Barfi!

Barfi, who lives in Darjeeling, was born deaf and mute; he is a joker, quick, and afraid of nobody. He falls for Shruti, who is engaged to someone else. Years later he starts living with Jhilmil, who is autistic. An abduction investigation ties the two stories together. The subject is not disability but who chooses whom. Shruti chooses the safe option and regrets it; Jhilmil is not even aware that she can choose. The film puts its real question to Shruti. The form feeds on silent cinema: wordless passages, chases, physical gags, scenes carried by music. Ranbir Kapoor never speaks in the role. After release the production became attached to an argument. It was claimed that some scenes were taken almost directly from Chaplin, Keaton and several foreign films; the director Anurag Basu described them as homage, and the dispute grew when the film was submitted as India's Oscar entry that year. Priyanka Chopra plays Jhilmil and Ileana D'Cruz plays Shruti, with music by Pritam. Who it is for: viewers who like Indian films looking back at silent comedy and visual storytelling. Who it is not for: anyone unable to set aside the borrowing question, or who will find the handling of autism troubling; both are genuine weaknesses.