5/5 Enchanting and warm family movie
  by H. Franco (NJ, USA)
This is a simple, highly entertaining, family oriented movie. The plot revolves around the concepts of friendship and life priorities based on values. The song Khudaya Khair is particularly captivating and can be downloaded from Amazon.com Billu Barber (2008) CD. It is impossible to get tired from listening to this beautiful song. This was the second Bollywood movie I ever watched, and its beauty stuck to my mind. Irrfan Khan as Billu steals the show. Lara Dutta fits well the role of a gorgeous and at the same time humble and kind wife. The last scene is obviously sentimental but effective. I do not believe in writing spoilers in reviews, although this certainly is not a movie for those who expect big surprises. Beauty and simplicity in life can go together very well.

3/5 Not Too Bad
  by N. Joseph (Chicago, IL)
Despite Sharukh Khan's mediocre acting and larger than life personality in almost each and every one of his films, he comes through as a all-around entertainer. I don't think that Shahrukh Khan is a good actor, but he has a charismatic personality that attracts attention, keep an audience loyal. Irfan Khan plays his role beautifully and I personally find him to be a more mature, versatile actor than most of his Bollywood peers. I only gave this film three stars because I tend to be very critical of Bollywood films and actors in general. But this film is a winner and very much enjoyable. Buy it!

5/5 A Simple Story Beautifully Told
  by Philip WM Wong (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia)
How many Chinese Malaysians would give an Indian produced Hindi movie 5 stars? This speaks strongly for one of the best movies I've seen in a long time - in any language. This goes far beyond your typical Bollywood masala to serve up a really touching story about dignity and friendship. Irrfan Khan is a class act and Shah Rukh Khan pokes fun at his screen persona, with some great in-jokes to keep Bollyphiles - and this viewer - very happy and impressed. A real must-see.

4/5 Some good music and dance numbers. One for SRK fans
  by Lyn (Melbourne Australia)
This is a movie about a poor village barber (Irrfan Khan) who had mentioned in passing once that he used to be a friend of the biggest Bollywood star (Shahrukh Khan playing a character close to himself). The star comes to the village to film for a movie. Everyone pushes the barber to meet his old friend but the barber keeps avoiding this. Is it because he's ashamed of his poverty or thinks a famous man wont remember him? Or did he ever know him and perhaps made it all up?
The movie's focus is on the barber so while SRK is woven throughout the movie he is very much secondary to the barbers story, and how 'ordinary people' react in various ways to celebrity.
Irrfan does a good job but his wife (Lara Dutta) didn't look that 'villagey' (more like a Bollywood lady dressed as a poor woman).
SRK plays the star appropriately well. He has charisma that is tangible whenever he is on screen. The best parts of the movie for me were the very showy song and dance numbers (done as scenes from the movie being shot). SRK partners with Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in separate big numbers.
If something slipped it from higher potential it was a slowness and repetitiveness at times with people trying to persuade the barber to contact his friend and him dodging that. Another biggie was a speech SRK gives at the end that went on and on to spin into greater absurdity (even for Bollywood).
However the movie's heart is in the right place. It is an entertainer, SRK I find always watchable even when he reaches for some excesses (driven by the script more this time) and the music and dances alone were enough to keep this movie.
Elsewhere on the Net it tends to average around 6-7 out of 10. For me its also a little above average for the dance and music.