2012 · Film
Barfi!
Anurag Basu's 1970s-set romantic comedy-drama about Barfi, a deaf and mute young man in Darjeeling, and the two women whose lives become tied to his.
Reviewed by Movie Mandala, Sun, 18 Oct, 2026
Where to watch
IndiaAs of 18 October 2026, Barfi! is streaming in India on Prime Video with a subscription.
- Checked Sun, 18 Oct, 2026Open ↗
The story
In Darjeeling in the early 1970s, Murphy, known to everyone as Barfi, is a cheerful young man who was born deaf and mute. He lives with his father, a chauffeur, and spends his days playing pranks and running from the local police inspector. When Shruti, an educated young woman newly arrived in town, meets him, she is drawn to his charm, even though she is already engaged. Barfi's life is also linked to Jhilmil, his autistic childhood friend from a wealthy family, as the story moves between Darjeeling and Kolkata.
Spoiler-free: only the set-up.
Who it suits
A light, largely wordless romance with slapstick humour and a 1970s setting, aimed at anyone who likes gentle, offbeat love stories. It handles disability, illness and a kidnapping, but it stays family-friendly and runs about two and a half hours.
Curation to help you choose, not a review.
Background
Barfi! was written and directed by Anurag Basu and produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures. It was the first UTV film released under the Disney·UTV brand and the Hindi film debut of Ileana D'Cruz. It is set in Darjeeling, Kolkata and Jalandhar in the 1970s, and Pritam composed the music.
The film opened on 14 September 2012 on about 1,300 screens in India. Wikipedia reports a budget of ₹35 crore and a worldwide gross of about ₹175 crore, which made it one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2012. It was India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 85th Academy Awards. At the 58th Filmfare Awards it won seven awards, including Best Film, Best Actor for Ranbir Kapoor, Best Female Debut for D'Cruz and Best Music Director for Pritam.
The facts
- Language
- Hindi
- Hindi
- Hindi original
- Genre
- Romantic comedy-drama, Period drama
- Runtime
- 150 min
- Director
- Anurag Basu
- Cast
- Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana D'Cruz, Saurabh Shukla, Ashish Vidyarthi
Questions people ask
- Where can I watch Barfi! in India?
- As of 18 October 2026, Barfi! is streaming in India on Prime Video with a subscription.
- Is Barfi! in Hindi?
- Yes. Barfi! is a Hindi-language film.
- How long is Barfi!?
- Barfi! runs for 2 hours 30 minutes (150 minutes).