Barfee will hit the screens early 2012

Darjeeling, June 22, 2011:  “I have canned (shot) less but canned good. I am not returning back disheartened. It has always been my dream to capture Darjeeling on celluloid and it has been my dream come true” remarked writer director Anurag Basu on his way back to Mumbai from Darjeeling on Tuesday. Basu has plans to return back to Darjeeling in September along with Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra.
Writer film director Anurag Basu shot to fame with films Murder, Gangster, Life in a Metro and Kites. At present he is shooting a romantic thriller Barfee starring Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D’Cruz.

Kalimpong town is all set to get a taste of Basu’s Barfee. “I have decided to shoot in Kalimpong in September” stated Basu. Kalimpong as a location was not in Basu’s plans initially but the director has decided to incorporate it. The tea garden scenes will also be shot in September.

“No feature film has captured the unique beauty of monsoons in Darjeeling amidst the fog and rain. Thus we decided on monsoon. Barfee will be totally shot in West Bengal of which 60% will be shot in the Darjeeling Hills” stated Basu. In September Basu will be shooting in Kolkata too.

“When we return back to Darjeeling in September along with Ranbir and Priyanka we will take the help of the local people. Without their help we cannot showcase Darjeeling well,” remarked the director.

Basu was referring to the unmanageable crowds on June 16 (trying to catch a glimpse of Kapoor) at the Chowrasta which had finally resulted in the shoot being cancelled on that day. “We had not gauged that Ranbir would be so famous in Darjeeling” stated Basu.

Talking about the squabble the film unit had had with a section of the crowd on June 16 at the Darjeeling Chowrasta, a much mellowed Basu stated “I had felt humiliated at that moment with the crowd shouting at me for no reason and in a fit of rage I had decided to prepone my return by a few days. I regret the decision now. I am thankful to the people of Darjeeling. We had such a great time here. We shot, we partied in Darjeeling. It was a great experience. We all love Darjeeling.”

The film crew along with Kapoor, Ileana D’Cruz, Rupa Ganguly had arrived in Darjeeling on June 14 to shoot for Barfee. Along with the town, they had shot at the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway stations at Ghoom and Tindharia.

Ranbir Kapoor had left the Hills on Monday. “I completed most of my schedule except the Mirik lake shoot which I decided to forgo Mirik owing to the inclement weather and the tourist rush” stated Basu.

The director expects the film to be complete by October 2011. “Barfee will hit the screens early 2012” added Basu.