Ranbir Kapoor was the first choice for Barfi: Anurag Basu
News
oi-Prakash
By Ramchander
Director
Anurag
Basu
says
he
had
decided
to
take
Ranbir
Kapoor
in
Barfi
even
before
he
started
writing
the
script.
Basu,
who
has
directed
films
like
Gangster,
Murder,
Life
In
A
Metro
and
Kites,
says
he
did
not
have
anyone
else
in
mind
for
the
central
protagonist
in
case
Ranbir
would
have
declined
the
film.
"When
I
started
work
on
the
film,
it
was
on
a
blank
slate.
As
I
started
moving
ahead
with
the
story,
I
realised
that
the
only
person
who
would
fit
into
the
role
was
Ranbir.
All
other
characters,
including
that
of
Priyanka,
came
in
later," Basu
said
in
an
interview.
Ranbir
is
playing
a
deaf
and
mute
young
man
in
the
film
and
the
young
star's
character
is
influenced
by
Charlie
Chaplin,
who
was
also
a
favourite
with
his
grandfather
Raj
Kapoor.
"The
Chaplin
influence
was
not
there
in
the
script
when
Ranbir
came
on
board.
It
is
just
that
as
we
progressed,
it
was
felt
that
certain
scenes
would
be
elevated
if
Ranbir
got
into
that
mode.
There
is
silence
in
the
film,
something
which
is
the
core
of
it,
and
there
is
a
Chaplin
layer
to
it
as
well.
However,
Ranbir
is
not
imitating
Chaplin
in
the
film,"
Basu
said.
The
director
says
the
first
thing
he
explained
to
Ranbir
was
the
film's
title,
which
is
also
his
character's
name
in
the
film.
"I
explained
to
him
that
the
film's
title
was
closed
once
it
was
realised
that
this
was
turning
out
to
be
a
very
sweet
film.
The
name
has
definite
relevance
in
the
film.
It
is
heard
at
a
very
important
juncture
in
the
film
because
of
the
way
this
sound
is
heard
for
the
first
time."