24 Sep – After beating 19 other films, Star Screen Award nominated director Anurag Basu's latest Indian romantic comedy "Barfi!" as India's official entry to the 2013 Oscars in the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category, according to Koimoi. Produced by Disney UTV Studios, "Barfi!" starred Filmfare Award Best Actor winner Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and popular Southern star Ileana D'Cruz. The romantic drama follows the innocent and heartbreaking love story of a deaf and mute boy named Barfi (Kapoor), who falls in love with an autistic girl Jhilmil (Chopra) and struggling with his past love Shruti (Cruz) at the same time. The film had become an Indian box office hit as it netted an estimated US $10 million within the first week of its release. "We had not expected this kind of response to it, from Oscar nomination to box office collections to critical acclaim. All we knew is that we are making a special and a good film. I am numb, don't know how to react. I feel blessed. The Oscar nomination is icing on the cake," said director Basu. He added, "It is a long way to go. We are quite hopeful about the movie. All this will definitely give me more confidence but at the same time it will have an effect on my next film."
With minimal language and more emphasize on physical acting in the film, the "Life In A Metro" director claimed that "Barfi!" was inspired deeply by English comic actor Charlie Chaplin and it played a great role in paying a tribute to the late silent film legend. "When you do a film with a lot of physical comedy, Chaplin is a good reference point. So we paid tribute to some of the gags of his movies," the director explained. "Barfi!" is now showing in Malaysia & Singapore.