Billu Barber: Emotion-packed drama
Film: Billu Barber (Hindi)
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Star cast: Irrfan Khan, Lara Dutta and Shah Rukh Khan
Director: Priyadarshan
Rating: ***
Theatre: PVR, Fame, Inox, Fun
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Review: Billu (Irrfan Khan) is a honest, sincere and diligent rustic village barber, who is devoid of a decent roti, kapda or makaan. His petite wife (Lara Dutta) who's trying to borrow the basic necessities from here and there, stands by him during his tough times, but his two children Gunja and Duggu make no qualms about laughing at their father's plight.
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As he struggles to make two ends meet, a film unit decides to stay camp and shoot for a few days at their village Budbuda. This is where superstar Sahir Khan (SRK) makes his heroic entry. And the rest of the half is dedicated to Shah Rukh's film fight and song sequences, with some even going too far by showing glimpses of a second clipping of all his previous hits. Is that a desperate sign of trying too hard or just a requirement of the scene demand of showing his greatness, we wonder.
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But the news soon trickles down from his kids and spreads around the small town that Billu is the superstar Sahir Khan's childhood friend. All of a sudden, the villagers who used to scorn him start worshipping him, but of course with ulterior motives of meeting the hero. And when finally after much coaxing from friends and family, Billu tries to meet Sahir Khan, he is in vain. What it all leads to forms rest of the film. Is he able to finally meet his bichda dost? Find out.
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What's hot: The director has brought out humour from the most unexpected situations, which is the soul to the film. An emotion-packed drama, it is quite engrossing. Irrfan Khan, as always, scores over everyone in the flick with his very natural acting.
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What's not: Where the director falters is the pacing. A better editing could have worked wonders. Shah Rukh is good as always but proves with the climax scene why he deserves to be called a superstar. Apart from them, the film is full of Priyadarshan film regulars u2013 Rajpal Yadav, Asrani, Manoj Joshi and Rasika Joshi. Om Puri as the greedy sweet-talking moneylender is fun to watch. Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone add glam quotient by featuring in three item songs of sorts.u00a0u00a0
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