Billu Barber is the movie I was waiting for a long time. Being an ardent Sharukh Admirer I was sure this movie will be a great experience. As Priyadarshan, Irfan and Shahrukh combination would be a blast to say the least.
The story of the movie is not at all bad. It is about a rural setup where a barber named Bilas Rao Pardesi aka Billu is struggling to make his ends meet. He has two kids and a pretty wife. Billu’s story seemed authentic and Irfan is brillient as Billu. He is a childhood friend of the Superstar Sahir Khan. Shahrukh as Sahir Khan is ordinary to say the least. Though its not entirely his fault. There was nothing to do in that role. It was more of a "special appearence got stretched" type role!
As Sahir Khan enters the scene the movie looses grip, pace and everything! The item songs start. And the movie becomes an ordinary bollywood masala film. Actors like Asrani and Om Puri are sidelined just to give more time to the Item songs. The end was predictable.
Performences:
Shahrukh Khan started off with a daring film like Darr. Is sadly becoming typecast in Superstar kind of ITEM roles.
Lara Dutta could not do any justice to the role given. I don’t know what made the director choose a miss world to do the role. Lara’s dialogue delivery is also very bad. She speaks with an urban Punjabi accent which was not fit for Billu’s wife!
Irfan as I have mentioned earlier was a delight to watch. His expressions were crystel clear and dialogue delivery was different from his regular films. Which made the characterisation of Billu perfect.
The kids were natural. Manoj Joshi as Manager Dubey is good.
Music:
There was no need for any Shahrukh songs in the movie. They were a total waste of time. The two songs picturised on Irfan were ok. I liked the "Jaoon Kahan".
Conclusion:
After watching the entire movie I was unable to comprehend what Priyadarshan wanted to show. The simplicity and pureness of Billu or greatness of Sahir Khan? What made him insert all those meaningless item songs?