Bilas Rao Pardesi (Irrfan Khan) is a barber in the village of Budbuda, a fictional village in U.P. in India with his wife Bindiya (Lara Dutta) and his two children. He is poverty ridden, unable to even pay the school fees for his children or to buy basic groceries needed. A systematic search all around his house provides him with a solitary rupee note. He is a man of some ideals-such as not borrowing from a local landlord- Daamchand (Om Puri) in the fear of incurring interest.
When popular superstar Saahir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) comes to this village to shoot his latest film, Bilas' family who believe that Khan is a friend or an associate, pester Bilas for an introduction. Gradually the news spreads and Bilas becomes a man of the village- everyone hankering for some chance of a meeting with Khan. The school decides to pay the fees of Billu's Children until Class XII from the School Trust in return for a small favour of Billu inviting Saahir Khan for a school function. Kaamchand decides to finance (without being asked) new chairs, new equipment and new toileteries for Billu's Saloon in return for Billu inviting Saahir to Kaamchand's place for dinner. Laakhu (Rajpal Yadav) wants a meeting with Khan to be given a chance to compose lyrics for films.
Initially Billu refuses any favours, but he he starts to enjoy the ride, telling himself that he did not start anything. Billu tries to meet Khan but is met with either stern rebukes by his Secretary, or by Khan's security forces.
Ultimately Billu is arrested for fooling people.
Billu is again the Hero of the Village.
Production
Director Priyadarshan cast Shahrukh Khan and Lara Dutta in pivotal roles in the film. While these roles were initially offered to Akshay Kumar and Tabu, Kumar eventually opted out of the project as did Tabu. The director then offered Kumar's and Tabu's role to Shahrukh Khan and Amisha Patel respectively, and both of them agreed to do the film.[6] Patel also opted out of the film [7] and sources have indicated that Juhi Chawla was signed on for the role.[8]
In April 2008, the director announced that he had cast Lara Dutta as Billu's wife.[9] The cast began filming for the project on April 8, 2008[10] and according to Shahrukh Khan, "the film is a sweet story of friendship...quite similar to the bond shared between Krishna and Sudama."[1] The film also features Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone in item numbers with Shahrukh Khan.[11]
[edit]Cast
Special appearances
- Kareena Kapoor in Marjaani
- Priyanka Chopra in You Get Me Rockin & Reeling
- Deepika Padukone in Love Mera Hit Hit
Music
The film has music by Pritam with lyrics from Gulzar, Neeraj Shridhar and Sayeed Quadri. Released on January 5, 2009.
| Billu | ||
|---|---|---|
| Film score | ||
| Released | Janauary 5, 2009 | |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |
| Length | 70:64 | |
| Label | T-Series | |
| Producer | Sarvesh | |
Controversy
The film was originally titled Billu Barber, but Salon and Beauty Parlour associations raised objections by mentioning the word barber as derogatory.[12] As the producer, Shahrukh Khan eventually removed the word barber from title of the movie and promotions[13] renamed the film Billu. He also invited Salon and Beauty Parlour association members to the premier of the movie to assuage the protests.[14]
[edit]Reception
- Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama praised the film, direction and performances and summarized, On the whole, BILLU is a sweet-n-simple film that lingers in your memory even after the show has concluded. The final 20 minutes are the highpoint of the enterprise and that elevates the status of the film to great heights. The film has the potential to grow with a strong word of mouth. Recommended... Take your family for this one! and rated it 3.5/5. [15]
- Times of India rated it 3/5 and said The film may not have done well in its Tamil version (Kuselan), but Priyadarshan has suitably peppered it with some heart-tugging moments to make it a moving ode to friendship and ordinariness.
- Raja Sen from Rediff overall praised the film but mentioned it as a simplistic, well-meaning take on a familiar story, and Billu -- perhaps inadvertently -- ends up being a naive little children's film, the kind of entertainment DD used to hurl at us kids during its Afternoon Transmission. and rated it 2.5/5 [16]
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