more stills from billufilmbillu dramacast irrfan khan lara dutta shah rukh khan cameodirection priyadarshanduration 2 hours 15 minutescritics ratingdownshowrating1you cast irrfan khan in your film and you have half your work already done the actor takes a role and interprets it in a way that is purely his own so much so you begin to wonder where does irrfan end and billu begin or maybe still perhaps there never was a duality between the two perhaps irrfan and maqbool irrfan and ashoke the namesake irrfan and monty life in a metro are one and same the actor and the character being perfectly in sync with each other and no irrfan doesnt play it the same always with his mercurial craft he has the ability to pitch it high low hysterical restrained violent genteelany which way the script demandshere he plays billu the barber hair dresser hair stylist or what you will with an easy charm and an exquisite finesse as the archetypal sudama poor friend he brings to life a throbbing picture of dignity and restraint as he tries to cope with his abject poverty on one end and the arrival of his flashy superstar friend sahir khan shah rukh khan on the other sahir is his childhood buddy going back to those carefree days when the two shared their deprivation with brotherly warmth and care billu the marginally betteroff buddy not only shared his tiffin but also sold his gold ear rings to send showman sahir to mumbai for a career in films and once their paths diverged he quietly crept back into the shadows with his crumbling barbers shop and his frugal family life while sahir got cloistered in his ivory tower that results from too much fame and glamournow that sahirs back in the picturesque village for a corny film shoot life doesnt remain the same for laidback billu everyone gets a whiff of their legendary friendship and wants a slice of the sahir pie everyone except billu who doesnt want to embarrass his friend with his decrepit state despite the fact that the village almost threatens to boycott him and his broken barbers chairthe film may not have done well in its tamil version kuselan but priyadarshan has suitably peppered it with some hearttugging moments to make it a moving ode to friendship and ordinariness of course irrfan manages to invest the ordinary with kingly glow even as shah rukh lends the glamour quotient with his filmy naachgaana surprisingly lara dutta too manages to fit in with her deglamourised avtar as the lowly barbers betterhalf in crumpled cottons and lowback cholisalso check out more stills from billu