People throng Sujata Cinema in Ranchi on Monday to watch Billu. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Feb. 16: Come Thursday, barbers of Ranchi will have a matinee date with Billu.

The management of Sujata Cinema here has decided to screen Shah Rukh Khan’s home production, which ran into severe controversy in Mumbai over the use of the “derogatory” term “barber” in the film’s initial title, for 270 local snip masters. The objective is to help the fraternity identify with an ordinary man, Irrfan “Billu” Khan, whose life takes an extraordinary turn when he finds a friend in a superstar, Shah Rukh “Sahir” Khan, shooting in his nondescript village of Budbuda, purportedly in Uttar Pradesh.

Though the film has its share of stock characters, maudlin and over-the-top moments, and sags in the latter half, there’s also good story-telling, great acting and a healthy dose of masala that can quell the simmering resentment against the alleged spoof on a barber’s life, feels Sujata proprietor Dushyant Jaiswal.

“Salons are mushrooming in the city. Everyone’s attempting a cut above the rest. The competition is stiff for local barbers. We wanted to bring some cheer to their hitherto monotonous lives. All the 270 barbers will watch the movie for free on Thursday afternoon. They will also be offered light refreshment,” he said.

Jaiswal said he had taken the permission of Ranchi Nayee Association secretary Tanik Thakur to avoid controversy. “Thakur, himself, was planning a show for the barbers and, so, readily agreed. Earlier, it was decided that Billu would be screened on Tuesday, but barbers consider cutting hair and nails on Tuesday inauspicious. So, we postponed the show,” he added.

This is not the first time Sujata Cinema has rolled out its carpet for the working class. In the early Eighties, the management had arranged for the screening of Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Coolie for 100-odd railway porters.

Lauding the efforts of Jaiswal, Thakur said the film Billu would certainly inspire barbers who feel threatened by salons that dot every street of the city these days. “They are running out of survival strategies in this age of cut-throat competition. Many want to give up their ancestral profession. We hope the film will help them change their mind,” he said.

Thakur said there were some 1,000 barbers in the city. “While 270 barbers will watch the film on Thursday, the others will do so next week.”

Barbers in the city are excited about the matinee treat. However, Ram V. Thakur, the oldest member of the Nayee Association, sounded sceptical. “We are losing our identity. Just making films on our lives won’t help. The government needs to take concrete steps for our betterment,” he said.