Movie Review: Billu Barber

Billu (Barber) is a sweet, simple story of two friends back together after years of separation, during which one ends up going to Mumbai and becoming a super star, while the other barely manages to make ends meet as a barber in a small town in UP.

The super star Sahir Khan, played by SRK, comes to the small village (town) of Budbuda for shooting of his next film, and word quickly spreads that he's an old friend of Billu the Barber. From a non-entity, Billu and his family suddenly becomes the darling of the town, everyone pampering him with gifts and attention, for one small favour - an introduction with his friend, the King Khan. But Billu is not interested - it's been far too long, and he's not sure Sahir will care to even recognize him now. Sahir is too busy with his shooting, and surrounded by Z security to keep him away from the thousands of teeming fans. He's not even aware that Billu is in this town. For that matter, one isn't even sure if he indeed is Billu's childhood friend. Will they finally get together?

The movie is a treat for SRK's fans - he looks simply awesome playing the King Khan. The movie is a tribute to the star entertainer he is - peppered with visuals from his earlier movies, some great song and dance sequences with the stunning Deepika, Priyanka and a never-looked-better-before Kareena, and some very naughty and smart one liners - watch out for the closing comment on Pappu Can't Dance - and see the smile on the King Khan's face and the twinkle in his eyes :)

Irrfan plays Billu with aplomb, delivering some high quality stuff. Lara as his wife is surprisingly good too. So are the kids. They make up a family that you will instantly relate to. The headmistress is fun, and a couple of other characters are well done - but many others are noticeably amateurish.

The dialogues are good, streaked with humour. The Inspector acting scene got the audience in splits. The songs grow on you over time, and I particularly liked Marjaani, Love Mera Hit Hit, Khudaya Khair and Ae Ya O for their energy and beats. Khudaya Khair is also extremely well picturized and executed - starting with a innocent village setting and morphing into a hip and sexy number half way through. Deepika looks super stunning in Love Mera Hit Hit, and SRK executes one of the best dance moves I have seen - when he moves back while tapping his feet.

The locales are fantastic, the night sequences with the dark blueish tinged photo filters and the mist covered mountains in the background brings a magical hue to the setting. The town itself is represented by a minutely thought out set - check the characters and happenings in the backgrounds when the story shifts to the town square. The only problem - it's too well off to be a small town in UP, and everyone wears brightly starched, clean white kurtas and pyjamas.

Overall, if you are not a SRK fan, this is one of those movies you can check out over the weekend. If you are a SRK fan like I am, this one will take you to heaven.