Ranbir and Ileana’s cycle tricks during the shooting of Barfi! Is the reason Ranbir Kapoor and Ileana D’Cruz are seen on cycles in several scenes of Barfi! Since the film is partly set in the 70s when cycles were the main mode of transport. “Ranbir is an expert at cycling and enjoyed cycling while shooting, but he needed at least four people to stop his cycle after giving a shot. That’s because the bikes were old and often the brakes would often fail!” chuckles director Anurag Basu about shooting with his actors Ileana and Ranbir on cycles in the hilly regions of Darjeeling. Ileana also has some scenes where she is cycling solo but according to Basu the production unit had booked a rickshaw they would tie the cycle to and cheat shoot as Ileana was very unsure whether she could ride it. “But within two days of practising she surprised everyone by riding her own cycle beautifully,” says Basu. Barfi! which releases on September 14 and is distributed by IMGC global has Ranbir playing a charmer even though he can neither speak nor hear, and focuses on his bitter-sweet relationship with two beautiful young ladies, Ileana and Priyanka Chopra which sets in motion a chain of events that turns his life upside down.
