8th February 2005

BLACK

BLACK is full of colours. The colours that a blind and deaf girl imagined through the fingers of her teacher! Though the word 'Black' might leave a negative impression the minds of the viewers, the movie certainly does not. Alphabets for her did not start with the letters A,B and C. Instead they started with B,L,A,C,K. But she was not sorry for herself. The way she fought against all the odds to become a graduate, above all, the way she managed to teach all what she learnt to the same old teacher when he was in dire need of it was fantastic.

'Indian Cinema has touched new heights'! 'Bollywood can now boast of being one of the better film industries apart from being the second biggest in the world'! 'This movie would catapult Indian cinema to where it should have really been' - These were the comments I heard when I walked out of Ramakrishna Glitterati, on the Sunday evening. I just went to watch the film for the hype created about it, but found that the movie was worth even more!

Darkness spread over the screen even before the lights in the theatre were switched off. The initial background score of Resul Pookutty hints you about the mood of the movie. The film starts with Michelle (Rani) narrating her story, how she found her teacher Debraj Sahai (Amitabh), who taught her how to live, after 12 years, in his final stages, struck by Alzheimer's disease, vision blurred by age, at the same place where she first met her teacher.

Twelve years earlier, Michelle's mom (aptly played by Shernaz), comes to know that her child could not see or hear anything. This leaves her in a state of shock, more to come when Michelle's father (Dhrithimaan) gets disgusted by Michelle's acts of ignorance (or fate as you might like to call) and makes every preparation for Michelle's departure to the asylum. But the mother, completely reluctant to send her daughter to an asylum, somehow convinces the father to seek a last option, a teacher who could create magic and teach her child a way to live. Here enters Sahai, a teacher of the physically challenged, a man in his seventies, who is in need of a job as much as he needed alcohol. He gets introduced to the little girl Michelle (brilliantly played by Ayesha Kapur) who was very stubborn and arrogant. He decides to take an approach of being aggressive rather than being loving and pacifying so that the girl stand on abilities to do things independently. His approach irritates Michelle's father who, orders Sahai to leave the house immediately and goes off on a 20 - day business tour. But Sahai, reluctant to leave Michelle in that state, urges the mother to give him a last chance, and goes to the extent of giving up alcohol and his wages if he was let alone to do his job and promises to complete his job before the father returns from this tour.

How Sahai emerges victorious in teaching the girl words and their meanings - you must watch it on the screen to believe it! Michelle grows up under the supervision of Sahai into an organized girl who was never taught the meaning of the word 'Impossible'. With the help of Sahai, the joins in a college to complete her B.A. keeps on failing. Meanwhile, Sahai develops Alzheimer's disease and slowly starts forgetting things. By the time Michelle manages to complete her graduation, Sahai was gone. Ultimately, after twelve long years of desperation, Michelle manages to find her teacher in a state of doom and distress. He had by then completely forgot everything including the meaning of words.

Why Sahai had to go? How Michelle managed to get back to Sahai, How she taught him all the lessons that he had taught her when she was ten, how she got him out of the chains he was tied up with in the hospital - All these had to be watched on the silver screen for the real passion involved.

Black is a director's movie! Sanjay Leela Bhansali certainly deserves a standing ovation for what all he treated us to with his film. Ayesha Kapur gave an absolutely stunning performance as the Michelle, the child. Rani Mukherjee and Amitabh Bachchan arguably played the best roles of their careers. Shernaz and Nandana were good as the mother and sister of Michelle. Many a scene in the movie evokes a slight tinge of pain in the heart. Especially the scene where Michelle's sister confesses how rude she has been towards Michelle and when Sahai reads out the letter written by Michelle to her sister congratulating her on her engagement as the answer to the sister's confession.

Over all, the movie is all about emotions, relationships, will-power and confidence. There are lots of volumes in the movie - told and untold. It is up to you to read as many as you can. Rani and Amitabh will be remembered for long for their great performances in the movie. No doubt superstar Shahrukh Khan touched the feet of Amitabh Bachchan after watching the movie in Mumbai for his absolutely scintillating performance. (News courtesy: apunkachoice.com)

Cinematography by Ravi Chandran was top class. The art work by Omung Kumar along with the cinematography highly succeeded in putting every visualization of the director on to the screen, flawless. The film has the potential to make it to the Oscars. But, I feel, there is no need of an Oscar to recognize this film.

P.S: This is a personal opinion of the movie. Comments and brickbats are welcome. Please let me know how you liked the review.

Thanks and regards,
Syam Krishna.K
Syam_Krishna@infosys.com

More My Movie experiences:

Sai - Anand
Rohit - Anand & Veer Zaara
Jaya Prakash - 7GBC
Raj - Anand
Purnesh - Anand
Purnesh - The Village
Sriram - Gudumba Shankar
Purnesh - Gharshana
Purnesh - Lakshya
Purnesh - Yuva
Leenesh - Yuva
Kis - Lakshmi Narasimha
Indian Pride - Tagore
Raj - Boys
Phani - Gangotri
Phani - Khadgam
Vikram - CKR
BKR - Indra (Singapore)
Ram - Indra (Dubai)
Ranjeet - Idiot
Rahul - Indra
King Koduri - Indra
Srilakshmi Katragadda - Mitr: My Friend