Billu - Movie Review

Priyadarshan’s new comedy-drama “Billu” is a stirring tale of friendship between a superstar heartthrob actor and an ordinary barber. The latest offering from the Shahrukh Khan’s home production Red Chillies stars Shahrukh Khan himself, Irrfan Khan, and Lara Dutta in wonderful piece of ensemble acting.

BILLU is story of an ordinary man, Bilas Rao Pardesi (Irrfan Khan), living in a village with his wife Bindiya (Lara Dutta) and two kids. Irrfan runs a hair cutting saloon at the market place near by his village. Ever since a new stylish saloon is opened in front of his shabby saloon no one comes to him, as he couldn't provide a splendid hair cutting experience in his old broken chair. His children are thrown out of the school as he fails to deposit their tuition fee after several reminders. Life is getting tougher for him as a single earning member of the family. Still he is very much engaged in simplifying the complicated things in his meager life.

Billu’s life takes a shaking turn when superstar Sahir Khan(Shah Rukh Khan) comes to the village for a film shoot. The village metamorphoses into a glittering fair and everyone is irrepressible to get a glimpse of the superstar. The real problem starts when people come to know that superstar Sahir khan is a friend of Billu. After this the reaction of villagers and their unexpected generosity towards Billu form the basis of what follows. The best part of the movie comes in the climax of the movie. The last scene between Shah Rukh and Irrfan is one of the best scenes in recent times. It’s so moving that you cannot resist your tears to fill your eyes. Brilliant performances from both the Khans.

It’s the modern version of the old age saga of friendship between lord Krishna and Sudama, though in this tale Sudama had never cheated with the lord Krishna in their childhood. In contrary, Billu had supported Sahir Khan in achieving his eminence. Yet poor Billu hasn’t got the courage to face his prosperous friend and is shying away from him. There are moments of overly cute comic shtick and the ingenuous personality of Irrfan’s character provides most of the laugh lines. For the most part, however, the characters are allowed to be genuinely human rather than stereotypes.

Shah Rukh has delivered a few good scenes as a rich and happening friend of Irrfan, but Irfan steals the show. It is Irrfan’s character Billu who ultimately is responsible for arranging some moving moments in the film.

Three item numbers with the stunning presence of Karina, Priyanka and Deepika have given the glamorous quotient to the film justifying the superstar status of Shahir Khan.

It is a touching story of friendship and Priyadarshan has filmed it brilliantly. Film’s cinematography is superb. The camera has beautifully captured the landscapes of the village. Rest of the job has been done by sharp editing. Film’s music is already a hit as “Marjani” and “Love Mera Hit Hit” topping the charts.

Billu may live up to its expectation, although its not one of the best works of Priyadarshan.

Cast:

Shahrukh Khan...... Sahir Khan

Irrfan Khan...... Billo Barber (Vilas Pardesi)

Lara Dutta...... Bindiya

Asrani...... Nobat Chacha

Om Puri...... Damchand

Rajpal Yadav...... Jhallan Prasad Budbudia

Manoj Joshi...... Damodar Dubey

Jagdish...... Madan

Rasika Joshi...... Principal Gahalot

Pratik Dalvi...... Duggu

Mitali Mayakar...... Gunja

Atul Parchure...... Charandas Chaubey

Chirag Vohra...... Jerry

Crew:

Director: Priyadarshan

Producer: Gauri Khan

Lyrics: Gulzar, Sayeed Quadri

Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty

Cinematography: M.Manikandan

Editing: Arun Kumar

Screenplay: Mushtaque Shiekh, Priyadarshan

Story Writer: Srinivasan

Action Direction: Thyagarajan