Why does Barfi score over Chaplin?
Barfi is replete with Chaplinesque moments. No, I don’t mean Charlie Chaplin. Although there is a fair share of that in Ranbir’s antics and the deliberately old world background score. I am talking about Anindo Banerjee’s Bengali movie Chaplin (2011), featuring Rudranil Ghosh in the title role. Depicting protagonists who laugh in the face of adversities, both movies uphold the spirit of Charlie Chaplin. While Barfi does it through a love triangle, sans bitterness, Chaplin achieves the comedian’s essence through a father-son relationship. Scripted by Padyanabha Dasgupta, a year before Anurag Basu, Chaplin shares many merits and flaws with Barfi. However the thriller angle in Barfi gives it an edge over Anindo Banerjee’s film
Artists at heart, Barfi (Barfi), Bangshi and Nimua (Chaplin), imaginatively fill up voids in their lives. The deaf and dumb Barfi proposes to Sruti by seemingly placing his beating heart on a tea plate. Bangshi and Nimua dip dry pieces of bread in water, pretending to enjoy a sumptuous meat curry. Two lonely, upper-class women, Sruti (in Barfi) and Rina (in Chaplin), discover simple joys in life through their interactions with the protagonists. Slapstick humour in both movies disguises pangs of poverty, making us smile through tears.
Superlative performances by the lead actors constitute another highlight of these movies. Effortless gliding from slapstick comedy to poignancy establish Rudranil Ghosh and child artist Soham Maitra as acting geniuses. Relying only on expressions and gestures in Barfi, Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra render physically and mentally challenged individuals touchingly real. Ileana D'Cruz is marvellous as a woman caught between the promise of a stable but insipid upper- class existence and the excitements of Barfi's trampish life.
On the flip side, both films suffer from melodramatic moments. Barfi conveniently runs into Sruti in an over-crowded city like Calcutta. Romance is stretched to the extreme when Sruti abandons her comfortable married life for Barfi's hovel or when Jhilmil and Barfi practically die in each other's arms. Chaplin too ends on a needlessly dramatic note. Determined to fulfil the wish of his terminally ill son, Bangshi organizes Nimua’s birthday party instead of performing in the final round of a comedy contest. But as Bangshi entertains Nimua with his Chaplinesque antics in a darkened theatre; Rina dramatically walks in with press reporters and the entire crew of the comedy contest. The film ends with artist Bangshi finally getting his overdue appreciation.
Despite these similarities, Anurag Basu counteracts sugary-sweet romance with Jhilmil's actual and fake kidnappings. Although the second half drags a little, Jhilmil and Barfi's escapades revive the pace. The plot gets convoluted. But Basu cleverly makes one of the characters retell Jhilmil's three escapes/kidnappings, clarifying it for the audience. Lacking any such angle, the pathos in Chaplin hangs heavy after a while. Comic attempts by some side characters appear forced. Rachita's inconsistent acting mars some genuinely touching scenes.
However, as we celebrate Barfi's official entry to the Oscars, let's not forget our regional cinema. Made a year before Barfi, Chaplin gives quite a competition to this Bollywood blockbuster.
