Murphy, also known as Barfi, is an optimistic, street-smart, charming young man who was born deaf and mute to a couple in Darjeeling. His mother died after giving birth to him. His father Jungbahadur raised him alone while working as a chauffeur. Barfi is known as a troublemaker; he cuts lampposts, plays practical jokes, and is chased by Inspector Sudhanshu Dutta, a local police officer. Barfi meets Shruti Ghosh, a gorgeous, educated young girl who has just arrived in Darjeeling. She is engaged to Ranjeet Sengupta and is due to get married in three months, but Barfi is immediately smitten with Shruti. She also falls in love with Barfi, but Shruti's mother dissuades her from pursuing him because he could not take care of her with his disabilities and lack of money. Shruti unwillingly takes her mother's advice, marries Ranjeet, and leaves town, cutting off all contact with Barfi.

Meanwhile, Barfi's father suffers from kidney failure and Barfi is compelled to somehow raise the amount of ₹7000 for his surgery. After an unsuccessful attempt to rob a local bank, Barfi contemplates the kidnapping of Jhilmil Chatterjee, his autistic childhood friend and wealthy heiress of her grandfather's fortune, for a ransom. Upon arriving, Barfi discovers that Jhilmil has already been kidnapped and her father, Durjoy Chatterjee, files a police report and arranges a ransom of ₹50,000 as demanded. Barfi is escaping from Inspector Dutta from the bank robbery case and spots Jhilmil in a van. He sneaks inside and drives Jhilmil away from the ransom delivery. Barfi proceeds to hide her in his apartment with the police in pursuit. Barfi writes a new ransom note for ₹7000 and collects the amount from Jhilmil's father, but finds that his father has died just as he makes the hospital payment. Dejected, Barfi tries to leave Jhilmil at the village of her caretaker, but she refuses to leave him and the two soon move to Kolkata, where Barfi assumes responsibility for Jhilmil and takes care of her.

Six years later, Barfi and Shruti reunite by chance in Kolkata. Shruti is unhappy with her marriage with Ranjeet, and rekindles her friendship with Barfi, much to the chagrin of the lovestruck Jhilmil, who then goes missing in the city. Shruti files a missing person report for Jhilmil. Inspector Dutta and the Darjeeling police learn about the report, resume their pursuit of Barfi and arrest him. Shruti strives hard to help Barfi and Ranjeet abandons her as a result. As he is being interrogated, another ransom demand for Jhilmil is made and she is apparently killed in the process of the exchange, though her cadaver is never recovered. Inspector Dutta is confused at how Jhilmil's father received a ransom note for her in Darjeeling when she had been living in Kolkata for last six years. In order to conclude the case, the police decide to frame Barfi for Jhilmil's murder, but Inspector Dutta, who grew fond of Barfi after investigating him for his nuisances, asks Shruti to take him away, offering him a second chance at life. She agrees and hopes that now Jhilmil is dead, she can finally be with Barfi.

However, Barfi is deeply affected by Jhilmil's loss and finds living with Shruti unfulfilled. He eventually finds the location of Jhilmil's childhood home from the scribbles that she made in their house. Barfi takes Shruti to the place to find Jhilmil, and in a plot twist, the two discover that Jhilmil is alive all along, and that both the kidnappings were fabricated by her father so that he could embezzle money from Jhilmil's trust fund. In the second attempt, the second time, Jhilmil's caretakers from her childhood foster home colluded with Jhilmil's father and faked her death so that she could return to her special-care home, away from her alcoholic mother. In return, Jhilmil's father received control of the trust fund that Jhilmil's late grandfather had left behind for her. Barfi happily reunites with Jhilmil and the two get married, while Shruti spends the rest of her days alone, regretting the loss of her chance to be with Barfi, but still happy about Barfi and Jhilmil reuniting.

In the present day, Barfi is gravely ill in a hospital and is close to death. Jhilmil arrives and lies with Barfi in his hospital bed as Shruti narrates that the two died peacefully together, not wanting to leave each other behind in life or death. The film closes showing the last days of Barfi and Jhilmil as credits roll.

• Ranbir Kapoor as Murphy (a.k.a. Barfi) who is an optimistic, street-smart, charming young man who was born deaf and mute to a couple in Darjeeling
• Priyanka Chopra as Jhilmil Chatterjee
• Ileana D'Cruz as Shruti Ghosh Sengupta
• Saurabh Shukla as Inspector Sudhanshu Dutta
• Ashish Vidyarthi as Durjoy Chatterjee: Jhilmil's father
• Sumona Chakravarti as Piyali: Shruti's friend
• Jisshu Sengupta as Ranjeet Sengupta: Shruti's fiancé-turned-husband
• Roopa Ganguly as Mrs. Ghosh: Shruti's mother
• Uday Tikekar as Mr. Ghosh: Shruti's father
• Haradhan Bandopadhyay as Daju: Jhilmil's special-care homeowner
• Arun Bali as Nanaji: Jhilmil's maternal grandfather
• Preeti Mamgain as Mrs. Chatterjee: Jhilmil's mother
• Akash Khurana as Jungbahadur Chhetri: Barfi's father
• Kenneth Desai as Senior Inspector
• Rajeev Mishra as Inspector Dutta's assistant
• Bholaraj Sapkota as Bhola: Barfi's friend
• Sujata Sehgal as Ms. D'Souza: founding member of Jhilmil's special-care home

During the production of his previous directorial venture Kites (2010), director Anurag Basu wrote a two-page short story which was later developed into the script of Barfi!.^[3] The film script that Basu wrote alternated between two time periods, and he retained the nonlinear narrative structure. He said that the script required a 30-year time span for the characters' love to grow and thus set the backdrop of the film in the 1970s.^[4]

In June 2010, Anurag Basu confirmed that his film would feature three lead roles, a deaf-mute man, a mentally challenged girl, and a narrator.^[5] With former titles like Khamoshi or Silence, media reports said the story was grim or dark. However, Basu stated that on the contrary, the film was happy.^[6] According to Basu, he paid homage to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin by adding scenes inspired by the era of silent cinema and using physical comedy in the film, involving silent portions.^[7]

Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra played the lead roles

Ranbir Kapoor was the first choice of director Anurag Basu and Asin Thottumkal was the first choice for the role of the narrator before finalizing Katrina Kaif. In March 2010, The Times of India reported that Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif were signed to play lead roles in the film, then titled Khamoshi and later Silence, which Basu confirmed.^[8]

Basu wanted to cast Asin Thottumkal for the role of Jhilmil, an autistic girl.^[9] Basu's wife, Tani suggested Chopra's name for the role. However, Basu feared that the audience would see "the Priyanka Chopra" and not the character due to Chopra's stardom.^[9] Basu explained "I had the fear that I would see Priyanka Chopra in the character and Jhilmil wouldn't work. This has happened in many films where known faces have harmed the character."^[9] Priyanka Chopra was cast to play the part but, the development was not announced as Basu wanted to workshop first and see how it goes. After three days of workshop, Basu was convinced that Chopra could play the part and reflected that he was glad that he chose Chopra for the role.^[9][10] Later, Basu revealed that he did not approach any actress after Chopra for the part.^[4]

After Chopra was cast in the film, Kaif left the project for unknown reasons.^[11] Media reported that she may have opted out of the film because Chopra had been given a stronger role.^[12] Later, media reported that Asin Thottumkal was approached to play the role of the narrator once again, replacing Kaif.^[13] However, Asin refused the offer due to date clashes. Media reported that no other actress wanted to sign for the film because according to them, Chopra's part was stronger. In July 2010, Mumbai Mirror reported that Chopra was ready to play the role of narrator, so that another actress could be cast in the film as she did not want the film to stall.^[14] Basu confirmed this development and said, "It's true we've been unable to cast the other part." After facing several casting problems, Basu chose to cast a completely new fresh face to play the second female role.^[15] In early December 2010, Ileana D'Cruz, an actress who worked in Telugu films, was finalised for the second female lead, featuring as narrator and Kapoor's first love interest in the film, thus making her debut in Bollywood with the film.^[16]

Kapoor played the role of a deaf and mute man in the film. According to Kapoor, he took inspiration from screen legends such as Roberto Benigni, Charlie Chaplin and his grandfather Raj Kapoor.^[17] Due to the protagonist's physical disability, Basu did not want to use any sign language but, some behavioural patterns in the film.^[18] Kapoor described his character as a regular, happy-go-lucky and good-hearted guy.^[19]

Chopra played the role of Jhilmil. Basu described Chopra's role as the "toughest" in the film.^[9] To prepare for the role, Chopra visited several mental institutions and spent time with autistic people. She said she had to research a little for the role because in India awareness about autism is very low.^[20] Chopra told that she had to let go of every inhibition probably that she had as a Hindi film heroine and play Jhilmil without thinking of it. She explained that she needed two moments to become Jhilmil because she didn't identify with her character due to the difference between her thoughts and behaviour.^[21]

D'cruz, who portrayed the narrator and first love interest of the protagonist said "Shruti, is such a sensitive role to play as she goes to different phases in the film."^[22]

According to Basu, after Kapoor, Chopra and D'cruz's characters, Saurabh Shukla's character as Inspector Dutta was the most important. Basu described the role as an "amazing" character, who makes others cry when he laughs.^[23]

Principal photography commenced in March 2011.^[24][25] Barfi! was shot between June 2011 and February 2012, mostly in Darjeeling.^[26] In March 2011, Basu visited Kolkata to finalize the locations within the city. Filming in Mumbai began on 20 March 2011 and continued until May 2011.^[27] In June 2011, the cast and crew shot in Darjeeling.^[28] In December 2011, some scenes were filmed on the outskirts of Coimbatore, especially Pollachi and Ooty.^[29] The scenes in which Kapoor's character is chased by policemen over the roof tops were shot in Kolkata at the end of January 2012.^[30] Shooting was completed by April 2012, except for some scenes featuring Chopra. The producers postponed the release from 13 July to 31 August 2012 as the September 2011 shooting schedule was cancelled and was waiting to be shot.^[6][31] However, Basu began working on D'Cruz's dubbing portions by end of April 2012, because D'Cruz was unfamiliar with the Hindi language and wanted to learn it whilst filming.^[32]

The music and background score of the film is composed by Pritam, and the lyrics were written by Swanand Kirkire, Ashish Pandit, Neelesh Misra and Sayeed Quadri. The soundtrack album has six original songs which was released on 9 August 2012. The soundtrack was influenced by Brazilian Bossa nova.^[33] Priyanka Chopra was supposed to sing a track for the film, but her contract with Universal Music prevented her from taking the offer.^[34] The soundtrack album also contains a song titled "Fatafati", sung by Pritam Chakraborty, Arijit Singh & Nakash Aziz. which was not used in the film, but the song was released as a promotional single on YouTube on 10 September 2012 with a video which contains some behind-the-scenes footage and the additional vocals are sung by Ranbir Kapoor. The song also has some Bengali lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.^[35]

The official trailer of the film was launched on 2 July 2012 featuring all the actors. It included no dialogue, portraying comedy through gestures and actions, and was well-received by critics and audiences.^[36] Chopra's character was kept under wraps in the trailers as the makers were not willing to reveal much about her character to increase curiosity among the audiences and was only revealed around the release of the film. Shikha Kapur, the executive director (marketing) of UTV explained "Priyanka plays a very special character in Barfi, so we want to keep her mystery intact. In the first trailer, Barfi – played by Ranbir – will be unveiled. We don't plan to reveal Priyanka until the film releases."^[37]

UTV Motion Pictures created a YouTube application called The Flavour of Barfi, designed for the marketing the film. The application features Ranbir Kapoor as his character from the film and allows users to type actions, which Kapoor acts out. The application features two zones: one asks users to change Barfi's mood and the other gives users the chance to watch him flirt.^[38] The film was promoted in various cities across India. While promoting the film at the Phoenix Mall, Bangalore, the crowds broke through the barricades.^[39]

Barfi! The Official Movie Game, a mobile video game based on the film was also released by UTV Indiagames.^[40]

Barfi! was released on 14 September 2012 on 1300 screens in 700 theatres in India.^[41] Reliance Home Entertainment released Barfi! on DVD and Blu-ray in mid-November 2012 across all regions in a one-disc pack complying with the NTSC format.^[42] The DVD and the Blu-ray discs contained bonus content, including making of the film, "Fatafati – Behind The Scenes" and Deleted Scenes. The Video CD version was released at the same time. The exclusive right to broadcast the film was bought by Zee Network and UTV Movies. The deal includes premiere rights of the film along with several other UTV productions. The rights are for seven years, consisting of the premiere (for both channels) of the film. Zee Network will have multiple runs while UTV Movies will have selected run rights. The price of the deal was not revealed by the production company.^[43] The film is also available on Netflix.^[44] The film was free from premiered on JioHotstar, on 19 July 2025.^[45]

In Japan, the film was released in August 2014. It was released on ten screens in six Japanese cities: Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka.^[46]

On 12 September 2012, British manufacturer Murphy Radio claimed that its trademark Murphy baby logo from its 1970s print advertisements has been used in Barfi! without permission.^[47] Producer Siddharth Roy Kapur said that he had received a legal notice from Murphy but said that there is nothing wrong in the intention, as the brand in question has been shown in a "very positive light".^[48]

After the film's release, several blogs and users of social media websites Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accused the director of plagiarism.^[49] Media further alleged that Basu had not tried to credit the original sources. Several videos were uploaded to YouTube showing side-by-side comparisons with Hollywood films like Cops, The Adventurer, City Lights, Singin' in the Rain, Project A, The Notebook and Benny & Joon. They also accused Barfi!'s music director Pritam of copying the background music from the French film Amélie.^[50]

Basu defended the film by saying that he was inspired by these works and that Barfi! contains an original plot, screenplay, characters and situations.^[51] He said that he was paying homages to Keaton and Chaplin.^[7] Barfi!'s Oscar selection for Best Foreign Language Film was criticized because of plagiarism, but Oscar selection committee chief Manju Borah defended the film by saying, "Barfi! deserves to be sent outside. The selection was a very open process with three to four rounds of severe discussions and came down to the best film of the final three."^[52]

Barfi! received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with critics praising the cast performances, direction, screenplay, cinematography, music and the positive portrayal of physically disabled people.^[53] Zee News gave the film 5 out of 5 stars and said, "[a]ll in all, Anurag Basu's Barfi! is a perfect sweet treat for his audience. Like it has been discussed, those film-makers who have been portraying the handicapped as dull and boring in their films must take a lesson from Barfi!.^[54] Madhureeta Mukherjee of The Times of India gave the film a 4/5 rating and said, "Kapoor, in the most challenging performance of his career leaves us 'dumbstruck'. Without use of conventional crutches of cool-catchphrases, dhamaakedaar-dialogbaazi, bare-bodies, and other 'items'; he stuns you in every single frame. For Chopra, there's only one word – BRAVO! In a role where she needs to under-emote, she does so brilliantly (delivering an incredible performance)."^[55]

Roshni Devi of Koimoi said, "Barfi! leaves you with that warm, cuddly, magical feeling with a few tears to match. It's really worth a watch" and gave it an overall score of 3.5 stars out of 5.^[56] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said, "Barfi is akin to a whiff of fresh air. Its foremost triumph is that it leaves you with a powerful emotion: Happiness!"^[57] Indo-Asian News Service gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said, "Barfi! comes as close to being a modern masterpiece as cinematically possible. To miss it would be a crime. To embrace it is to serenade the sublime".^[58] Aniruddha Guha of Daily News and Analysis rated the film 4 out of 5 and remarked that movie "engages you at a personal level", and further added that, "Barfi cannot be missed. It demands patience, but the payoff is incredible".^[59]

Pratim D. Gupta of The Telegraph said, "The brilliance of Barfi! is that it's no story and all storytelling. It's about a director at the top of his game orchestrating terrific talent into a bravura crescendo. Only someone who has shown death the door can open windows to life like this."^[60] Filmfare gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and stated, "Barfi! is that rare film that can make you smile and make you cry in the same scene. Its technical brilliance is only outdone by its emotional complexity and depth. Pritam's music adds a nice silent-era charm to this already fantastic story, making it an occasion when words simply aren't enough."^[61] Raja Sen of Rediff.com has given 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Barfi! is a well-crafted script with an intriguing back-and-forth narrative but it all goes south towards the end."^[62]

Anupama Chopra writing for Hindustan Times gave it 3 out 5 stars and wrote, "[t]his is a film made with love, bolstered by wonderfully etched vignettes, Kapoor and Chopra's stupendous performances and a gorgeous soundtrack by Pritam. And yet, for me, Barfi! was a singularly frustrating experience there was so much to like, but the film never became more than the sum of its parts".^[63] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave 3 out of 5 stars and said, "Barfi! had the potential to be great cinema, but as it stands it's a respectable film that's still better than a lot else you're likely to see."^[64] On the contrary, Namrata Joshi of Outlook felt that "The flashback within flashback narrative gets way too clumsy and turgid, the thriller twist absolutely pointless [....] appears much too crafted and self-consciously gorgeous, and feels eminently facile and plastic".^[65]

The film received high critical acclaim overseas as well. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 14 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10.^[66] Rachel Saltz of The New York Times said, "Bollywood isn't afraid to be mawkish. Barfi! is at times, though not noticeably more so than most Hindi movies, despite its premise of special lovers with a special lesson to teach."^[67] Lisa Tsering The Hollywood Reporter called the film "a refreshingly non-commercial exercise" and added that "poignant Bollywood romantic comedy". On the performances of the cast, she wrote, "[...] Basu has guided Kapoor, and especially Chopra, to turn in exceptionally restrained, organic performances.""^[68] Ronnie Scheib of Variety wrote, "Unlike Michel Hazanavicus' black-and-white silent homage "The Artist", Basu's film bursts with sound and color; only the speaking- and hearing-impaired Basu is condemned to silence."^[69] Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times was more critical of the film, despite praising aspect including "the hard-working cast, a lush score, exotic location shooting and scattered warmth", called it as "more of an endurance test than entertainment."^[70]

Barfi! has received various awards and nominations in categories ranging mostly from recognition of the film itself to its direction, screenplay, cinematography, music, to the cast's performances. The film was selected as India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film nomination for the 85th Academy Awards.^[71] The film received a leading 13 nominations at the 58th Filmfare Awards, and won a leading 7 awards, including Best Film, Best Actor (Kapoor), Best Female Debut (D'Cruz) and Best Music Director (Pritam).^[72][73] Barfi! received a leading 23 nominations at the 19th Screen Awards, winning 9, including Best Director (Basu), Best Actor (Kapoor), and Jodi No. 1 (Kapoor and Chopra).^[74][75][76] At the 14th Zee Cine Awards, Barfi! received 9 nominations, and won 8 awards, including Best Film, Best Director (Basu) and Best Actress (Chopra).^[77][78]

Upon its release, Barfi! started strongly at multiplexes throughout India, with around 80–90% occupancy, but had lower opening takings because of a limited release.^[79] The film grossed ₹85.6 million (US$1.0 million) on its opening day.^[80] Its second day saw an increase of around 35% occupancy and collected ₹115 million (US$1.4 million).^[81] In its opening weekend, the film grossed ₹340 million (US$4.0 million).^[41] In its first week, Barfi! collected ₹565 million (US$6.7 million) nett,^[82] and by its eighth day had earned ₹32.5 million (US$380,000) despite the release of Heroine.^[83] Barfi! earned ₹150 million (US$1.8 million) in its second weekend.^[84] Barfi! had a good second week where it has collected ₹242 million (US$2.9 million) nett.^[85] In the third week, the film's takings rose to ₹158 million (US$1.9 million) nett.^[86] and it took ₹61.5 million (US$730,000) in its fourth week.^[87] During its cinematic release period, Barfi! earned a gross total of ₹1.06 billion (US$13 million) in India.^[88] The all-India distributor share of the film was ₹500 million (US$5.9 million).^[89] The film became one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of 2012 in India, and was declared a "Super Hit" after its three-week run by Box Office India.^[90] The film went on to gross ₹1.75 billion (US$21 million) worldwide.^[91][92] Internationally, Barfi earned around ₹124 million (US$1.5 million) in its opening weekend, slightly exceeding Raajneeti – which had collected ₹116 million (US$1.4 million) – ^[93] By the end of its run, Barfi! had grossed $6.25 million outside India, and it became one of the highest overseas grossing Bollywood films of 2012.^[94]

• List of submissions to the 85th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Indian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film