Don't worry be BARF! .

I was extremely confused what should I write about this Friday. Should I mention about my favorite styles in my favorite film or about the fashion disasters or some style evolution of a star, was almost going to settle for one these topics until I toppled upon a throwback post about “BARFI” yesterday on Instagram. I guess we all know what I am talking about?? Remember that smile on Barfi’s face, which melted our hearts. So throwback was that the film “Barfi” had released on 14^th September, 4 years back.

Barfi’s innocent and comical gestures not only stole Shruti and Jhilmil’s hearts in the film but also all the viewers’ hearts that saw the film. Barfi was an immediate hit among the Indian masses. Powerful performances by not just Mr. RK and Priyanka Chopra but also the supporting cast made the script actually dance in front of us. The film also marked the bollywood debut of Ileana D’cruz who managed to create her mark among the other powerful characters.

Not only the strong caste but melodious music by Pritam , beyond stunning cinematography by Ravi Varman, ISC ,  cool narrative skills by our director Anurag Basu and how can I forget to mention Costumes which brought life to amazing character penned in the script.

The costume designers for the film were Aki Narula and Shafalina. The film is set in 1970’s in Darjeeling and Kolkatta, which is quite relative to the costumes in the film. 

                                 

The Retro styles and silhouettes adorned by Shruti (Ileana), smoothly transition into beautiful Bengali kantha saris post her marriage. Jhilmil(Priyanka) surprisingly looked adorable in those printed frocks with Peter Pan collar and  Bloomers, white socks and those Buckle up black shoes. Lets come to our hero Barfi, his character sketch was quite interesting with the tiniest details. From the muted vintage color story of his costumes to those ordinary checked half sleeves shirts with V-neck sweater, those old school trousers and to top it off his beret (cap)! There was nothing that I didn’t like about his character or costumes. But am I the only one who felt that the film had its major inspiration from one of our all time favorite films "Notebook" ?? Certain scenes had visibly comparable resemblances and a few ideas were indirectly inspired from the film.

I have managed to pull out a few scenes in the film which I felt are pretty much inspired from the film Notebook, not just costumes but the whole setup and impression.

 

 The Barfi's look, saw major inspiration from Noah (Ryan Gosling) in the film notebook. We saw Noah as a young innocent guy living in the countryside with his father. He had speech issues and we saw him practice speech with his father every evening. Our Barfi didn't have speech issues but something similar , he was deaf and that's why he couldn't speak. He also lived with his father in a small town(Darjeeling). The shirts and trousers and those baseball jackets in earthy tones and blues, Barfi was sporting straightaway reminded me of Noah.

Are we on the same page?????The test of trust scene, Remember when Barfi tests all his friends and loved ones!!!!? The only who passes is Jhilmil. Both have different ways of portraying in the film but quite relatable to each other.

Not just Noah tries to impress Allie with his circus skills by climbing the ferris wheel but Barfi also manages to amuse Shruti in the film by hanging on the Clock tower of Darjeeling. The first conversation scene in both the films should be quite inspiring for the boys out there!

                            

Noah and Barfi both in half sleeves shirts and trousers woo their girls by taking them on the carefree rides around the hills. Both our rich heroines as compared to our heroes, Allie and Shruti also had quite a lot of similarities in their costumes.They were seen wearing beautiful and trendiest costumes, accessories and shoes of their era.

 Although Noah is wearing Military cap and Barfi traditional Pahadi topi still they look strongly alike. 

The red sweater in the background which our Jhilmil is wearing is inspired from Allie definitely. Barfi in an old school Bomber jacket with trousers almost same color stories like Noah. One of my favorite scenes in both the films.

The scene where Shruti's mom takes her to the woods to show her Ex-love , I guess as soon as I saw that scene I could straightaway connect to the scene where Allie's mom takes her to make her realize about what she would have missed out on in life if she would have married her love instead of being practical and marrying her father. 

Jhilmil and Barfi dying in eachother's arms on a hospital bed, the last scene in the film that moist our eyes and had all of us go awww had key inspiration from Noah and Allie in Notebook. Sleeping on the same tiny bed holding hands and resting in eachother's arms. Similar much.

Despite of the film having some or I would say a lot of similarities with the film Notebook, it didn’t fail to leave a smear in our hearts, I guess that’s why today even after 4 years I am sitting, writing and discussing about the film. I am still sure whenever Barfi and Notebook will be showcased on television I will still be sitting with a tub of popcorn and watching both the movies with equal amount of attention and enthusiasm.