Situations rather than slapstick make it worthwhile
her, and decides it will be her life’s mission to meet the writer.
It is while on this quest that she meets her two beaux, Chirag Dubey (Ayushmann Khurrana) tells Pritam Vidrohi (Rajkummar Rao).
Back home, her mild-mannered dad (Pankaj Tripathi), a sweet shop owner, talks to a ceiling fan that remains mostly still thanks to Bareilly’s frequent power cuts.
Their one-way conversation is surprisingly funny. “Sushila se sandaas tak sab dikh raha hai (From Sushila to the toilet, I can see everything),” he shares with the fan at one point, after a stiff neck has eased.
Overall, the small-city feel really works; the place feels authentic, as do the dialogue and accents.
It’s interesting to see Kriti shed her uber-urban image and try something new. Seema Pahwa is convincing in the role of his shrill, brusque, marriage-obsessed schoolteacher wife Sushila.
But it is with the entry of the terrific Rajkummar Rao that Bareilly Ki Barfi really becomes interesting.
His transformation from a weakling salesman to a slick Romeo with a flair for drama will leave you in splits. He and Ayushmann make up for the predictability of the tale, but even so, it’s slow going. Once the premise has been laid out, everyone’s just waiting for the resolution.
Two of these three will take their love to a logical conclusion, in this case marriage; the third will excuse himself to cry in a corner and / or deliver a heartfelt monologue at the end.
Still, Bareilly Ki Barfi is a sweet, light-hearted comedy that uses situations rather than slapstick, and this makes it worth a watch.