Barfi and Murphy : Are great products so damn original? [Sum greater than the parts?]NextBigWhat

As they say, in the end what matters most is how well you disrupted the market.

A lot of sources has revealed that the movie Barfi is copied from various Indian and Hollywood movies but still made it to the Oscar’ 2013 nomination list. But do you really believe is there any harm in getting inspired from others and making something of your own?

If you steal from one author it’s plagiarism; if you steal from many it’s research. [Wilson Mizner ]

Apart from the plagiarism criticism the movie is currently going through, the movie has great performances, strong production values and a refreshing story, its just not a remake of some old movie but has redefined old plots with a better storyline.

First, take a look at the several copy paste scenes of the movie:

Barfi and Murphy

Curated by Team Pluggd.in

The Adventurer(Charlie Chaplin): The Adventurer(Charlie Chaplin)

The bank scene in Barfi! Where Ranbir evades Saurabh Shukla via a sliding door is from the 1917 Charlie Chaplin short The Adventurer.

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Notebook Scene (Like Mother, Like Daughter): Notebook Scene (Like Mother, Like Daughter)

The scene where Rupa Ganguly shows Ileana D’Cruz her former boyfriend is from The Notebook (2004).

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The Notebook(end of Barfi): The Notebook(end of Barfi)

The scene towards the end of Barfi! where Priyanka Chopra snuggles up to Ranbir on his hospital bed is also from the same film.

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Make ‘Em Laugh(playing with a toys to make Priyanka laugh): Make ‘Em Laugh(playing with a toys to make Priyanka laugh)

The scenes of Ranbir getting a twisted nose after he bangs into a door and that of him entertaining Priyanka with a dummy on a sofa are both from Singin’ In The Rain (1952).

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City Lights(Charli Chaplin – waking up under the statue): City Lights(Charli Chaplin – waking up under the statue)

The scene where Ranbir wakes up under a covered statue that is being unveiled is from Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights (1931).

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the Buster Keaton short Cops (Ladder Gag): the Buster Keaton short Cops (Ladder Gag)

The ladder on a wall gag while Ranbir is evading cops is from the Buster Keaton short Cops (1922). The scene where Ranbir escapes by grabbing onto a bus is also from there.

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Koshish (when ranbir’s dad gets a heart attack): Koshish (when ranbir’s dad gets a heart attack)

Here is the Koshish scene from which the scene of Barfi asleep and not listening to his father’s screams is inspired from.

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Kikujiro – Hitchhiking (putting the nail on road): Kikujiro – Hitchhiking (putting the nail on road)

The scene where Ranbir keeps a nail on the road to stop a passing car is from Kikujiro (1999), down to the shape and size of the nail and the framing of the shot. Incidentally, Myshkin remade the entire film in Tamil as Nandalala (2010), an un-credited remake, of course.

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Expressen newspaper advertisement (ranbir ogling a Sadhu’s crotch): Expressen newspaper advertisement (ranbir ogling a Sadhu’s crotch)

The scene where Ranbir is ogling a Sadhu’s crotch is from an advertisement for a Swedish newspaper.

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The Goonies (Ranbir’ confession in front of police wala).: The Goonies (Ranbir’ confession in front of police wala).

The interrogation scene where Ranbir responds to a question that asks him to reveal everything by starting with his birth is from The Goonies (1985).

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Jackie Chan – “Project A” (bike chase scene): Jackie Chan – “Project A” (bike chase scene)

The scene where Ranbir, on a bicycle, is being chased through narrow lanes is from the Jackie Chan film Project A (1983).

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Yann Tiersen – La Noyee (theme song of barfi): Yann Tiersen – La Noyee (theme song of barfi)

One of the recurring musical themes in Barfi! has been cobbled together by Pritam from two tunes composed by Yann Tiersen that were used in Amelie (2001).

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Sum >> Parts

While many of us are now laughing at the extent to which the movie has been copied, but to those who knew nothing about the original artwork (did you?), the movie still is a great piece of storytelling and proves a simple point that a well conceived products (i.e. sum) is greater than the sum of parts.

A lot of hackers/geeks/entrepreneurs tend to focus on ‘differentiating’ features, and tend to lose out on the product (and packaging); but directors of the Barfi movie probably focused mainly on the product (and ~~fitted~~ lifted the features/scenes accordingly).

Maybe they are right (in CREATING a great product) and maybe they are wrong (in deriving a LOT of inspiration) – but the truth is that Barfi is a refreshingly different movie, given Bollywood standards and sets a bar for others.

The Target Segment:
Just like many startups that attempt models from elsewhere in India with some changes – the target market did not have access to the original content (or probably the original content was lost in the wild world). So its not the most creatively satisfying way to do it – yet it brings good art to a new audience!

Nakal mein bhi akal chahiye. Copying needs to be done with a class! Google spreadsheets were very much inspired from Excel – but they did a good job and now a whole new set of users uses spreadsheets (new use-cases).

Good or Bad? The truth, as they say lies somewhere in between. But for sure, plagiarism is bad unless one makes the original look half-baked.