Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee
Music: No Musical Soundtrack
Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali does not believe in creating stereotypes. He believes in being a class apart so that when entire Bollywood is busy making period films or love stories, he is back with a different story that will see him move miles ahead of others.
After Sanjay earned applause with his picturisation of the songs of 1942- A love Story, he moved on to make films on his own. The first was a tale of a deaf and dumb couple and their ordinary child.
The film was called Khamoshi The Musical. Despite the presence of matinee idols like Salman Khan, Manisha Koirala and Nana Patekar, the film failed.
Sanjay realized that for carving out a niche for himself he needs to combine opulent visualization with emotional drama and thus were born two wonders - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas happened.
The last two saw him getting worldwide recognition as Devdas was also showed in Cannes and other film festivals around the world. May be the attraction that he got from Devdas made him dream about a film that will see him getting red carpet welcome at Oscars and thus was born Black.
Black is an offbeat film in concept and visualization. The film is a milestone not only in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's career but also for Bollywood.
There have been films like Sparsh in the past and Koi Mil Gaya in recent days where the protagonists of the films were physically challenged. But Bhansali adds another chapter to this tradition with the help of the screen magic of Amitabh Bachchan and the leading lady of the time Rani Mukherjee.
Black moves around the life of an Anglo Indian kid Michelle Mc Nelly (Rani Mukherjee). She grows into an intelligent girl but devoid of the abilities that will make her hear chirping sound of birds and make her enjoy the beautiful things around her.
She is deaf and blind. Michelle soon becomes frustrated with her life. The complications also affect her personality. Her world is Black and she wants to fill colors in it, at whatever cost. The situation demands the entry of an angel and that is how Big B moves in as Debraj Sahai.
Debrai teaches deaf and blind students but his personality has a disturbing angle in that he drinks a lot. Apart from being so dedicated to his profession, he has hidden frustrations which do not surface.
When no one understands him, he takes the advice from an old friend who is also the principal of the school in which he is teaching. He sends him to Mc Nelly's place. Debrai reaches Michelle's place, drunken and high.
Upon meeting Michelle, he hatches an original plan for her and that is to give a shock treatment to her. His efforts and patience bear fruit and Mc Nelly speaks her first words.
The bond starts growing and when everything seems to be going well, fate strikes Debrai in the form of a deadly disease and he is now suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
But now the commitment is to be shown by Michelle who is more than keen to reverse roles. Now she wants to see her teacher all well and the relations see new twists and turns on this new voyage of human emotions.
To most the film is reminiscent of the miraculous story of Helen Keller, a real life kid who bravely confronted life and made a name for herself in the late 50s. Hollywood paid tributes to the lady by making countless films on her and the story also inspired many around the world.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali takes a fresh look at Keller's life and times and presents Black. The film is undoubtedly a class apart, not even a single person would expect a film like this coming from Bollywood Biggies. Sanjay Leela Bhansali should be given a standing ovation for this daring decision.
Whatever may be the box office result of this movie, this film will be remembered as a classic in days to come. After the films is over you cannot forget the scenes and turbulences witnessed on screen during the two hours of the film.
Sanjay gets all the needed support from his crew. If Ravi K Chandran has captured Shimla in all new nuances with brilliant lit scenes, it is Omung Kumar who has created lively sets for the film.
Every scene tells a story and it is the treatment of the film that leaves you spell bound. The blackground music given by Monty is brilliant. The technical team has lived up to their master's expectations and the whole team competes with the technical brilliance of Hollywood.
Black is also a milestone for all its actors. Amitabh Bachchan is at his best after a long time. He has not got a film like this even during his heydays. He lives up to the character of Debrai.
Despite some excellent performances in films like Khaki and Dev last year, Big B had got many brickbats. Black brings him in the right frame again. He delivers a performance that will leave his critics spellbound. He gets brilliant support from Rani Mukherjee who has emerged a winner in the movie.
With Black, Rani has challenged all the other leading actresses of Bollywood and if she delivers a hit in Mangal Pandey, she is going to be the Heroine No. 1 of 2005. The film also gets very good support from actors like Shenaz Patel, Nandana Sen., Ayesha Kapur and Dhritman Chatterjee.
But, despite all this brilliance what goes against Black is the fact that its looks are very grim and depressive. Audience coming for pure entertainment will feel let down.
But, if Bollywood has to move ahead with time we will be open to experiments like this. A must watch for those who like different cinema.
