, he towers above the rest. He is so commanding that Lara Dutta, who has the next big role as his long-suffering but star-struck wife, plays in his shadow. The test that his ordeal places on their relationship and his relationship with his children is well captured.

Of Shahrukh's four productions for Red Chillies thus far, this one is the most uncomplicated. It may not possess the pizzazz of Om Shanti Om, the thrills of Main Hoon Naa or the supernatural riddle that was Paheli, but its heart is in the right place, and it spreads its message of friendship and loyalty in a charming manner that exudes joy and goodwill.

E-mail: dockydockrat@ gmail.com

http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/News/Article.aspx?id=943972

---