Barfi
(Character Analysis)
A movie that I had first watched during my training days almost 7 years ago, on a lazy Sunday afternoon decided to watch it again. Now, I cannot really describe in as many words as to what brought me to watch this gem again. Probably, it was the heart warming songs, or the writing, the towering acts by the leads or probably the characterization of the central lead, Barfi.
Murphy(pronounced as Barfi due to a speech deficit) is a happy go lucky boy, always smiling despite his life being nothing short of a tragedy. Born mute and deaf in a humble household, soon losing his mother and later his father, and suffering from a major heartbreak, the man has seen it all. But he is always smiling and positive, and it is this positivity that sees him sail through the rough times. We can see from the fact that Barfi is furious with Shruti for not accepting his proposal(which can be determined by his actions), but the very next moment he apologises and wishes her the best with a wide smile on his face.
Barfi also signifies the second chances in life. Once suffering from a heartbreak with Shruti whom he really loved from the bottom of his heart, he meets Jhilmil(herself suffering from autism). And love blossoms in the most unexpected place between two incomplete individuals. As Shruti says later in the film, “Barfi adhura tha par uska pyaar poora tha”. And their love lasted beyond a lifetime even in death. As they say, till death do us apart! It just shows what a little bit of positivity and love can do in life.
We all have a Barfi in us, hiding behind layers of negativity. All we need to do is brush off the cobwebs of negativity and discover the positivity. And a cheat code for it is to keep smiling, it doesn’t cost us does it? As the lines of the song say:
Itni si hasi,
Itni si khushi,
Itna sa tukda chand ka,
Khwabon ke tinko se,
Chal banaaye aashiyaan.