Ananya: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Breakdown Besties Podcast. I'm Ananya. I'm Akshay.
Breakdown Besties Podcast: Hi again, bestie. For our next episode, we are breaking down the film Raazi. Yeah, so watch it before the episode if you can. So that when we are breaking it down, you are fully up to speed with us. See you next Thursday.
Ananya: And together, we are your Breakdown Besties. Combined, we have 14 years of experience writing for shows like Mismatched, Wedding.con, Rana Naidu, Grahan, Shark Tank, Inside Edge and a host of others that got stuck in development hell, but will hopefully see the light of day one day. With the Breakdown Besties podcast, our goal is to bring you a film school experience right to your YouTube classroom. Over here, we break down the scripts that make iconic Bollywood films... iconic. We study what works, what doesn't work, how can we emulate the techniques in our own writing, and how can we improve what quite hasn't worked on the screen so that we can create films that absolutely do. And today, the film that we are going to be breaking down is a 2012 visual delight called Barfi. Written by Anurag Basu, Tani Basu and Sanjeev Dutta, this story chronicles the tale of a deaf and dumb young man who simply is moving through his life in the world as a man who is plagued with such limitations, right? I think best we not waste time and get into the first part of our which is always the log line. So what is the logline? Your logline is your film's central premise expressed in a few lines, usually less than 40 words. Whenever you're lost when you're writing a scene or a sequence or a particular line of dialogue and you've forgotten ki ye film ka mudda kya hai, hum ye kyu likh rahe hain, your logline is what you return to. It allows you to see the forest for the trees, especially when you're so lost in the weeds of your screenplay that you've forgotten what it's really about. Why is the logline so effective at helping us get a bird's eye view on our film? Because it contains these four important elements. The first is your flaw or limitation or block or wound. This is something that the character has within themselves. A trait that is not serving them in achieving element number two, their goal. The goal is why we're watching this film to begin with. It is what they're setting out to achieve and the audience is following along our character on this journey of achieving this goal. The third thing is the conflict. The conflict is something external which keeps coming in the characters way, which keeps creating challenge and it challenges their inner flaw, block or limitation or wound. It is an external manifestation of what's stopping them from the inside. And by overcoming what's on the outside, they're able to overcome what's on the inside and get one step closer to their goal. It's your story engine. And finally, you have stakes. Stakes are what the character is going to lose should they not achieve their goal. It's not simply not achieving their goal. It is taking them one level lower that failure is penalized. So let's get into the log line of Balfi.
Akshay: Great.
Ananya: A playful deaf and dumb man seeks love in a world where he is considered a menace.
Akshay: yeah sweet yeah yeah
Ananya: it. Right? So the limitation, because he doesn't have a flaw in this film, flaw as in by our standards. In the film standards, definitely, he's perceived by other characters as flawed because he's deaf and dumb. But really as writers, we're very cognizant of the fact that he's a limitation, that it's his limitation. Especially given the way that Ranbir Kapoor's character has been designed, it is a limitation more than a flaw. Right?
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: And we'll get into his character design when we talk about character but it is stopping him from achieving what a person like him would have otherwise achieved in the world in which he inhabits. Next we have the goal. The goal is he's seeking love. It's as simple as that. He wants to be loved despite being deaf and dumb. And the conflict is that he is considered a menace. ⁓ That time he wants to be loved
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Huh.
Ananya: he is considered a menace for being deaf and dumb. Everyone comes up against him. That is the challenge that he faces over and over again. And the fourth element is stakes. Now, much like many of the films we've done, this film doesn't have stakes built into the log line. What the film does really well...
Akshay: Hmm. ⁓
Ananya: is because you don't have stakes built into the log line, into the premise, like it doesn't inherently lend to stakes. The film opens with a chase with the police. And Ranbir Kapoor's character is taken in by the police after a big chase. And that itself lends stakes. ⁓ my God, what's gonna happen? Will he be left? Will he be freed? Is he gonna suffer? So...
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Why stakes? What does stakes do? Why do we have stakes in the film? Because we want to make, have our audiences at the edge of the seat at all points in time, right? That if they don't achieve this goal, abhi kya hoga? So while the film didn't achieve this from a log line point of view, they've done it from a visual storytelling point of view by
Akshay: hmm point of view.
Ananya: By keeping you on the edge of your seat, right?
Akshay: Yeah, I think it's the non-linear narrative which sort of adds the stake in the film. Otherwise, it doesn't really build until a very later stage,
Ananya: Exactly, exactly. So should we go into the hero's journey next?
Akshay: Yeah, let's do that.
Ananya: What is your hero's journey? Your hero's journey is the structural spine of your film. It tells you the journey your hero is going on and at each turn of the story of his journey, what obstacles he is going to face. And these obstacles deliver an emotional hit to your audience every so often that makes them sit and follow through on your hero's journey. It creates progress, it creates a sense of motion and it creates a sense of constant conflict. So sometimes even if you're wondering why your plot is not really landing, once you've written it out, map it against your hero's journey to see whether it's meeting all these turning points. And if it isn't, you know that it's a very simple diagnostic tool to tell you that, this is maybe what I have to fix. Now on the hero's journey of Barfi.
Akshay: Hmm. Mm-hmm.
Ananya: I believe that there are two different stories being told. There is first Ranbir Kapoor and Ileana D'Cruz's love story which is being told. And then you have Ranbir Kapoor and his father's story where his father is dying, Barfi and his father which brings Jhilmil into the loop, Priyanka Chopra's character. And both, this begins a separate hero's journey.
Akshay: Okay. date. Okay. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: But both these heroes journeys converge at the point of the reward and they both go and flow as one hero's journey from there.
Akshay: Intercept home. Hmm. Hmm that's amazing I didn't think of it that way
Ananya: So I'll talk you through both of those heroes journeys and then from the convergence point. And I'll also talk about why it works once we get there. So first we have the ordinary world. The ordinary world is where your hero is before they've started going on the quest to achieve their goal. You see the where, what, who, why and when of their surroundings. And we also get an understanding of why they're not able to achieve their goal.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: In this particular story, in Barfi's story, the ordinary world shows us that he is a charming young man, ⁓ but he's considered a menace by everyone around him because of the way he lives his life. We learn that he's deaf and dumb, that his name was originally Murphy after Murphy Radio, but because he was deaf and dumb, it sounded like Barfi when it came out of his mouth, and that became his name.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. right.
Ananya: Then we have the call to action. The call to action is where your hero is ⁓ asked for the first time in our story, within our movie, to go and pursue their goal. They are called to action towards pursuing their goal.
Akshay: Huh.
Ananya: And over here it happens when he first spots Ileana D'Cruz's character Shruti. And Barfi doesn't hesitate at all, while he can't speak, he is not lacking charm in any way, shape or form. He mimes and he pulls his heart out of his chest and offers it up to her. And Ileana plays hard to get. This brings us to the refusal of the call. The refusal of the call is the step in your hero's journey where your...
Akshay: Thanks. Yeah.
Ananya: hero feels like I can't go on this journey. This might come from within where they themselves may decide, may hesitate from accepting the call or someone else may reject it for them. In this case, it is the knowledge that Ileana de Cruz or Shruti is actually engaged. So that is the refusal to the call that no, you cannot pursue me. This is not happening, right? Then you have meeting the mentor.
Akshay: Hmm. Engaged, ⁓ Hmm.
Ananya: The mentor traditionally is the character who has been there and done that. He has been on your journey before. If you're going to go slay the dragon, he's going to hand you the sword to be able to slay the dragon. Over here, there is no one who particularly hands Barfi's character the sword. He has his way of going about things. So he decides to cross the threshold himself.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Crossing the threshold is where you say, okay, now that I have the sword, I am going to step into this new world and cross the threshold, the boundary line of my old world and embark on my journey of achieving my goal. So Barfi climbs up to the clock tower and he physically the, he moves arms back as he sends a note to Shruti and says that, pretend that the last 15 minutes that our conversation never happened, that I never professed my love to you.
Akshay: ⁓ ⁓
Ananya: But I want to be in your life, I would love to be your friend, let's be friends. And Shruti watches this from the cafe terrace where she's sitting and she waves out to him and says that, okay, I will be happy to be your friend. So we know that Barfi has entered the new world and crossed the threshold into this new world. Then we have the next segment, which is tests, allies and enemies. In this, the hero is in the new world and he's...
Akshay: friend ⁓ Who?
Ananya: understanding the lay of the land. He's understanding who his friends are, who his enemies are, what obstacles he's going to face in this new world. And in our story, at this point, we see Barfi and Shruti spending more time together. They become close. He's super charming. He gives her what she wants. He makes her laugh and smile. And the two of them really hit it off. They spend more and more time together. Right?
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah.
Ananya: Then you have the approach to the innermost cave. When talking about it from a romantic point of view, the approach to the innermost cave is the part where you get what you want, right? Where you go after what you want. It is approaching the dragon ready to slay him. And over here, ⁓
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: in a romantic setting, is kissing the woman you love. And so Ileana de Cruz and Ranbir Kapoor's character finally kiss. It's the moment we've been waiting for. It is phenomenal. But then after you've slain the dragon, you always have the ordeal. So the ordeal begins when Ranbir Kapoor has approached the innermost cave and he says that
Akshay: Kiss. ⁓
Ananya: I would like he goes to Liana de Cruz's parents and says I want to marry your daughter. Essentially your ordeal is where you're facing the consequences of approaching the cave. So what are the consequences of asking for her hand in marriage? Her fiance is obviously there. So he realizes that okay, this can't happen.
Akshay: Right. Hmm.
Ananya: Ileana de Cruz's mum reads the note where he says that I want to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage and the mum tells the dad that oh he's just asking for donation because he's deaf and dumb and the dad pulls out some money. Yes, she lies. And then as Ranbir Kapoor is leaving Shruti follows him out and the two of them have a big fight which where Ranbir Kapoor essentially says or mimes or actions that oh my god can you like
Akshay: Yeah, she lies. ⁓ Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: look at how they're treating me, what because I don't have money, ⁓ your fiance has a car, well I hope you're happy and he returns the money and he even apologises for being so rude when he realises what he's done and he leaves. And finally Shruti also leaves town and Ranbir Kapoor makes one last try to stop her but her mum is in the train with her, he bumps into a light pole and that's the end of that story.
Akshay: Huh. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. amazing like that's amazing like I I didn't obviously make this connection that treated us these two separate stories
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: but what you're saying makes complete sense
Ananya: And so therein begins the next part of your story, where you go back to Ranbir Kapoor's ordinary world, where it's him and his father, and his father works for Jhilmil, is who is Priyanka Chopra's character. Priyanka Chopra is autistic in this film. She's essentially unwanted in her parents' house, she's there. ⁓ And yeah, ⁓ so we see the ordinary where her...
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: where Ranbir Kapoor's dad is now sick. Because he's been fired from his job and they have no money to pay for the treatment. Another part of the ordinary world is Ranbir Kapoor goes to Jhilmil's dad and says that, look, we 7000 rupees for the treatment. We don't have that money.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Could you please lend us some money? Because after all you fired him and this is kind of, this is not your fault. But he gives him some pocket change and spare change and says off you go. Right?
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah.
Ananya: Okay, our next step is call to action. The call to action is where the characters finally called to pursue their goal. So this is where Ranbir Kapoor has the idea to go kidnap Jhilmil. Because he realises that if he holds, kidnaps her, then he can get the money, the ransom money that he wants to cure his father.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Now the refusal of the call happens when he goes to Jhilmil's house to kidnap her and realizes that somebody else has already kidnapped her. So he's not able to do what he wants to do. So then he tries to rob a he's unable to rob the bank. So as he's running out of there being chased by the police, he happens upon the van in which Jhilmil is actually being kidnapped.
Akshay: Hmm, no. Hmm.
Ananya: So a scuffle follows and he's able to steal that van. So again there is no mentor as such who hands him the sword here. It is happening upon that van and then he crosses the threshold by taking her home and saying that you're now going to stay here with me. I have kidnapped you. Right? Then we have tests allies and enemies where they get to know each other and we realize how hard it is for Barfi's character.
Akshay: Huh. Hmm. Yeah.
Ananya: to be able to live with an autistic person, to be able to understand Jhilmil what she needs. The two of them fight, she tries to escape, she tries to run away, but eventually they form a bit of an understanding and a friendship with each other. Then we have the approach to the innermost cave. The approach to the innermost cave is where Ranbir Kapoor finally delivers the ransom note to Jhilmil's father.
Akshay: Funky. but yeah. See Hmm hmm
Ananya: and drop off the money here at this time and this place. They drop off the money, Ranbir Kapoor gets the money and just as he gets the money, his ordeal begins because as he deposits at the hospital, his father passes away. So he is unable to do anything about it. That is the ordeal. And then the ordeal continues. Like he sends Jhilmil back to her house and says, okay, you go.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm, yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Huh.
Ananya: But Jhilmil doesn't want to go back home and live with her family. Ramir Kapoor is also by himself. Now he was pursuing love all this time and Shruti Ileanna D'Cruz's character who he loved left him. His dad, the only other person who loved him has left him. Now the police are after him.
Akshay: Yeah. night.
Ananya: Jhilmil is refusing to leave his side. He's like, what should do? The two of them go to Calcutta. And finally at Calcutta, they are met with a reward. And this reward is both the tracks converging.
Akshay: Hmm hmm hmm hmm Yeah.
Ananya: because The is meeting Shruti all over again.
Akshay: Yeah. Hmm.
Ananya: Then you have the way back, which is where Shruti starts spending more time with Barfi and Jhilmil. Barfi falls in love with Jhilmil. The two almost kiss but they don't because Jhilmil still needs to get more comfortable around him but she is most certainly in love with him too. But Jhilmil is also jealous of Shruti's presence in Barfi's life.
Akshay: Hmm. Cool. Hmm.
Ananya: So she runs away once when she realizes that when she sees Barfi and Shruti being too close. Barfi is then arrested for Jhilmil's kidnapping and that he is able to escape the police station in the nick of time. ⁓ And as he and Shruti are back hiding in Calcutta, he remembers that
Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Huh. Hmm.
Ananya: was actually in a home for specially abled kids ⁓ they track down that home and they go to find her there. Even over there, the guy, the steward of the home doesn't want to give away the fact that Jhilmil is there so he lies about it and Barfi is at his lowest and the two of them are leaving the home when Jhilmil calls her from the top that she calls her and says Barfi, Barfi and that is the moment of resurrection.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: And when your characters are the lowest, when they think they will never find love again, when they think their goal is just so close to being achieved but now will never be achieved, they rise from the ashes.
Akshay: Hmm.
Ananya: And ⁓ you have the return with the elixir, which is where you go back into your old world, but now you're a new person. You have gone through this journey, you have overcome your flaw, you've learned who you are, and you go back a wise and person. And now Barfi goes back to his old world, having married Jhilmil, having known that he's actually lovable, that he's not a menace, and that he
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: deserves to be loved.
Akshay: Yeah.
Ananya: cool. So this is your hero's journey. And I want to talk about two things here. One, why it really works as a as two stories because essentially one story is ending and other story is beginning.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: So the reason we can have the Shruti story and then begin a whole new story is because even as we are beginning a whole new story, it begins with a level of conflict. It begins with the dad like dying or being on his deathbed. So that is why you can switch from one story to another because it's not like you went like, I was so up here and I'm bringing the audience down now. No, I was up here in terms of emotion and now I'm taking the emotion even higher.
Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. down now.
Ananya: And the second thing I want to note here is ⁓ this kind of ⁓ is impossible to by plotting it on paper and saying, okay, am I meeting this beat of the hero's journey? Am I meeting this beat of the hero's journey? ⁓ This happens very when you are a strong storyteller and you have a near instinctive understanding of what lends to a good story.
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm.
Ananya: you will feel it in your bones. You might not have the words for it. The reason we have the words for it is because that is our whole idea, right? We go into these podcasts, episodes going on, we need to give people the words for it. But most storytellers, developed this over practice, and then it comes to them instinctively because you've read so many scripts, you've watched so many movies that you know that, okay, now that Shruti has gone, I can't just bring the story down. It has to be elevated.
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. Hmm. Yeah. dot com
Ananya: It will niggle you in your chest it's not working otherwise. So that's why you need to be watching more breakdowns like this. You need to be like reading more scripts intentionally with your brain on and trying to understand what's happening so that when it comes to writing your own script, that part of your brain can go off. It's like driving a car. At everything is like you're being super vigilant, you're like
Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Okay.
Ananya: Okay, my foot is on the clutch and the accelerator and I'm also looking at traffic and all of that. But five months later, you're doing that and you're talking on the phone while doing that, you know. So it's, that's what happens. You will be able to do this instinctively.
Akshay: Yeah And you know, to support your argument, I was like asking some people about the movie and all that. And I got to know like it started from a 40 page script. And it was written fully linear. And it's because this storyteller is like this, like Anurag Basu, who keeps changing stuff, tells the like last moment, he decided that he's gonna, like the film will have more like
Ananya: ⁓ Hmm. ⁓
Akshay: feel like it has more stakes. So what we are talking about in the log line, that only if it starts in a non-linear way, like it has chase sequences, you keep cutting back to the second timeline, which has the police and the investigation going on. So he wrote it linearly, decided that it doesn't work the most, and flipped the script completely. Yeah.
Ananya: Yeah, exactly. Do you want to go into theme next?
Akshay: Take it away. Yeah.
Ananya: So what is theme? Theme is your perspective on the world that you put forth as an artist. You have come and become a writer because you believe that the world has to be seen a certain way and you want to express that and your writing, your films, your movies are a medium of expressing your point of view into the world. And how do you do this? You do this by asking a central question and the resolution of your film will answer that central question and tell you whether what you're saying is a yes or a no to your worldview. What does that look like? So in Barfi, the theme is very simple. They've even put it in words several times. It is: should you love someone for who they are or for what they bring to the table? It is very evident in this story.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: And this central question has to be kept front and centre in every scene you are writing as an underlying motif. And every character needs to embody different sides of this argument. Some characters will say that no, people are loved only for what they bring to the table. Others will say that no, they deserve to be loved for who they are, not what they can do for you. So I want to point this out by talking about the different characters in this world.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: First you have Shruti. Shruti loves Barfi for who he is. But she is not a strong enough character. She has to learn this lesson later on. But then you have Shruti's mum who says that no, we like people for what they can bring to the table because we are being practical. You need to live a certain way. Your life needs to be a certain way. And that is more important than anything else. Then you have Jhilmil's character.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm Hmm Mata
Ananya: She doesn't bring anything to the table and she doesn't expect anything from others either. She just expects love. She just expects people to be good. Then you have Jhilmil's father who also doesn't love Jhilmil as she is or Jhilmil's whole family. They love her for what she can bring to the table. They want her in their life for what she can bring to the table which is the trust that her Nanu has left in her name. That is the only reason they keep her around.
Akshay: Uh-uh. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. the trust fund yeah Yeah.
Ananya: And at end, the film is resolved by ⁓ Barfi finally falling in love with Jhilmil and Shruti, the who actually loved Barfi to begin with, her not getting Barfi. So... ⁓
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah.
Ananya: That is your film's theme that yes, people are loved for who they are and not for what objects and belongings they bring to the table.
Akshay: Yeah, yeah, totally.
Ananya: And even the subplot where is woven in with this narrative, like the main plot is Barfi looking for love. The subplot is of Jhilmil and there you have her father and the steward. Even that shows another aspect of the same theme. It's very carefully calibrated that we are not telling a completely different story. This is a story about love for people unconditionally.
Akshay: Nya, Nya. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah, yeah. I don't if this is the right time to say, but I felt the film was a little crowded. I don't know if you also felt that. Like, I thought there were so many characters here and there, like, like, ⁓ it felt like each character ⁓ on this theme people in their lives who different sides of their theme.
Ananya: Yeah.
Akshay: We have so many characters and point of views to follow at some times. ⁓
Ananya: Yeah, exactly. It wasn't economic at all. If you wanted it to be economic, you wouldn't have like one story, then another story. Those two, the father dying, Shruti, Jhilmil, all would have been crunched into a single timeline.
Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah correct, yeah.
Ananya: From a writing perspective, it's not economic, but this film is a director's film.
Akshay: Yeah. Totally. Yeah.
Ananya: Let's get into world next. So, I want to talk about the world by starting with the very first bit of the film, which is even before the film starts, which is where they give all the disclaimers and all of that. ⁓ And it starts with a song says, ⁓ picture shuru, hui picture shuru, like off ⁓ like your bache and your phone.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah.
Ananya: Like all of that and what I really liked about that is it tells you that you are going to be watching a film now. Most films don't tell you that. They assume that when you watch it you will be pulled into the world of the film. But there's a solid awareness here which they're telling you that you look you're watching a film and why they do that ⁓ is because want to tell you that look this is a film. So there's certain
Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: unrealistic shit that's going to be happening. And you have to get on board with it because it's not a film, it's real life. It's not a real life, it's a film. Yeah. And I think that is why they are able to have a character that is both deaf and dumb and a character that is autistic in the same film. Otherwise, you can almost imagine getting a note from a streamer that says, is too much representation.
Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, life is a film, Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: This doesn't happen. Otherwise, they would you set this film in world of... ⁓ specially-abled kids' home or something like that. ⁓ So, which, mean, obviously... ...people of all abilities exist in all worlds... ...but because of the constraints of our society... ...as someone who very recently broke her foot, I realised that...
Akshay: Yeah. Kids go to school, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: because we are not an accessible society, you don't see people with wheelchairs outside because where are you going to have, where are they going to move around, right? There's no foothpaths for people with wheelchairs. So you don't see them. So you assume they don't exist. And the same thing goes on people ⁓ are autistic, people who are deaf and dumb, because we are not an accessible society. So it's very hard for us to comprehend a movie in which you have both a character who's deaf and dumb
Akshay: Yeah, go. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: and a character who is autistic. So they tell you that boss hui picture shuru like this is a film, in this world it exists.
Akshay: ⁓ Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a one step ahead. Like it's like one leap we were taking and like you also have to take it with us, you know, it's that, yeah.
Ananya: Yeah, Humanity on steroids.
Akshay: Yeah.
Ananya: And ⁓ they've used the world in some ways very sparingly to derive conflict from it that is organic to it. So for example, Ranbir Kapoor's character is deaf and dumb. But they haven't turned this into a running joke or anything like that. ⁓ Yet have picked and chosen moments where the fact that he is deaf and dumb becomes a problem.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Problem.
Ananya: And we see this when his dad is having his first attack, heart attack, I don't know what. Ranbir Kapoor is a little away from him at a height, sleeping, going to sleep. And his dad is floundering around, like knocking things off shelves. But because Ranbir is deaf and can't hear him, he's completely oblivious to the fact that this is happening. And this creates conflict within the scene. Very organically derived from the world and the character. Right?
Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Hmm. Yeah. So bold. Yeah.
Ananya: And the next is when he's robbing a bank and the alarm goes off that they've alerted the police. Ranbir Kapoor has no idea. So he continues doing what he's doing because he can't listen to it. He can't hear it. So again, very organically derived.
Akshay: Yeah, yeah ⁓ Yeah and end creating a lot of not just conflict but like actually moments of micro-conflict only that like somebody calling out to him and he'll not be able to hear it you know so like even in that final resurrection moment Jhilmil calls out to him he can't hear it it's only because Shruti hears it she turns and he looks at her visually and he understands ⁓ she's there you know
Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. He can't hear it. Hmm. Yeah.
Akshay: So again, These beautiful moments of either conflict or these moments like you'll never like they come from the world. Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: The world, exactly. Cool, what do you want to go into next?
Akshay: Character creation?
Ananya: Sure, let's do character creation.
Akshay: So, okay, I'll start and then you add on. I thought this was a master class in creating visual empathy for a character. So in the sense that now what's your biggest constraint is that you can't give him smart one liners, you can't give him immediate, like you can't give him big monologues or you can't give him like dialogues or for humor or for any create any sort of connection. So what do they do? They do visual humor, which is like using comedy, like visually, gags. So I think humor is firstly, primarily used to create and empathy. But they they don't rely on that they take one step ahead and they use the talking heads of people around him so you have Shruti's character saying that ⁓ everyone loved Barfi. Firstly we know this character likes Barfi and you know everybody else liked it and this is a technique which we spoke about in Badmash Company, right? Like that if other characters in your film like your character, your audience will like the character. So I thought that they did very nicely and I think they used this a little bit for Jhilmil's character also.
Ananya: Yeah. Yeah.
Akshay: that they use talking heads of like other people in the home to give her more context, to give her light of story. And the only person they don't do this with is Shruti's character because it's not needed because she can she can make her own connection with the audience and other characters. So I thought that was done quite intentionally and very smartly.
Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Definitely, yeah. Like they have given Ranbir Kapoor's character, Barfi, traits left, right and centre to make him likeable. Like his only limitation is that he's deaf and dumb. Otherwise, he's clever, he's charming, he's physically extremely adept. He doesn't even see himself as a victim. He's very self-confident. They've done a lot of padding to make sure that your audience loves him.
Akshay: Same talk, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah correct yeah yeah
Ananya: another thing I wanted to talk about was character consistency. ⁓ we see Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, Barfi and Jhilmil's character, develop this habit of constantly scaring each other. Like, boo, boo. ⁓ established throughout the course of their friendship, courtship, all of that. And then you have the final resurrection moment where ⁓ calls out to Barfi and he goes running to
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah Hmm.
Ananya: find her and in that moment Jhilmil is waiting for him. Now as a writer you are inclined to have like the big hug and kiss immediately happen but what they very cleverly done is had Ranbir Kapoor give her a scare there also like a boo and then they get into the hugging and all of the romantic mushy stuff. So this is really important this will come to you in your second draft because this won't come to you in your first draft.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: where you realise that this is my character's relationship. The relationship is not loving and kissing each other. It is built through shared rituals and habits. And this is a shared ritual that they have. So they have maintained its consistency and said that just because he's seeing her after a long time doesn't mean he's going to break character. He is going to be who he is in their relationship. Really important to do.
Akshay: Cool. Hmm. Hmm. Nya, nya.
Ananya: And then I want to point out a trickster character. There a trickster trope. So over here we have a police officer who is constantly on Ranbir Kapoor on Barfi's trail. He is always chasing him. He is even having him beaten up when he thinks he is the kidnapper. All of that. You think that there couldn't be a bigger enemy in the story for Ranbir Kapoor. Someone who almost seems to have a personal vendetta against him. But then...
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: when they say that they're going to frame Ranbir Kapoor's character that he's not actually kidnapped Jhilmil but because they can't find the real culprit he's going to be the fall guy that's when has a change of heart a change of conscience where he's like but that's wrong we can't do this and he's the one who lets Shruti and Barfi know that you all stick it out in Calcutta with that like this is happening
Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: This is a character who you... Is it a trickster or is it a character like Nawaz's character in Kahani where he's initially portrayed as the bad guy and then he turns. So, okay, I will modify what I said. It's not a trickster character. Trickster characters where they are playing both sides and you can never be sure on whose side they are. But this is creating a character.
Akshay: Yeah, bad guy, huh? Yeah. Sides, huh? Yeah.
Ananya: who you think is so one-note that could never be on your side but when they have the opportunity to turn around they turn a 180 and actually come save the day. This works because of contradiction in your character. If they're always being good, good doesn't land again but if they're always being bad and then they're being good, you're like
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. correct. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: ⁓ wow, okay, that lands.
Akshay: Yeah,
Ananya: should we get into scenes and sequences next?
Akshay: Yeah, let's do it. I want to talk about one sequence which we often have spoken about in films like English to English, Paan Singh Tomar which is the introduction of a character. Like you don't see them immediately and this is a thing which did it very smartly with Jhilmil's character. So we first see her hands, she's making origami, then we see the people around her, we hear her backstory. that she had an alcoholic mother who tried to kill her. We have this grandfather figure we still don't see her face. Then only even when the grandfather goes in the room, you think that we're going to see her. We still don't see her. Then and then when he's bringing her out, that's when you see her for the first time. ⁓ And again, like I questioned that did they make this choice for
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: her character and not like the other two. It has to do something with like how you're going to see this actor in a completely different role. We've never seen them before, right? It's ⁓ less writing, but a little bit about surprising the audience, you know, that other two characters are somewhat similar looking, you know, like than their real personalities. So you're like, huh,
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: how do we create surprise for this one? And I thought like, this was very nicely done with Jhilmil's character.
Ananya: Hmm. I want to talk about ⁓ the technique which I have decided to call conflict piling. Finally, this my name for it. I'm sure there's a billion names for it out there. yeah, and we've spoken about this in several films.
Akshay: Okay. Okay.
Ananya: where you push a character against a wall and you make a scene more and more and more difficult for them. this is where Ranbir Kapoor is met with Jhilmil, has kidnapped Jhilmil and he is really realising what it's like to be with someone like her who has these special needs. So she starts with, okay, I need to go pee and he's like, go and she's like, no, you have to take me.
Akshay: Mm. Foo. Foo. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: That's awkward enough like, my god, okay, I have to do this. ⁓ now that's not bad enough but he tries to take her hand, doesn't. She holds something off him like clothes or something like that and she follows him. Then, it's like okay, now go. But she's wearing bloomers and she can't untie them herself. So now he has to come and untie them for her. Making even worse. Then, you think that's bad enough?
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm.
Ananya: But then he's like, okay, go and he's shutting the door and she's like, no, no, don't shut the door. So how can you pile one conflict on top of the other? And the way your character escapes that conflict or gets out of that bad situation reveals to us who they are. And in this case, it reveals to us that while Ranbir is awkward and uncomfortable in the situation, he is not a bad guy. Even though he is awkward, he will not abandon you. He's here for you.
Akshay: No. Aha. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: He's solid.
Akshay: This one is about the technique of escalation ⁓ and having the escalation having an element of surprise. So ⁓ this is the big heartbreak scene Barfi has which is like going into he Barfi decides he go to talk to Shruti's parents for her hand in marriage ⁓ and only to realise that's not gonna be the case for him. So again it could have gone multiple ways like you know like the father being like how dare you like how dare you think you know this could have happened like ⁓ dare you think my daughter will marry somebody like you whatever it could have had multiple ways of somebody else putting Barfi down. Now but they've choreographed and crafted the scene very
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: nicely to like not make it to that over dramatic and melodramatic space. So you see him getting there in the hope so you have hope first right then while he presents a letter to again the parents there's hope again but immediately you see that Shruti is there with his with her fiance so that immediately in that moment for him the story ends right like but how do you keep pushing that
Ananya: Anyway.
Akshay: After that he's about to go out and he himself backs out of the scene without making a scene right but now he goes and he opens the umbrella because it's raining outside the umbrella fails him
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: Then he gets on his ⁓ cycle, the chain of the cycle breaks. And this frustration of like one rejection after the other, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, it keeps escalating his emotion that he finally is able to have this one
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: monologue of sorts where he fully breaks out what he like what he what his heart was saying that ⁓ why did you spend time with me you want any whatever he said you know that big that big moment and i thought it only came because he got that final push on so many levels it kept happening one after the other after the other so i thought this was a great escalation sequence which kept surprising you
Ananya: Hmm. again. Hmm, definitely. Yeah, again, it's I think same like conflict piling essentially. And yeah, one more thing within the scene which I wanted to point is that we really see Barfi as very physically adept, right? Throughout the starting of the film. Like he has no point problem like grabbing a cycle, climbing up a ladder here or there.
Akshay: Fighting, conflict fighting, yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: He's when he slides off a horse and hangs off the back of it like that, like mad strength. But when he's leaving the house, he's so flustered after this rejection that he bumps into the door.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Huh. ⁓ yeah!
Ananya: and that That very unusual for a character like him and it shows us that he's in a different state of mind. So especially in this film where you don't have dialogue, obviously it's a masterclass in acting, it's a masterclass in direction, but how can you write this into your script? It's by creating a contradiction and by creating contradiction of his headspace. So over here is he's not at his best, he's not charming, he's feeling down.
Akshay: Hmm. Mmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: And in feeling down, he's feeling so less than that even his physical capabilities are failing him, he's floundering. How can you ⁓ demonstrate an opposite action to represent an opposite emotion?
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Then, speaking of contrasts, I also want to talk about the opening where Ranbir Kapoor's character is seen for the first time. And we see him scramble out of bed at the age of 70, this is a flash forward in the film, grabbing his camera and he takes a photo of himself. And the photo, you get a glimpse of it, it's extremely odd, it's funny, it makes you chuckle. And immediately, he falls out of the chair. And he collapses to the ground. Now, if...
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: he had just gotten out of bed and tried to stand up and fall into the ground. You would be like, okay, that's fine. But because you got a laugh before that by looking at that funny photo and then you brought him to the ground, it's creating contradiction for that to ⁓ it's only the laugh makes the sadness even sadder.
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm
Ananya: the next technique I want to point out is moral choice. What is moral choice? It is in Dumbledore's words, choosing between what is easy and what is right. ⁓ we see this play at the final resurrection moment the film from Shruti's character.
Akshay: Nice, yeah Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Shruti has been pining away for Barfi her whole life. She realises she's made a mistake, she should have stayed with him and she even leaves her husband to ultimately be with Barfi, even platonically so. And she knows he's looking for Jhilmil. And when they're finally leaving the home for special kids, when they're leaving Muskaan and Barfi, and Jhilmil calls out, Barfi, obviously Barfi can't hear her and
Akshay: Hmm.
Ananya: there's a pause on Shruti's face as she continues walking and you feel like, she's not going to like tell him anything because now she can finally have him. Now he thinks Jhilmil is out of the picture. He needs support. He can be hers. That's all she's ever wanted throughout the film. And that would be easy. And she has the moment, but then she does what is right. She turns around and looks at Barfi and he understands.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: This is, this moral choice is important technique to show us character really is. And over here we've seen that Shruti is a character we can root for because she does what is right, ⁓ not what is easy, even at the cost of her own love life. ⁓
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Like, then you feel bad for her heartbreak. If she hadn't pointed it out and later Ranbir Kapoor would have rejected her should the story have gone in that direction. You'd be like, girl, you deserve it. You a bitch. ⁓
Akshay: Yeah.
Ananya: But here, it's like, okay, now you actually feel bad for her. You're like, oh, she's good person.
Akshay: Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: And taking off from that scene, there's delayed gratification again, which is very common in rom-coms. So she turns to Ranbir and says, know, Jhilmil is calling you. He could have immediately turned around and started running. Instead he pauses, he takes a beat. He's like, oh, okay, oh my God, this is really happening. Wow. Then he pulls out a comb and he combs his hair. Okay, wow.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Hell, God.
Ananya: Then even before leaving, he acknowledges Shruti's emotions and he knows she's heartbroken. He's not stupid. So he tells her, he's like, smile. And then he goes running up there. You know what your audience is waiting for, but you want to keep them waiting for it. Want to give them that little delayed gratification.
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. The play out of how Jilmil gets kidnapped I thought was very interesting and I think what they've used is the technique of unpredictability. Like we know, we understand, okay Barfi has to kidnap her, right? Like this is the brief. Now, how can you make this more engaging is that if you keep your audience surprised and you keep it unpredictable, right? So, We understand that Barfi needs money because his father has died. He sees her in the window of when he comes to like ask for money and we sort of that where his mind is going. Okay. Then he practices this on a friend. He like ⁓ him like the chloroform on his nose. We understand that. Okay. He is like, he's got, he's fainted. And this used to be back in the day where like chloroform was like the prime thing in movie to kidnap people. Right. Okay now we see we cut to Jhilmil sleeping now you know so you think okay now she's gonna get kidnapped somebody's gonna call like you know something is gonna happen what happens next is we go to the police officer he gets a call that something has happened okay now so we make two and two together okay maybe they haven't shown us barfi kidnapping jill mill she's kidnapped now
Ananya: Yeah.
Akshay: But now we actually cut to Barfi. Like you know he is trying to enter the house. Now you as an audience are thinking what just happened? Like is the kidnapping done? Is the kidnapping yet to be done? And also because the movie plays on timeline so much you're like you think maybe you've gone 10 minutes back into the past. Only to when he goes to Jhilmil's bed and he puts the chloroform he realizes ⁓ she's not there.
Ananya: back to the past. Yeah. Yeah
Akshay: And then you realize that she's actually kidnapped. You know? So this scene could have been straightforward where like he comes to here and like she's not there. Making the scene completely unpredictable. So ⁓ I thought this play out was very nice.
Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah, and it only works because this film plays with structure and it plays with flashbacks and timelines. If you do this in an ordinary film, in a linear film, it would be considered cheating your audiences. But because the film panders to this technique, it is built on this technique of cutting between timelines, you can believe this and buy this. You can give the storyteller the benefit of the doubt or the permission to play with you like this.
Akshay: Huh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, correct. Yeah. Yeah. I want to talk about two callback moments. Callback as we've established earlier is a moment, a dialogue which happens two characters at different points of time. It either establishes that ⁓ the nature of the relationship has remained the same or ⁓ the relationship has completely changed. So one is that Barfi tests if the other person is going to be with him via this small test of like a lamppost sort of thing that he'll place himself between like he and his partner in front of a lamppost and the lamppost is about to fall. So ⁓ he tries that with Shruti and she backs off. The second time he does it with Jhilmil, she doesn't back off. So I thought that was a great callback. It's not with the same character, but it's for your main character in relation to the same thing. Like him testing for love with different partners. Second ⁓ is the callback of
Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
Akshay: getting of Barfi getting Jhilmil's attention via throwing the shoes. We see that the first time he does it is when she's come back to her house and in a small match cut we see that they used to do that when they were younger kids also. So you establish a shoe Barfi and then
Ananya: that he would throw a shoe up to her window and she would see the shoe and realize that it is Barfi calling.
Akshay: Even in the end when he's gone to look for her, he can't go, he goes around every room, he can't find her and he, the only thing he can do it again is throw his shoe in the air and hoping that she'll see it and like look come back for him.
Ananya: Bye. Cool, let's go into dialogues next. One thing I want to talk about in dialogue, while this film is obviously not very dialogue heavy to begin with, playing off reactions, more than speaking of dialogue, is really important. ⁓ for example, when Kapoor's dad dies, we do not see a dramatic scene of dad dying. We don't hear calls, screaming, nothing.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: All we see is Ranbir Kapoor looking somewhere. We don't hear anyone saying that your dad has died, I'm sorry about your loss. And with that change in expression, you realise that something has happened. And these are important things to note in your dialogue pass. When can a dialogue be replaced with a simple action or reaction on the face?
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah, yeah.
Ananya: And this happens again when Ranbir Kapoor is going to take the ransom money for kidnapping Jhilmil. And this happens with the ransom money being placed on a letter box. And as this is happening, as the money is placed, the police officer and Jhilmil's dad are waiting to catch the person who will come to collect this money. Instead, what happens is a train arrives near the station and a whole crowd
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: comes out running out of the station and in that the police officer tries to guard the money and he thinks he succeeds. So he holds it up to Jhilmil's dad like don't worry I kept the money safe, I kept the money safe and he's actually holding up the wrong bag and he sees the reaction on Jhilmil's dad's ⁓ but you don't cut to Jhilmil's dad you just see the react you see the officers face facial expression change expression changing.
Akshay: Bye. Hmm. Hmm hmm stick Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: realizing that he has seen the expression on Jhilmil's dad. So again, no dialogue was needed like, ⁓ idiot, where is the bag, ⁓ you've just... One look. Again, or reaction is replacing dialogue. Very important.
Akshay: Yeah, Hmm hmm hmm I'll tell you the note I had. There's a moment where Shruti, Ileana de Cruz's character comes to the police station and she's trying to talk to the police officer, the same very same police officer and sees that he's harassing him, you know he's hitting Barfi, they've kept him in custody ⁓ and she says that let him go like he's innocent, you And the police officer says, "See these pants? I've dropped 4 sizes." I that was such a funny line. ⁓ And it only works because you know what he's saying exactly. Like we say, like I have always run behind him. You've seen him do this multiple times in the film.
Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Akshay: This could have been a very simple line, you know, ⁓ like I've done, like I've chased him before or whatever, you know, like he, it's not the first time he's come to the police station, but they've used the sort of metaphor of sorts that, know, you're seeing this and it's become loose because I've lost weight running behind him. That's the meaning, but I thought they did it so smartly.
Ananya: Yeah. Yeah.
Akshay: by just using the metaphor. a clever dialogue.
Ananya: Definitely. Yes, very well done.
Akshay: Yeah.
Ananya: Let's go into genre tropes next.
Akshay: In a romance film, there's one genre trope which is of the grand gesture. ⁓ So either it happens when the first time the main character is going to the love, the potential love interest ⁓ either at that time they'll do a grand gesture like this is my big proposal to you whatever or it will happen in the end of the film right like like I'll chase through the airport, I'll do something, I'll get you a carriage wheel with a horse, it could be that.
Ananya: to win them back.
Akshay: in this to win them back yeah in this one it happens when he's asking ilia he's asking barfi is asking shruti to become his lover so first he does the whole thing that you know either like ⁓ he puts his heart in front of her that doesn't work so that that's not the grand gesture but he's like how can i still allow her to be in my life so he goes to the clock tower behind her actually says I'm converting, I'm taking time back by 15 minutes. Now this is the grand gesture and this is what makes her melt and she's like whatever you see it on her face that okay she's gonna be part of his life now. So I thought that was a good trope they've used here.
Ananya: Hmm... Yeah. Definitely. Yeah, for sure. And grand gestures work because we want to see how far people will go to show us that they love us, right? What is the effort that someone's going to put in? And we want that in real life and that's why it's a trope in romantic comedies too.
Akshay: Yeah. Correct. Yeah, yeah, correct. I think we should talk about that, is that the moment Jhilmil starts feeling jealous ⁓ of Shruti's character ⁓ and her relationship with Barfi is that moment she meets Shruti for the first time and Shruti turns she sees ⁓ her in a saree
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: And she immediately, I felt so moved by that one small moment, which was that like, she's feeling so bad that ⁓ she doesn't wear these kind of clothes. B, she doesn't look as attractive as this woman. And like, see like how natural she is with Barfee you know?
Ananya: Hmm. For sure. And I think it is also a genre trope, right? It's jealousy. When you're doing a love triangle, jealousy is because that's creates conflict and you want conflict in your rom-com to take your story forward because it creates distance between your characters, more of a journey to cover. ⁓ That's why it works in these films.
Akshay: yeah jealousy yeah Yeah. Correct. yeah yeah yeah Love triangle correct the genre trope.
Ananya: Yep, Cool, yeah, that's all I have on Barfi. What about you?
Akshay: yeah same
Ananya: Thank you guys for tuning in for another episode of the Breakdown Besties Podcast. You know the drill, like, share, subscribe, leave us any questions, comments, notes and suggestions and we will see you next Thursday on another episode of the Breakdown Besties Podcast. Bye.
Akshay: Bye guys.
Breakdown Besties Podcast: Hi again, bestie. For our next episode, we are breaking down the film Raazi. Yeah, so watch it before the episode if you can. So that when we are breaking it down, you are fully up to speed with us. See you next Thursday.
Ananya: And together, we are your Breakdown Besties. Combined, we have 14 years of experience writing for shows like Mismatched, Wedding.con, Rana Naidu, Grahan, Shark Tank, Inside Edge and a host of others that got stuck in development hell, but will hopefully see the light of day one day. With the Breakdown Besties podcast, our goal is to bring you a film school experience right to your YouTube classroom. Over here, we break down the scripts that make iconic Bollywood films... iconic. We study what works, what doesn't work, how can we emulate the techniques in our own writing, and how can we improve what quite hasn't worked on the screen so that we can create films that absolutely do. And today, the film that we are going to be breaking down is a 2012 visual delight called Barfi. Written by Anurag Basu, Tani Basu and Sanjeev Dutta, this story chronicles the tale of a deaf and dumb young man who simply is moving through his life in the world as a man who is plagued with such limitations, right? I think best we not waste time and get into the first part of our which is always the log line. So what is the logline? Your logline is your film's central premise expressed in a few lines, usually less than 40 words. Whenever you're lost when you're writing a scene or a sequence or a particular line of dialogue and you've forgotten ki ye film ka mudda kya hai, hum ye kyu likh rahe hain, your logline is what you return to. It allows you to see the forest for the trees, especially when you're so lost in the weeds of your screenplay that you've forgotten what it's really about. Why is the logline so effective at helping us get a bird's eye view on our film? Because it contains these four important elements. The first is your flaw or limitation or block or wound. This is something that the character has within themselves. A trait that is not serving them in achieving element number two, their goal. The goal is why we're watching this film to begin with. It is what they're setting out to achieve and the audience is following along our character on this journey of achieving this goal. The third thing is the conflict. The conflict is something external which keeps coming in the characters way, which keeps creating challenge and it challenges their inner flaw, block or limitation or wound. It is an external manifestation of what's stopping them from the inside. And by overcoming what's on the outside, they're able to overcome what's on the inside and get one step closer to their goal. It's your story engine. And finally, you have stakes. Stakes are what the character is going to lose should they not achieve their goal. It's not simply not achieving their goal. It is taking them one level lower that failure is penalized. So let's get into the log line of Balfi.
Akshay: Great.
Ananya: A playful deaf and dumb man seeks love in a world where he is considered a menace.
Akshay: yeah sweet yeah yeah
Ananya: it. Right? So the limitation, because he doesn't have a flaw in this film, flaw as in by our standards. In the film standards, definitely, he's perceived by other characters as flawed because he's deaf and dumb. But really as writers, we're very cognizant of the fact that he's a limitation, that it's his limitation. Especially given the way that Ranbir Kapoor's character has been designed, it is a limitation more than a flaw. Right?
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: And we'll get into his character design when we talk about character but it is stopping him from achieving what a person like him would have otherwise achieved in the world in which he inhabits. Next we have the goal. The goal is he's seeking love. It's as simple as that. He wants to be loved despite being deaf and dumb. And the conflict is that he is considered a menace. ⁓ That time he wants to be loved
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Huh.
Ananya: he is considered a menace for being deaf and dumb. Everyone comes up against him. That is the challenge that he faces over and over again. And the fourth element is stakes. Now, much like many of the films we've done, this film doesn't have stakes built into the log line. What the film does really well...
Akshay: Hmm. ⁓
Ananya: is because you don't have stakes built into the log line, into the premise, like it doesn't inherently lend to stakes. The film opens with a chase with the police. And Ranbir Kapoor's character is taken in by the police after a big chase. And that itself lends stakes. ⁓ my God, what's gonna happen? Will he be left? Will he be freed? Is he gonna suffer? So...
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Why stakes? What does stakes do? Why do we have stakes in the film? Because we want to make, have our audiences at the edge of the seat at all points in time, right? That if they don't achieve this goal, abhi kya hoga? So while the film didn't achieve this from a log line point of view, they've done it from a visual storytelling point of view by
Akshay: hmm point of view.
Ananya: By keeping you on the edge of your seat, right?
Akshay: Yeah, I think it's the non-linear narrative which sort of adds the stake in the film. Otherwise, it doesn't really build until a very later stage,
Ananya: Exactly, exactly. So should we go into the hero's journey next?
Akshay: Yeah, let's do that.
Ananya: What is your hero's journey? Your hero's journey is the structural spine of your film. It tells you the journey your hero is going on and at each turn of the story of his journey, what obstacles he is going to face. And these obstacles deliver an emotional hit to your audience every so often that makes them sit and follow through on your hero's journey. It creates progress, it creates a sense of motion and it creates a sense of constant conflict. So sometimes even if you're wondering why your plot is not really landing, once you've written it out, map it against your hero's journey to see whether it's meeting all these turning points. And if it isn't, you know that it's a very simple diagnostic tool to tell you that, this is maybe what I have to fix. Now on the hero's journey of Barfi.
Akshay: Hmm. Mm-hmm.
Ananya: I believe that there are two different stories being told. There is first Ranbir Kapoor and Ileana D'Cruz's love story which is being told. And then you have Ranbir Kapoor and his father's story where his father is dying, Barfi and his father which brings Jhilmil into the loop, Priyanka Chopra's character. And both, this begins a separate hero's journey.
Akshay: Okay. date. Okay. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: But both these heroes journeys converge at the point of the reward and they both go and flow as one hero's journey from there.
Akshay: Intercept home. Hmm. Hmm that's amazing I didn't think of it that way
Ananya: So I'll talk you through both of those heroes journeys and then from the convergence point. And I'll also talk about why it works once we get there. So first we have the ordinary world. The ordinary world is where your hero is before they've started going on the quest to achieve their goal. You see the where, what, who, why and when of their surroundings. And we also get an understanding of why they're not able to achieve their goal.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: In this particular story, in Barfi's story, the ordinary world shows us that he is a charming young man, ⁓ but he's considered a menace by everyone around him because of the way he lives his life. We learn that he's deaf and dumb, that his name was originally Murphy after Murphy Radio, but because he was deaf and dumb, it sounded like Barfi when it came out of his mouth, and that became his name.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. right.
Ananya: Then we have the call to action. The call to action is where your hero is ⁓ asked for the first time in our story, within our movie, to go and pursue their goal. They are called to action towards pursuing their goal.
Akshay: Huh.
Ananya: And over here it happens when he first spots Ileana D'Cruz's character Shruti. And Barfi doesn't hesitate at all, while he can't speak, he is not lacking charm in any way, shape or form. He mimes and he pulls his heart out of his chest and offers it up to her. And Ileana plays hard to get. This brings us to the refusal of the call. The refusal of the call is the step in your hero's journey where your...
Akshay: Thanks. Yeah.
Ananya: hero feels like I can't go on this journey. This might come from within where they themselves may decide, may hesitate from accepting the call or someone else may reject it for them. In this case, it is the knowledge that Ileana de Cruz or Shruti is actually engaged. So that is the refusal to the call that no, you cannot pursue me. This is not happening, right? Then you have meeting the mentor.
Akshay: Hmm. Engaged, ⁓ Hmm.
Ananya: The mentor traditionally is the character who has been there and done that. He has been on your journey before. If you're going to go slay the dragon, he's going to hand you the sword to be able to slay the dragon. Over here, there is no one who particularly hands Barfi's character the sword. He has his way of going about things. So he decides to cross the threshold himself.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Crossing the threshold is where you say, okay, now that I have the sword, I am going to step into this new world and cross the threshold, the boundary line of my old world and embark on my journey of achieving my goal. So Barfi climbs up to the clock tower and he physically the, he moves arms back as he sends a note to Shruti and says that, pretend that the last 15 minutes that our conversation never happened, that I never professed my love to you.
Akshay: ⁓ ⁓
Ananya: But I want to be in your life, I would love to be your friend, let's be friends. And Shruti watches this from the cafe terrace where she's sitting and she waves out to him and says that, okay, I will be happy to be your friend. So we know that Barfi has entered the new world and crossed the threshold into this new world. Then we have the next segment, which is tests, allies and enemies. In this, the hero is in the new world and he's...
Akshay: friend ⁓ Who?
Ananya: understanding the lay of the land. He's understanding who his friends are, who his enemies are, what obstacles he's going to face in this new world. And in our story, at this point, we see Barfi and Shruti spending more time together. They become close. He's super charming. He gives her what she wants. He makes her laugh and smile. And the two of them really hit it off. They spend more and more time together. Right?
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah.
Ananya: Then you have the approach to the innermost cave. When talking about it from a romantic point of view, the approach to the innermost cave is the part where you get what you want, right? Where you go after what you want. It is approaching the dragon ready to slay him. And over here, ⁓
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: in a romantic setting, is kissing the woman you love. And so Ileana de Cruz and Ranbir Kapoor's character finally kiss. It's the moment we've been waiting for. It is phenomenal. But then after you've slain the dragon, you always have the ordeal. So the ordeal begins when Ranbir Kapoor has approached the innermost cave and he says that
Akshay: Kiss. ⁓
Ananya: I would like he goes to Liana de Cruz's parents and says I want to marry your daughter. Essentially your ordeal is where you're facing the consequences of approaching the cave. So what are the consequences of asking for her hand in marriage? Her fiance is obviously there. So he realizes that okay, this can't happen.
Akshay: Right. Hmm.
Ananya: Ileana de Cruz's mum reads the note where he says that I want to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage and the mum tells the dad that oh he's just asking for donation because he's deaf and dumb and the dad pulls out some money. Yes, she lies. And then as Ranbir Kapoor is leaving Shruti follows him out and the two of them have a big fight which where Ranbir Kapoor essentially says or mimes or actions that oh my god can you like
Akshay: Yeah, she lies. ⁓ Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: look at how they're treating me, what because I don't have money, ⁓ your fiance has a car, well I hope you're happy and he returns the money and he even apologises for being so rude when he realises what he's done and he leaves. And finally Shruti also leaves town and Ranbir Kapoor makes one last try to stop her but her mum is in the train with her, he bumps into a light pole and that's the end of that story.
Akshay: Huh. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. amazing like that's amazing like I I didn't obviously make this connection that treated us these two separate stories
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: but what you're saying makes complete sense
Ananya: And so therein begins the next part of your story, where you go back to Ranbir Kapoor's ordinary world, where it's him and his father, and his father works for Jhilmil, is who is Priyanka Chopra's character. Priyanka Chopra is autistic in this film. She's essentially unwanted in her parents' house, she's there. ⁓ And yeah, ⁓ so we see the ordinary where her...
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: where Ranbir Kapoor's dad is now sick. Because he's been fired from his job and they have no money to pay for the treatment. Another part of the ordinary world is Ranbir Kapoor goes to Jhilmil's dad and says that, look, we 7000 rupees for the treatment. We don't have that money.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Could you please lend us some money? Because after all you fired him and this is kind of, this is not your fault. But he gives him some pocket change and spare change and says off you go. Right?
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah.
Ananya: Okay, our next step is call to action. The call to action is where the characters finally called to pursue their goal. So this is where Ranbir Kapoor has the idea to go kidnap Jhilmil. Because he realises that if he holds, kidnaps her, then he can get the money, the ransom money that he wants to cure his father.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Now the refusal of the call happens when he goes to Jhilmil's house to kidnap her and realizes that somebody else has already kidnapped her. So he's not able to do what he wants to do. So then he tries to rob a he's unable to rob the bank. So as he's running out of there being chased by the police, he happens upon the van in which Jhilmil is actually being kidnapped.
Akshay: Hmm, no. Hmm.
Ananya: So a scuffle follows and he's able to steal that van. So again there is no mentor as such who hands him the sword here. It is happening upon that van and then he crosses the threshold by taking her home and saying that you're now going to stay here with me. I have kidnapped you. Right? Then we have tests allies and enemies where they get to know each other and we realize how hard it is for Barfi's character.
Akshay: Huh. Hmm. Yeah.
Ananya: to be able to live with an autistic person, to be able to understand Jhilmil what she needs. The two of them fight, she tries to escape, she tries to run away, but eventually they form a bit of an understanding and a friendship with each other. Then we have the approach to the innermost cave. The approach to the innermost cave is where Ranbir Kapoor finally delivers the ransom note to Jhilmil's father.
Akshay: Funky. but yeah. See Hmm hmm
Ananya: and drop off the money here at this time and this place. They drop off the money, Ranbir Kapoor gets the money and just as he gets the money, his ordeal begins because as he deposits at the hospital, his father passes away. So he is unable to do anything about it. That is the ordeal. And then the ordeal continues. Like he sends Jhilmil back to her house and says, okay, you go.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm, yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Huh.
Ananya: But Jhilmil doesn't want to go back home and live with her family. Ramir Kapoor is also by himself. Now he was pursuing love all this time and Shruti Ileanna D'Cruz's character who he loved left him. His dad, the only other person who loved him has left him. Now the police are after him.
Akshay: Yeah. night.
Ananya: Jhilmil is refusing to leave his side. He's like, what should do? The two of them go to Calcutta. And finally at Calcutta, they are met with a reward. And this reward is both the tracks converging.
Akshay: Hmm hmm hmm hmm Yeah.
Ananya: because The is meeting Shruti all over again.
Akshay: Yeah. Hmm.
Ananya: Then you have the way back, which is where Shruti starts spending more time with Barfi and Jhilmil. Barfi falls in love with Jhilmil. The two almost kiss but they don't because Jhilmil still needs to get more comfortable around him but she is most certainly in love with him too. But Jhilmil is also jealous of Shruti's presence in Barfi's life.
Akshay: Hmm. Cool. Hmm.
Ananya: So she runs away once when she realizes that when she sees Barfi and Shruti being too close. Barfi is then arrested for Jhilmil's kidnapping and that he is able to escape the police station in the nick of time. ⁓ And as he and Shruti are back hiding in Calcutta, he remembers that
Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Huh. Hmm.
Ananya: was actually in a home for specially abled kids ⁓ they track down that home and they go to find her there. Even over there, the guy, the steward of the home doesn't want to give away the fact that Jhilmil is there so he lies about it and Barfi is at his lowest and the two of them are leaving the home when Jhilmil calls her from the top that she calls her and says Barfi, Barfi and that is the moment of resurrection.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: And when your characters are the lowest, when they think they will never find love again, when they think their goal is just so close to being achieved but now will never be achieved, they rise from the ashes.
Akshay: Hmm.
Ananya: And ⁓ you have the return with the elixir, which is where you go back into your old world, but now you're a new person. You have gone through this journey, you have overcome your flaw, you've learned who you are, and you go back a wise and person. And now Barfi goes back to his old world, having married Jhilmil, having known that he's actually lovable, that he's not a menace, and that he
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: deserves to be loved.
Akshay: Yeah.
Ananya: cool. So this is your hero's journey. And I want to talk about two things here. One, why it really works as a as two stories because essentially one story is ending and other story is beginning.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: So the reason we can have the Shruti story and then begin a whole new story is because even as we are beginning a whole new story, it begins with a level of conflict. It begins with the dad like dying or being on his deathbed. So that is why you can switch from one story to another because it's not like you went like, I was so up here and I'm bringing the audience down now. No, I was up here in terms of emotion and now I'm taking the emotion even higher.
Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. down now.
Ananya: And the second thing I want to note here is ⁓ this kind of ⁓ is impossible to by plotting it on paper and saying, okay, am I meeting this beat of the hero's journey? Am I meeting this beat of the hero's journey? ⁓ This happens very when you are a strong storyteller and you have a near instinctive understanding of what lends to a good story.
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm.
Ananya: you will feel it in your bones. You might not have the words for it. The reason we have the words for it is because that is our whole idea, right? We go into these podcasts, episodes going on, we need to give people the words for it. But most storytellers, developed this over practice, and then it comes to them instinctively because you've read so many scripts, you've watched so many movies that you know that, okay, now that Shruti has gone, I can't just bring the story down. It has to be elevated.
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. Hmm. Yeah. dot com
Ananya: It will niggle you in your chest it's not working otherwise. So that's why you need to be watching more breakdowns like this. You need to be like reading more scripts intentionally with your brain on and trying to understand what's happening so that when it comes to writing your own script, that part of your brain can go off. It's like driving a car. At everything is like you're being super vigilant, you're like
Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Okay.
Ananya: Okay, my foot is on the clutch and the accelerator and I'm also looking at traffic and all of that. But five months later, you're doing that and you're talking on the phone while doing that, you know. So it's, that's what happens. You will be able to do this instinctively.
Akshay: Yeah And you know, to support your argument, I was like asking some people about the movie and all that. And I got to know like it started from a 40 page script. And it was written fully linear. And it's because this storyteller is like this, like Anurag Basu, who keeps changing stuff, tells the like last moment, he decided that he's gonna, like the film will have more like
Ananya: ⁓ Hmm. ⁓
Akshay: feel like it has more stakes. So what we are talking about in the log line, that only if it starts in a non-linear way, like it has chase sequences, you keep cutting back to the second timeline, which has the police and the investigation going on. So he wrote it linearly, decided that it doesn't work the most, and flipped the script completely. Yeah.
Ananya: Yeah, exactly. Do you want to go into theme next?
Akshay: Take it away. Yeah.
Ananya: So what is theme? Theme is your perspective on the world that you put forth as an artist. You have come and become a writer because you believe that the world has to be seen a certain way and you want to express that and your writing, your films, your movies are a medium of expressing your point of view into the world. And how do you do this? You do this by asking a central question and the resolution of your film will answer that central question and tell you whether what you're saying is a yes or a no to your worldview. What does that look like? So in Barfi, the theme is very simple. They've even put it in words several times. It is: should you love someone for who they are or for what they bring to the table? It is very evident in this story.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: And this central question has to be kept front and centre in every scene you are writing as an underlying motif. And every character needs to embody different sides of this argument. Some characters will say that no, people are loved only for what they bring to the table. Others will say that no, they deserve to be loved for who they are, not what they can do for you. So I want to point this out by talking about the different characters in this world.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: First you have Shruti. Shruti loves Barfi for who he is. But she is not a strong enough character. She has to learn this lesson later on. But then you have Shruti's mum who says that no, we like people for what they can bring to the table because we are being practical. You need to live a certain way. Your life needs to be a certain way. And that is more important than anything else. Then you have Jhilmil's character.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm Hmm Mata
Ananya: She doesn't bring anything to the table and she doesn't expect anything from others either. She just expects love. She just expects people to be good. Then you have Jhilmil's father who also doesn't love Jhilmil as she is or Jhilmil's whole family. They love her for what she can bring to the table. They want her in their life for what she can bring to the table which is the trust that her Nanu has left in her name. That is the only reason they keep her around.
Akshay: Uh-uh. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. the trust fund yeah Yeah.
Ananya: And at end, the film is resolved by ⁓ Barfi finally falling in love with Jhilmil and Shruti, the who actually loved Barfi to begin with, her not getting Barfi. So... ⁓
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah.
Ananya: That is your film's theme that yes, people are loved for who they are and not for what objects and belongings they bring to the table.
Akshay: Yeah, yeah, totally.
Ananya: And even the subplot where is woven in with this narrative, like the main plot is Barfi looking for love. The subplot is of Jhilmil and there you have her father and the steward. Even that shows another aspect of the same theme. It's very carefully calibrated that we are not telling a completely different story. This is a story about love for people unconditionally.
Akshay: Nya, Nya. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah, yeah. I don't if this is the right time to say, but I felt the film was a little crowded. I don't know if you also felt that. Like, I thought there were so many characters here and there, like, like, ⁓ it felt like each character ⁓ on this theme people in their lives who different sides of their theme.
Ananya: Yeah.
Akshay: We have so many characters and point of views to follow at some times. ⁓
Ananya: Yeah, exactly. It wasn't economic at all. If you wanted it to be economic, you wouldn't have like one story, then another story. Those two, the father dying, Shruti, Jhilmil, all would have been crunched into a single timeline.
Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah correct, yeah.
Ananya: From a writing perspective, it's not economic, but this film is a director's film.
Akshay: Yeah. Totally. Yeah.
Ananya: Let's get into world next. So, I want to talk about the world by starting with the very first bit of the film, which is even before the film starts, which is where they give all the disclaimers and all of that. ⁓ And it starts with a song says, ⁓ picture shuru, hui picture shuru, like off ⁓ like your bache and your phone.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah.
Ananya: Like all of that and what I really liked about that is it tells you that you are going to be watching a film now. Most films don't tell you that. They assume that when you watch it you will be pulled into the world of the film. But there's a solid awareness here which they're telling you that you look you're watching a film and why they do that ⁓ is because want to tell you that look this is a film. So there's certain
Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: unrealistic shit that's going to be happening. And you have to get on board with it because it's not a film, it's real life. It's not a real life, it's a film. Yeah. And I think that is why they are able to have a character that is both deaf and dumb and a character that is autistic in the same film. Otherwise, you can almost imagine getting a note from a streamer that says, is too much representation.
Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, life is a film, Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: This doesn't happen. Otherwise, they would you set this film in world of... ⁓ specially-abled kids' home or something like that. ⁓ So, which, mean, obviously... ...people of all abilities exist in all worlds... ...but because of the constraints of our society... ...as someone who very recently broke her foot, I realised that...
Akshay: Yeah. Kids go to school, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: because we are not an accessible society, you don't see people with wheelchairs outside because where are you going to have, where are they going to move around, right? There's no foothpaths for people with wheelchairs. So you don't see them. So you assume they don't exist. And the same thing goes on people ⁓ are autistic, people who are deaf and dumb, because we are not an accessible society. So it's very hard for us to comprehend a movie in which you have both a character who's deaf and dumb
Akshay: Yeah, go. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: and a character who is autistic. So they tell you that boss hui picture shuru like this is a film, in this world it exists.
Akshay: ⁓ Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a one step ahead. Like it's like one leap we were taking and like you also have to take it with us, you know, it's that, yeah.
Ananya: Yeah, Humanity on steroids.
Akshay: Yeah.
Ananya: And ⁓ they've used the world in some ways very sparingly to derive conflict from it that is organic to it. So for example, Ranbir Kapoor's character is deaf and dumb. But they haven't turned this into a running joke or anything like that. ⁓ Yet have picked and chosen moments where the fact that he is deaf and dumb becomes a problem.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Problem.
Ananya: And we see this when his dad is having his first attack, heart attack, I don't know what. Ranbir Kapoor is a little away from him at a height, sleeping, going to sleep. And his dad is floundering around, like knocking things off shelves. But because Ranbir is deaf and can't hear him, he's completely oblivious to the fact that this is happening. And this creates conflict within the scene. Very organically derived from the world and the character. Right?
Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Hmm. Yeah. So bold. Yeah.
Ananya: And the next is when he's robbing a bank and the alarm goes off that they've alerted the police. Ranbir Kapoor has no idea. So he continues doing what he's doing because he can't listen to it. He can't hear it. So again, very organically derived.
Akshay: Yeah, yeah ⁓ Yeah and end creating a lot of not just conflict but like actually moments of micro-conflict only that like somebody calling out to him and he'll not be able to hear it you know so like even in that final resurrection moment Jhilmil calls out to him he can't hear it it's only because Shruti hears it she turns and he looks at her visually and he understands ⁓ she's there you know
Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. He can't hear it. Hmm. Yeah.
Akshay: So again, These beautiful moments of either conflict or these moments like you'll never like they come from the world. Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: The world, exactly. Cool, what do you want to go into next?
Akshay: Character creation?
Ananya: Sure, let's do character creation.
Akshay: So, okay, I'll start and then you add on. I thought this was a master class in creating visual empathy for a character. So in the sense that now what's your biggest constraint is that you can't give him smart one liners, you can't give him immediate, like you can't give him big monologues or you can't give him like dialogues or for humor or for any create any sort of connection. So what do they do? They do visual humor, which is like using comedy, like visually, gags. So I think humor is firstly, primarily used to create and empathy. But they they don't rely on that they take one step ahead and they use the talking heads of people around him so you have Shruti's character saying that ⁓ everyone loved Barfi. Firstly we know this character likes Barfi and you know everybody else liked it and this is a technique which we spoke about in Badmash Company, right? Like that if other characters in your film like your character, your audience will like the character. So I thought that they did very nicely and I think they used this a little bit for Jhilmil's character also.
Ananya: Yeah. Yeah.
Akshay: that they use talking heads of like other people in the home to give her more context, to give her light of story. And the only person they don't do this with is Shruti's character because it's not needed because she can she can make her own connection with the audience and other characters. So I thought that was done quite intentionally and very smartly.
Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Definitely, yeah. Like they have given Ranbir Kapoor's character, Barfi, traits left, right and centre to make him likeable. Like his only limitation is that he's deaf and dumb. Otherwise, he's clever, he's charming, he's physically extremely adept. He doesn't even see himself as a victim. He's very self-confident. They've done a lot of padding to make sure that your audience loves him.
Akshay: Same talk, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah correct yeah yeah
Ananya: another thing I wanted to talk about was character consistency. ⁓ we see Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, Barfi and Jhilmil's character, develop this habit of constantly scaring each other. Like, boo, boo. ⁓ established throughout the course of their friendship, courtship, all of that. And then you have the final resurrection moment where ⁓ calls out to Barfi and he goes running to
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah Hmm.
Ananya: find her and in that moment Jhilmil is waiting for him. Now as a writer you are inclined to have like the big hug and kiss immediately happen but what they very cleverly done is had Ranbir Kapoor give her a scare there also like a boo and then they get into the hugging and all of the romantic mushy stuff. So this is really important this will come to you in your second draft because this won't come to you in your first draft.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: where you realise that this is my character's relationship. The relationship is not loving and kissing each other. It is built through shared rituals and habits. And this is a shared ritual that they have. So they have maintained its consistency and said that just because he's seeing her after a long time doesn't mean he's going to break character. He is going to be who he is in their relationship. Really important to do.
Akshay: Cool. Hmm. Hmm. Nya, nya.
Ananya: And then I want to point out a trickster character. There a trickster trope. So over here we have a police officer who is constantly on Ranbir Kapoor on Barfi's trail. He is always chasing him. He is even having him beaten up when he thinks he is the kidnapper. All of that. You think that there couldn't be a bigger enemy in the story for Ranbir Kapoor. Someone who almost seems to have a personal vendetta against him. But then...
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: when they say that they're going to frame Ranbir Kapoor's character that he's not actually kidnapped Jhilmil but because they can't find the real culprit he's going to be the fall guy that's when has a change of heart a change of conscience where he's like but that's wrong we can't do this and he's the one who lets Shruti and Barfi know that you all stick it out in Calcutta with that like this is happening
Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: This is a character who you... Is it a trickster or is it a character like Nawaz's character in Kahani where he's initially portrayed as the bad guy and then he turns. So, okay, I will modify what I said. It's not a trickster character. Trickster characters where they are playing both sides and you can never be sure on whose side they are. But this is creating a character.
Akshay: Yeah, bad guy, huh? Yeah. Sides, huh? Yeah.
Ananya: who you think is so one-note that could never be on your side but when they have the opportunity to turn around they turn a 180 and actually come save the day. This works because of contradiction in your character. If they're always being good, good doesn't land again but if they're always being bad and then they're being good, you're like
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. correct. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: ⁓ wow, okay, that lands.
Akshay: Yeah,
Ananya: should we get into scenes and sequences next?
Akshay: Yeah, let's do it. I want to talk about one sequence which we often have spoken about in films like English to English, Paan Singh Tomar which is the introduction of a character. Like you don't see them immediately and this is a thing which did it very smartly with Jhilmil's character. So we first see her hands, she's making origami, then we see the people around her, we hear her backstory. that she had an alcoholic mother who tried to kill her. We have this grandfather figure we still don't see her face. Then only even when the grandfather goes in the room, you think that we're going to see her. We still don't see her. Then and then when he's bringing her out, that's when you see her for the first time. ⁓ And again, like I questioned that did they make this choice for
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: her character and not like the other two. It has to do something with like how you're going to see this actor in a completely different role. We've never seen them before, right? It's ⁓ less writing, but a little bit about surprising the audience, you know, that other two characters are somewhat similar looking, you know, like than their real personalities. So you're like, huh,
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: how do we create surprise for this one? And I thought like, this was very nicely done with Jhilmil's character.
Ananya: Hmm. I want to talk about ⁓ the technique which I have decided to call conflict piling. Finally, this my name for it. I'm sure there's a billion names for it out there. yeah, and we've spoken about this in several films.
Akshay: Okay. Okay.
Ananya: where you push a character against a wall and you make a scene more and more and more difficult for them. this is where Ranbir Kapoor is met with Jhilmil, has kidnapped Jhilmil and he is really realising what it's like to be with someone like her who has these special needs. So she starts with, okay, I need to go pee and he's like, go and she's like, no, you have to take me.
Akshay: Mm. Foo. Foo. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: That's awkward enough like, my god, okay, I have to do this. ⁓ now that's not bad enough but he tries to take her hand, doesn't. She holds something off him like clothes or something like that and she follows him. Then, it's like okay, now go. But she's wearing bloomers and she can't untie them herself. So now he has to come and untie them for her. Making even worse. Then, you think that's bad enough?
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm.
Ananya: But then he's like, okay, go and he's shutting the door and she's like, no, no, don't shut the door. So how can you pile one conflict on top of the other? And the way your character escapes that conflict or gets out of that bad situation reveals to us who they are. And in this case, it reveals to us that while Ranbir is awkward and uncomfortable in the situation, he is not a bad guy. Even though he is awkward, he will not abandon you. He's here for you.
Akshay: No. Aha. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: He's solid.
Akshay: This one is about the technique of escalation ⁓ and having the escalation having an element of surprise. So ⁓ this is the big heartbreak scene Barfi has which is like going into he Barfi decides he go to talk to Shruti's parents for her hand in marriage ⁓ and only to realise that's not gonna be the case for him. So again it could have gone multiple ways like you know like the father being like how dare you like how dare you think you know this could have happened like ⁓ dare you think my daughter will marry somebody like you whatever it could have had multiple ways of somebody else putting Barfi down. Now but they've choreographed and crafted the scene very
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: nicely to like not make it to that over dramatic and melodramatic space. So you see him getting there in the hope so you have hope first right then while he presents a letter to again the parents there's hope again but immediately you see that Shruti is there with his with her fiance so that immediately in that moment for him the story ends right like but how do you keep pushing that
Ananya: Anyway.
Akshay: After that he's about to go out and he himself backs out of the scene without making a scene right but now he goes and he opens the umbrella because it's raining outside the umbrella fails him
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: Then he gets on his ⁓ cycle, the chain of the cycle breaks. And this frustration of like one rejection after the other, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, it keeps escalating his emotion that he finally is able to have this one
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: monologue of sorts where he fully breaks out what he like what he what his heart was saying that ⁓ why did you spend time with me you want any whatever he said you know that big that big moment and i thought it only came because he got that final push on so many levels it kept happening one after the other after the other so i thought this was a great escalation sequence which kept surprising you
Ananya: Hmm. again. Hmm, definitely. Yeah, again, it's I think same like conflict piling essentially. And yeah, one more thing within the scene which I wanted to point is that we really see Barfi as very physically adept, right? Throughout the starting of the film. Like he has no point problem like grabbing a cycle, climbing up a ladder here or there.
Akshay: Fighting, conflict fighting, yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: He's when he slides off a horse and hangs off the back of it like that, like mad strength. But when he's leaving the house, he's so flustered after this rejection that he bumps into the door.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Huh. ⁓ yeah!
Ananya: and that That very unusual for a character like him and it shows us that he's in a different state of mind. So especially in this film where you don't have dialogue, obviously it's a masterclass in acting, it's a masterclass in direction, but how can you write this into your script? It's by creating a contradiction and by creating contradiction of his headspace. So over here is he's not at his best, he's not charming, he's feeling down.
Akshay: Hmm. Mmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: And in feeling down, he's feeling so less than that even his physical capabilities are failing him, he's floundering. How can you ⁓ demonstrate an opposite action to represent an opposite emotion?
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Then, speaking of contrasts, I also want to talk about the opening where Ranbir Kapoor's character is seen for the first time. And we see him scramble out of bed at the age of 70, this is a flash forward in the film, grabbing his camera and he takes a photo of himself. And the photo, you get a glimpse of it, it's extremely odd, it's funny, it makes you chuckle. And immediately, he falls out of the chair. And he collapses to the ground. Now, if...
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: he had just gotten out of bed and tried to stand up and fall into the ground. You would be like, okay, that's fine. But because you got a laugh before that by looking at that funny photo and then you brought him to the ground, it's creating contradiction for that to ⁓ it's only the laugh makes the sadness even sadder.
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm
Ananya: the next technique I want to point out is moral choice. What is moral choice? It is in Dumbledore's words, choosing between what is easy and what is right. ⁓ we see this play at the final resurrection moment the film from Shruti's character.
Akshay: Nice, yeah Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Shruti has been pining away for Barfi her whole life. She realises she's made a mistake, she should have stayed with him and she even leaves her husband to ultimately be with Barfi, even platonically so. And she knows he's looking for Jhilmil. And when they're finally leaving the home for special kids, when they're leaving Muskaan and Barfi, and Jhilmil calls out, Barfi, obviously Barfi can't hear her and
Akshay: Hmm.
Ananya: there's a pause on Shruti's face as she continues walking and you feel like, she's not going to like tell him anything because now she can finally have him. Now he thinks Jhilmil is out of the picture. He needs support. He can be hers. That's all she's ever wanted throughout the film. And that would be easy. And she has the moment, but then she does what is right. She turns around and looks at Barfi and he understands.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: This is, this moral choice is important technique to show us character really is. And over here we've seen that Shruti is a character we can root for because she does what is right, ⁓ not what is easy, even at the cost of her own love life. ⁓
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: Like, then you feel bad for her heartbreak. If she hadn't pointed it out and later Ranbir Kapoor would have rejected her should the story have gone in that direction. You'd be like, girl, you deserve it. You a bitch. ⁓
Akshay: Yeah.
Ananya: But here, it's like, okay, now you actually feel bad for her. You're like, oh, she's good person.
Akshay: Yeah. Yeah.
Ananya: And taking off from that scene, there's delayed gratification again, which is very common in rom-coms. So she turns to Ranbir and says, know, Jhilmil is calling you. He could have immediately turned around and started running. Instead he pauses, he takes a beat. He's like, oh, okay, oh my God, this is really happening. Wow. Then he pulls out a comb and he combs his hair. Okay, wow.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Hell, God.
Ananya: Then even before leaving, he acknowledges Shruti's emotions and he knows she's heartbroken. He's not stupid. So he tells her, he's like, smile. And then he goes running up there. You know what your audience is waiting for, but you want to keep them waiting for it. Want to give them that little delayed gratification.
Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. The play out of how Jilmil gets kidnapped I thought was very interesting and I think what they've used is the technique of unpredictability. Like we know, we understand, okay Barfi has to kidnap her, right? Like this is the brief. Now, how can you make this more engaging is that if you keep your audience surprised and you keep it unpredictable, right? So, We understand that Barfi needs money because his father has died. He sees her in the window of when he comes to like ask for money and we sort of that where his mind is going. Okay. Then he practices this on a friend. He like ⁓ him like the chloroform on his nose. We understand that. Okay. He is like, he's got, he's fainted. And this used to be back in the day where like chloroform was like the prime thing in movie to kidnap people. Right. Okay now we see we cut to Jhilmil sleeping now you know so you think okay now she's gonna get kidnapped somebody's gonna call like you know something is gonna happen what happens next is we go to the police officer he gets a call that something has happened okay now so we make two and two together okay maybe they haven't shown us barfi kidnapping jill mill she's kidnapped now
Ananya: Yeah.
Akshay: But now we actually cut to Barfi. Like you know he is trying to enter the house. Now you as an audience are thinking what just happened? Like is the kidnapping done? Is the kidnapping yet to be done? And also because the movie plays on timeline so much you're like you think maybe you've gone 10 minutes back into the past. Only to when he goes to Jhilmil's bed and he puts the chloroform he realizes ⁓ she's not there.
Ananya: back to the past. Yeah. Yeah
Akshay: And then you realize that she's actually kidnapped. You know? So this scene could have been straightforward where like he comes to here and like she's not there. Making the scene completely unpredictable. So ⁓ I thought this play out was very nice.
Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah, and it only works because this film plays with structure and it plays with flashbacks and timelines. If you do this in an ordinary film, in a linear film, it would be considered cheating your audiences. But because the film panders to this technique, it is built on this technique of cutting between timelines, you can believe this and buy this. You can give the storyteller the benefit of the doubt or the permission to play with you like this.
Akshay: Huh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, correct. Yeah. Yeah. I want to talk about two callback moments. Callback as we've established earlier is a moment, a dialogue which happens two characters at different points of time. It either establishes that ⁓ the nature of the relationship has remained the same or ⁓ the relationship has completely changed. So one is that Barfi tests if the other person is going to be with him via this small test of like a lamppost sort of thing that he'll place himself between like he and his partner in front of a lamppost and the lamppost is about to fall. So ⁓ he tries that with Shruti and she backs off. The second time he does it with Jhilmil, she doesn't back off. So I thought that was a great callback. It's not with the same character, but it's for your main character in relation to the same thing. Like him testing for love with different partners. Second ⁓ is the callback of
Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
Akshay: getting of Barfi getting Jhilmil's attention via throwing the shoes. We see that the first time he does it is when she's come back to her house and in a small match cut we see that they used to do that when they were younger kids also. So you establish a shoe Barfi and then
Ananya: that he would throw a shoe up to her window and she would see the shoe and realize that it is Barfi calling.
Akshay: Even in the end when he's gone to look for her, he can't go, he goes around every room, he can't find her and he, the only thing he can do it again is throw his shoe in the air and hoping that she'll see it and like look come back for him.
Ananya: Bye. Cool, let's go into dialogues next. One thing I want to talk about in dialogue, while this film is obviously not very dialogue heavy to begin with, playing off reactions, more than speaking of dialogue, is really important. ⁓ for example, when Kapoor's dad dies, we do not see a dramatic scene of dad dying. We don't hear calls, screaming, nothing.
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: All we see is Ranbir Kapoor looking somewhere. We don't hear anyone saying that your dad has died, I'm sorry about your loss. And with that change in expression, you realise that something has happened. And these are important things to note in your dialogue pass. When can a dialogue be replaced with a simple action or reaction on the face?
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah, yeah.
Ananya: And this happens again when Ranbir Kapoor is going to take the ransom money for kidnapping Jhilmil. And this happens with the ransom money being placed on a letter box. And as this is happening, as the money is placed, the police officer and Jhilmil's dad are waiting to catch the person who will come to collect this money. Instead, what happens is a train arrives near the station and a whole crowd
Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: comes out running out of the station and in that the police officer tries to guard the money and he thinks he succeeds. So he holds it up to Jhilmil's dad like don't worry I kept the money safe, I kept the money safe and he's actually holding up the wrong bag and he sees the reaction on Jhilmil's dad's ⁓ but you don't cut to Jhilmil's dad you just see the react you see the officers face facial expression change expression changing.
Akshay: Bye. Hmm. Hmm hmm stick Hmm. Hmm.
Ananya: realizing that he has seen the expression on Jhilmil's dad. So again, no dialogue was needed like, ⁓ idiot, where is the bag, ⁓ you've just... One look. Again, or reaction is replacing dialogue. Very important.
Akshay: Yeah, Hmm hmm hmm I'll tell you the note I had. There's a moment where Shruti, Ileana de Cruz's character comes to the police station and she's trying to talk to the police officer, the same very same police officer and sees that he's harassing him, you know he's hitting Barfi, they've kept him in custody ⁓ and she says that let him go like he's innocent, you And the police officer says, "See these pants? I've dropped 4 sizes." I that was such a funny line. ⁓ And it only works because you know what he's saying exactly. Like we say, like I have always run behind him. You've seen him do this multiple times in the film.
Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Akshay: This could have been a very simple line, you know, ⁓ like I've done, like I've chased him before or whatever, you know, like he, it's not the first time he's come to the police station, but they've used the sort of metaphor of sorts that, know, you're seeing this and it's become loose because I've lost weight running behind him. That's the meaning, but I thought they did it so smartly.
Ananya: Yeah. Yeah.
Akshay: by just using the metaphor. a clever dialogue.
Ananya: Definitely. Yes, very well done.
Akshay: Yeah.
Ananya: Let's go into genre tropes next.
Akshay: In a romance film, there's one genre trope which is of the grand gesture. ⁓ So either it happens when the first time the main character is going to the love, the potential love interest ⁓ either at that time they'll do a grand gesture like this is my big proposal to you whatever or it will happen in the end of the film right like like I'll chase through the airport, I'll do something, I'll get you a carriage wheel with a horse, it could be that.
Ananya: to win them back.
Akshay: in this to win them back yeah in this one it happens when he's asking ilia he's asking barfi is asking shruti to become his lover so first he does the whole thing that you know either like ⁓ he puts his heart in front of her that doesn't work so that that's not the grand gesture but he's like how can i still allow her to be in my life so he goes to the clock tower behind her actually says I'm converting, I'm taking time back by 15 minutes. Now this is the grand gesture and this is what makes her melt and she's like whatever you see it on her face that okay she's gonna be part of his life now. So I thought that was a good trope they've used here.
Ananya: Hmm... Yeah. Definitely. Yeah, for sure. And grand gestures work because we want to see how far people will go to show us that they love us, right? What is the effort that someone's going to put in? And we want that in real life and that's why it's a trope in romantic comedies too.
Akshay: Yeah. Correct. Yeah, yeah, correct. I think we should talk about that, is that the moment Jhilmil starts feeling jealous ⁓ of Shruti's character ⁓ and her relationship with Barfi is that moment she meets Shruti for the first time and Shruti turns she sees ⁓ her in a saree
Ananya: Hmm.
Akshay: And she immediately, I felt so moved by that one small moment, which was that like, she's feeling so bad that ⁓ she doesn't wear these kind of clothes. B, she doesn't look as attractive as this woman. And like, see like how natural she is with Barfee you know?
Ananya: Hmm. For sure. And I think it is also a genre trope, right? It's jealousy. When you're doing a love triangle, jealousy is because that's creates conflict and you want conflict in your rom-com to take your story forward because it creates distance between your characters, more of a journey to cover. ⁓ That's why it works in these films.
Akshay: yeah jealousy yeah Yeah. Correct. yeah yeah yeah Love triangle correct the genre trope.
Ananya: Yep, Cool, yeah, that's all I have on Barfi. What about you?
Akshay: yeah same
Ananya: Thank you guys for tuning in for another episode of the Breakdown Besties Podcast. You know the drill, like, share, subscribe, leave us any questions, comments, notes and suggestions and we will see you next Thursday on another episode of the Breakdown Besties Podcast. Bye.
Akshay: Bye guys.
