Billu Barber

Title: Billu Barber
Director: Priyadarshan
Starring: Irfan Khan, Lara Dutta, Shahrukh Khan, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani, Om Puri
Length : about 138 minutes
Describe the movie in one word: SurprisinglyAmazing!

The Plot: Billu (Irfan Khan) is a very poor barber in a small village Budbudiya. He is absolutely bankrupt and has no money for food, clothes, to pay his children’s school fees. His business is ruined by a new up market “hair dresser” who has just opened up shop opposite his “barber shop”. He is married to Lara Dutta who is a devoted and loving wife. Together they are somehow managing to stay alive trying to scrape whatever they can and carry on living. Despite all the hardships though Billu has a canny sense of humor which is often sarcastic owing to his current predicaments. One fine day a shooting crew lands in Budbudiya along with the news that Bollywood mega star Sahir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) is shooting his next movie there. The whole village goes crazy. Sahir is as big in the movie as Shah Rukh is in real life. Neighboring villages come in hordes to watch Sahir in action. Sahir is hot property and everyone wants a piece of him. Amidst this madness somehow a rumor circulates that Billu is Sahir Khan’s friend. Billu constantly denies the rumor but suddenly now Billu is as good as Sahir. He is a mega star. People who normally would laugh at him, make fun of him, mock him are worshipping him. Everyone is trying to get to Sahir via Billu and is ready to pay whatever price Billu wants for it. And Billu? He just wants out of this spotlight. He is uncomfortable. He keeps on denying people but people just won’t listen. Now does Billu really know Sahir? Is it possible that a nobody poor famished barber from an unknown village has a connection with the golden boy Sahir Khan or is it just a rumor? The movie is all about what all Billu’s life goes through when Sahir Khan comes to his town.

My Psychobabble: The movie opens up with a letter sent by Billu (Irfan Khan) to a government official who approves government loans for small businesses. The government official reads that letter out aloud and guys I was sold into the movie right at the instance! I knew this is going to be a freaking good movie and so it is! To be honest I had had enough of cheap rubbish comedies that were churned out of Priyadarshan factory one after the other. Same characters, same portrayals, similar situations, hell it had started feeling like watching a big screen version of those non sense Ekta Kapoor Sas Bahu serials!

But Billu Barber my dear friends is quite a remarkable movie. Direction is pretty good. Yes there are times when the movie seems to stretch and becomes a bit boring but considering the sum of parts as a whole the movie is very well directed. The situations and characters are not out of life or irritatingly stupid morons doing all sort of caricatures and indulging in cheap vulgarities to try and make you laugh. They all seem real and the comic factor comes from their simplicity. One particular aspect of this movie that deserves a mention is the perfect balancing act of emotions that the movie delivers. You cannot help but laugh at a particular situation while feeling sorry for the poor character on whom you are laughing.

The actors, oof! Where do I begin! All of them and I mean ALL of them (yes even SRK!) have been brilliant. Irfan Khan is outperforming. Matlab ye to banda aisa jama hai is role main jaise apne politicians kursi pe jam jaate hain. It is so hard to imagine anyone but Irfan Khan in this role. He has this amazing laid back quality of dialogue delivery where he seems to be lofting his dialogues in the vacant air around him for people to look at and not listen. Simply put, Irfan Khan gets a standing ovation from moi.

Tangent: I do need to come up with more witty metaphors and similes. I have used this politician one so many times now that ironically this satire has become a politician in my own reviews that will just not go away!
Another actor who really surprised me in this movie is Lara Dutta. It was so astonishingly different to see her as a really poor married village woman who is devoid of any glamour whatsoever. She has proved that she can act and is not just a glam doll or eye candy. Yes she has come out as a very good actress indeed.


SRK is good. He is quite good but I reckon that is because he was portraying his real life status of a self proclaimed demi god in the movie. The guy is very good of course but as an actor he does go overboard a lot and becomes a “jhel” at times. One advise Mr. SRK – please either ask the director to not zoom the camera too much on your face or get your teeth cleaned. During the entire speech, your nicotine stained teeth were as clearly visible as the yellow grime on my bathroom floor.

Tangent: There I go again! I have given another excuse for the SRK fan brigade to diss me…darn!

One thing that is worth mentioning here is that this is one movie after a long time which has actually utilized Rajpal Yadav and Asrani. They were both making appearances now and then in other movies but were more like mosquitoes buzzing over your ears. Irritating and something that you just wanted to get rid of and you didn’t mind accidently slapping yourself while trying to buzz them away. Not in this one though. They have not only just performed well their characters were very well written. Om Puri is a laugh riot! The moment he comes on screen you brace yourself for a bout of giggles and laughs!


In the end a special mention for a character who had about 10 minutes in the movie. Of these 10 minutes he gave about 6 minutes where you will laugh so hard you might end up pissing your pants. The most hillarious sequence of the movie is down to this wonderful actor. I won't reveal beyond this but trust me when it happens, you will know its happening! Kudos my man kudos!

Verdict: Go and go now. Don’t miss this movie. Yes you might not agree with my opinion that the movie is a fine piece of acting and direction but that will not prevent you from enjoying it. You might not love it but I am quite sure you will not dislike it. The money and time is worth it.