Why I look forward to Billu Barber

Before I left home for office today, I was just customarily watching Channel V & MTV and I happened to see the first song of Billu Barber on MTV- “Marjaani”. That set me thinking a lot about the movie & then I realized that sitting 6 weeks from the release of the movie (Feb 13th is the release date as of now), I am actually looking forward to Billu Barber and hence this write-up is to explain why I’m looking forward to it.

The Obvious Details

Before I get on with the reasons for looking forward to the film there are a few obvious details about the movie to be mentioned & dispensed away with. Billu Barber, produced by SRK & directed by Priyadarshan ( hereafter referred as Priyan) is the Hindi remake of the Malayalam super hit movie “Kadha Parayumbol” ( meaning- while narrating a story).
It’s a modern adaptation of the classic Krishna-Sudama tale that we’ve ( most of us atleast) grown up listening to. The movie was produced by Sreenivasan & Mukesh and directed by M.Mohanan a debutant.The movie was based on a story written by Sreenivasan himself who is known to be a prolific writer apart from being a competent actor.

The story is all about a barber- Balan (Sreenivasan) who lives by his principles in a village with his beautiful wife (Meena) and kids. One day his childhood friend, the current superstar of Malayalam cinema – Mammooty comes to the village for a film shoot & Balan’s life undergoes a journey of dramatic twists. Sreenivsan was excellent as Balan,the movie was very realistic & while Mammooty had very less screen presence, in the climax he makes the audience weep along with him & overall the movie was a throwback to the days of the 80’s when Malayalam cinema was at its best.

Kadha Parayumbol was remade as Kuselan in tamil & Kathanayakudu in telugu.Rajnikanth played the superstar in both, Meena reprised her role in both tamil & telugu.The barber’s role was played by Pasupathy in tamil & Jagapathy Babu in telugu. Unfortunately the movie bombed in both tamil & telugu.The focus was very much on Rajnikanth & the essence of the movie got diluted.

Why do I look forward to the movie?

For one, the movie is directed by Priyadarshan who though more widely known as a master of comedy films, has made a lot of intense/realistic movies like Kaalapani (Siraichalai in tamil, Sazaa-E-Kaalapani in Hindi),Ninnishtam Ennishtam, Aryan,Nirnayam,Advaitham, Thalavattom, Virasat etc.Even his remake of Manichitra Thazhu titled Bhool Bulaiyya was more or a less a serious remake of the original Malayalam classic unlike P.Vasu’s Apthamitra in Kannada & Chandramukhi in Tamil & Telugu. So I know that the direction is in the safe hands of someone who knows how to remain true to the script when required.

Secondly the producer is SRK who has been a brave producer so far. He knows that he needs to make money and so for that he makes OSO, Chalte Chalte or Main Hoon Na for that. But whenever his interest falls upon a suitable subject – he is bold enough to make it into a movie- be it Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Ashoka or Paheli.With Billu Barber I would say he is again making a brave move. Brave because for one, he is not the lead actor here. Irrfan Khan plays the barber (Lara Dutta plays his wife) and the story revoleves around him- let’s have no doubt about it. Also considering the fiasco that the tamil & telugu movie became after all the hype, it takes all the more guts to go ahead & still make the movie.

Next let’s talk about the promotion of the movie. Yes I know it’s a bit too early since we’ve only seen one promo so far & the first song has just come on air today. But here is what I have to say on the movie’s promotion. All those like me who’ve seen the promo have seen that the focus is on Irrfan Khan as he narrates his story & SRK is also shown as a part of it. Now this is sheer straight thinking. Instead of doing the mistake done by P.Vasu & Co where the entire promotion- posters, CD/cassette cover etc screamed Rajnikanth & even Nayanthara who did not have even a proper dialogue in the movie, SRK & Priyan are on the right track by showing it as it was done in case of the Malayalam original.

While on the movie itself since Priyan has clarified that it will be an honest remake of Kadha Parayumbol I would say that I’m looking forward to a realistic portrayal from Irffan Khan as Billu Barber. I am also hopeful of actually seeing something different from Lara Dutta as it’s not a glamourous role for her. I am looking forward to SRK sweeping our hearts in the climax & based on the Malayalam orginal I am looking forward to some genuinely well made characters ( supporting) and some more than decent music.

All in all I have a very honest expectation from the movie- that of watching a delightful entertainer which is a throwback to the good old days of cinema- when entertaining need not have to be lavish sets or shooting abroad relentlessly. So that’s why I look forward to Billu Barber eagerly.

Disclaimer- I am not connected to the project in any way and this is not a promotional feature of any sorts for the movie. It’s just an honest write-up from a movie lover based upon the experience of watching the original Malayalam (lovely) and the remake in Tamil (disastrous).

Originally published in PFC- check it out here -
http://passionforcinema.com/why-i-look-forward-to-billu-barber/