Priyanka Chopra reminisces her most treasured film ‘Barfi!’ and how Jhilmil was born

Set to mark its 13th anniversary soon, 2012’s Barfi!, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Anurag Basu, has earned cult status over the years. The stellar performances by Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Ileana D’Cruz drew widespread praise and continue to leave a lasting impact. On Saturday, PeeCee shared a post on social media, reminiscing about how her iconic character Jhilmil Chatterjee was born.

Priyanka Reminisces Her Journey With Barfi!

In Barfi!, Priyanka played Jhilmil, a young woman on the autism spectrum who meets the mute, charming Barfi. Together, they change each other’s lives and teach each other the meaning of love. The film, like many Anurag Basu movies, took years to make and turned out beautifully, becoming one of the best films in both Ranbir’s and Priyanka’s careers.

In her post shared on Saturday, PeeCee recalled how she came on board while working with Ranbir Kapoor on Anjaana Anjaani.

Her post read, “In Jan 2009, while filming ‘Anjaana Anjaani’ in New York with Ranbir Kapoor, he mentioned his next, Barfi! With Anurag Basu, a filmmaker I admired. So when Sir offered me Jhilmil, I was thrilled. We met at my Mumbai home, I’d just returned from an event, dressed to the nines. He took one look and said he couldn’t imagine me as Jhilmil. I understood, I didn’t want to mess it up either. We agreed to workshop for 5 days.” (sic)

Further, she added how she prepared for Jhilmil. She wrote, "We immersed ourselves in research, reading, watching videos, meeting children on the autism spectrum, and doing exercises in his Aram Nagar office." (sic)

Her post continued, "One day, he asked me to hurl vile Hindi expletives at him. Mortified, I still tried, it was hilarious, liberating, and pulled me out of my comfort zone. After more “Basu-style” drills, Jhilmil was born." (sic)

"Most Barfi-Jhilmil scenes were improvised. Sir shared an idea, and we ran with it. This was also one of the last times my Dad visited me on set." (sic)

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Priyanka (@priyankachopra)