Lowly Sudama. Princely Krishna. Abject poverty on one hand. Filmy extravaganza on the other. Crumbling barber shop. Rising filmdom. Ordinary, decrepit Billu's life. Exotic, ivory tower Sahir's life.

Billu has two flavours - the ordinary and the extraordinary. The 'ordinary' part is handled in an extraordinary way while the 'extraordinary' part is essayed in an easy, hands-down ordinary fashion.

Billu (Irrfan Khan) is a village hairdresser wallowing in abject poverty. His wife Bindiya (Lara Dutta) and two kids barely manage a hand-to-mouth existence, thanks to Billu's crumbling business and failing income, loaded with debts. However, with utmost dignity and restraint, Billu puts up with what he has and what life offers him - his broken barber's chair and dilapidated dwelling place have been craving for repairs for years.

Billu's life takes a U-turn when a trendy film crew lands in the village for a film shooting. Sahir Khan, the ace star of Bollywood, is part of the crew and the lead cast in the film. Billu and Sahir share a connection that dates back to their school days. The marginally better-off Billu had shared his 'wealth' with Sahir in their childhood - he had shared his daily meals, his silly playthings and finally, his gold earrings to send Sahir to the showbiz world of Mumbai. But their paths gradually diverged; the adventurous Sahir rose up the ivory tower of films, while the village-bound Billu retreated into the shadows of poverty.

Now that Sahir is in the village shooting a corny film, Billu's life changes. Almost everybody in the village goes gaga over the otherwise-ridiculed Billu. People dote on him, shower love and affection on his family and want to assist him in his every chore, just to get a chance to meet the inaccessible Bollywood star through him. But Billu, the ordinary 'Sudama' he is, is not carried away by all this benevolence. His is too meek to use his childhood friendship to seek help from his now-famous friend. The villagers try his patience and test his mettle by threatening to boycott him and his barber shop if he does not meet Sahir. However, Billu remains unperturbed. He thinks it is impudent to display his poverty to his friend. Some villagers even doubt Billu's connection with the actor. They think it is Billu's way of reviving his failing business. Whether the Bollywood man recognizes Billu and treats him as his friend forms the rest of the story.

Though the storyline as derived from the original Malayalam movie Katha Parayumbol is linear and one-dimensional, director Priyadarshan peps it up with many a touching moment. Irrfan Khan is fabulous on screen. He essays his poverty-ridden state with utmost dignity and exquisite finesse. The actor is inseparable from Billu, the character. It is Billu who occupies viewers' minds more than his showman friend.

SRK is his usual, glamour-boy edition, competing with the ubiquitous Irrfan for screen space. All his heroines and the various foot-tapping numbers rock the picturesque village with Bollywood 'naach gaana'. Though he plays only an extended cameo, your heart flirts with him from the moment you see him on screen. Just like the villagers, you simply can't ignore the star. You fall for him and anxiously wait to get a glimpse of him.

Lara Dutta shines in her lack-lustre outfits low-backed cholis and makeup-less village matron's role. The supporting cast members also manage to eke laughter out of the audience. Bollywood girls Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone give you a slice of the usual Bollywood-pie with their dreamy eyes and dancing steps.

On the whole, Billu is a moving poem on ordinariness, resonating the truth 'It is special to be ordinary'

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