Billu Barber --- Movie Review

Originally Published on PassionforCinema

The king of comedy , Priyadarshan , is back and this time he has a different story to tell with a different star . This is an another Hindi Remake of a south film after Ghajini that has hit the cinema halls and in my opinion a better one . If Ghajini was a full on Masala film with no story as such , this one on the contrary has a good and different story to tell . Billu Barber has been in news since long before Ghajini and was suppose to release before it but somehow this one got delayed . One always expects entertainment when Priyadarshan's name comes to mind and if along with Priyadarshan a name like SRK gets associated the expectations tend to rise even more . Though SRK as we know has just a guest appearance sort of role in the film and is there just to add a little bit of commercial entertainment into it .

This one has Irrfan Khan and Lara Dutta in the lead and there is no doubt about it . SRK and the director have highlighted the central character Billu only and in no ways SRK's character hijacks or take overs the film . Off late SRK's character's have grown up on screen and have started talking more like a mature guy . And whether it was his cameo in Luck By Chance or his role in this film of a superstar . Here also he is a mature superstar who is stands firmly on the ground despite all his stardom .

The film is entirely focussed on Billu the Barber and his life in the small villlage of Bud-buda . He has an old barber shop which is running on heavy losses and he some how manages to feed his family . He has a son and a daughter who are also aware of his situation and try to adjust some how . His beautiful wife Lara is also very sweet and doesn't keep nagging his husband for his failures . Billu faces a strict competition from a modern Saloon and his old "Kesh Kartanalaya" stands no where as compared to the modern saloon . Om Puri who plays a rich "baniya" tries his best to allure Billu to take loan from him and renovate his shop but Billu doesn't fall to his shrewd tactics . His life is as usual until a superstar , Saahir Khan , decides to come to his village for shooting a film .

The peaceful small village suddenly starts buzzing and suddenly there is surge of people coming into the village from neighbouring places to see the shooting of the film . Billu who knows Saahir from the days when he was in college suddenly comes in the spotlight and everyone in the village starts chasing him and tries to bribe him so that they can meet Saahir Khan . Poor billu falls into this situation against his will and now everyone starts expecting to meet Saahir through Billu . Billu's shop suddenly becomes a hot spot in village and his fortune takes a u-turn . Billu becomes a star in the village and he in a way gets to see what a star has to face and how people change overnight because of the stardom . He tries all the ways to meet saahir and talk to him but all his efforts go in vain . Well , his stardom finally ends and he faces the humiliation of the villagers . Even his own kids stop talking to him and his shop returns to its previous state . And towards the end something very unexpected happens and Saahir meets Billu revealing everything about their friendship .

The film's story by Sreenivasan is a real nice one and Priyadarshan very well understood the feel of story and has tried to keep things as simple and real as possible . His treatment was a little different than usual and in the process he makes a nice and simple family film which will appeal to everyone . There is the usual Priyadarshan comedy with his favourites Rajpal Yadav , Om Puri and Asrani . But the one performance amongst these that stood out was that of Atul Parchure who plays a Guest House owner who wishes to be an actor . The sequence where he delivers some lines of a policeman for Saahir's film leaves everyone in the splits .

The whole film focuses on Irrfan and he gives a fine performance as an unconfident simple and common man . He very well portrays the helplessness of the central character and the trials and tribulations he has to face for the sake of his family's well being . Lara Dutta also gives a fine performance and she looks really beautiful as the simple and beautiful village girl . Irrfan and Lara looked good on screen and even their kids were great . The kids also acted really well and the entire family looked really good on-screen and looked very much real . Lara's portrayal of a simple village woman was also really sweet and it was nice to see her in such a role . SRK also gave in a good performance and despite his small role he does good .

Priyadarshan needs to complimented for making such a simple and good family film . This was a little different than his usual works and different in a good way . This film has no cliche commercial elements apart from the song and dance sequences having SRK . The good thing about the film is that despite it being an emotional entertainer has very less of stereotypical scenes and doesn't have unnecessary crying and dialogue-baazi . It is also not that long a film which comes as plus point for the film . At no point its feels that the film is getting very slow and long . The locations and songs are also good and make it look good visually .

Overall , its a nice film that is worth watching and needs to be appreciated for its different storyline and treatment . Its a feel good film and would not disappoint at all . Irrfan and Lara give a fine performance and Priyadarshan gives a film different from his usual style .

Film Rating : Three and Half out of Five Stars ; definitely worth a watch .