“Baba baba BLACK sheep,
Have you any awards,
Yes sir…yes sir,
There’re three on the cards,
One for the master (Big B),
One for the dame (Rani)
And one for the little girl (Ayesha Kapur), whom Big B tried to tame.
From the overcrowded world of commercial ( masala) cinema, enter the wilderness of meaningful cinema. Cinema where eyes speak louder than words, where on-screen chemistry is not trammeled to two young lovers, where characters gravitate you more than mesmerizing locales and where you don’t need company to watch a movie.
Trust me! Go and watch this movie alone, all on your own. For only then, you can feel, feel the warmth, passion, and emotions it offers. For only then you can laugh and cry profusely, as the trio weaves a magic web around you. The terrific trio of Sanjay Leela Bhansali (SLB), Rani Mukherjee and Amitabh Bacchan.. The film is only and only about them. They will make you enfeeble at times and the very next moment you will make you ebullient.
All of a sudden things seems to have suddenly fallen in place for Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who with “Black”, has taken a big audacious step to become India’s most versatile director. The title may sound a little overboard considering its still early days for him, but sorry! no one else deserve this title any better.
For a man who can make a heart wrenching “ Khamoshi” , a vivid yet subtle “Hum Dil. (HDDCS)” the epic “ Devdas” and who now comes up with a path-breaking story of mortal life; I couldn’t find a more worthy title.
The movie is path breaking in many respects; (I hope) never again people will go and watch Hindi cinema just to see an on-screen kiss, “Black” also shows that a movie without any strong storyline can still be equally ingratiating, provided its dished out properly.
“Black” is a chiaroscuro that makes you grow with all its characters; from the young and naughty Michelle (played perfectly by Ayesha Kapur), her concerned parents to her psychic teacher ( AB).
One almost palpates the worry of Michelle’s parents, the budding stew in her sister’s mind and the perseverance of her teacher.
The movie is a narration done by Michelle herself about her life and life of the man who was everything for her. Whom she fought, hated, loved, missed and how today that the same man, in crippled condition has reached a mental state she had started with.
The piece-de-resistance of “Black” is not a scene or a performance but the fact that it makes the cine goers experience the meaning of real cinema. It inculcates its story impact so much that you actually start believing it. You start believing in Debraj Sahay (Amitabh) , you start seeing the world through Michelle’s (Rani) eyes…correction mind. You start loving her world so much that, for a moment you wish that…. you wish that you were Michelle, despite her inability to see the world, despite her inability to hear to the world and despite her handicap to express herself throu speech. For she was inadvertently doing what Mahatma Gandhi taught us, the teaching of not to speak, watch or hear evil.
Michelle’s defibrillation from a barbarian-spoilt brat into a very determined lovely young lady is awe-inspiring. Just when you think that her teacher’s patience will wane, he comes back with more vigor and determination. Determination to not let eventuality guide her life, but to make her stand with her chin up and face the world.
The modus operandi followed by Debraj, starting from tidying up Michelle’s dining habits, to make her feel words by touching lips, looks so unreal but still believable; such is the intensity of the film.
It’s the second half of the film, which normally plays spoilsport in most of the movie with a different theme, but not this time.
Equally and perhaps more gripping in the second half, the narration runs through Michelle’s youth, Debraj’s attempts to get her admitted to the University and their attempts to get the much elusive Bachelor’s degree. It’s about Michelle’s introspection of life, her acquaintances with success and her celebrations of failure. It’s also about Michelle’s realization of love, physical desires; Debraj’s debilitation with age, his confrontation with Alzheimer’s disease and his deliberated exit from Michelle’s world.
If someone deserves the credit for such masterpiece first, it has to be Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He has simply outdone himself in all departments of filmmaking.
A special mention on the casting of the movie. Any other director would be tempted to have seasoned actors playing peripheral characters in the movie, but SLB has very astutely used non-regular but good actors play those roles.
Another applaudable feature in the movie is the precise canvas on which the movie is shown. Just perfect; anything bigger or smaller would have degraded the complete movie.
However, considering this movie is supposed to define a new meaning to Bollywood and hence should also reach the masses; the director could have done better with little less English (more than half of the movie is in English!).
Lets speak about acting once again after the very beloved nursery rhyme I had started the review with:
Rani as Michelle is smart as a whip and looks convincing all through. One scene she stands out is the speech (using signs) on her graduation day.
’’Amitabh Bachan ji avoid over-exposure’’. His performance as Debraj is no doubt par-excellent, but honestly speaking looks like a cross between your earlier performance in “ Aks” and “ Dabur Chavanprash” commercial, with shades of SRK’s potrayal of old Veer in “ Veer Zara”.
He is however brilliant in his depiction of Alzheimer getting big on him.
Special mention about the young Michelle played by Ayesha Kapur, who has come out with an unbelievable performance. Watch out for the scenes, where she manifests her anguish on the teacher (Big B) and the tear wrenching scene where she addresses her parents for the first time.
No songs and thankfully so. With a brilliant background score to grip and pace the proceedings sublimely, who needs songs?
Watch Black and come back with a sense of self-gratitude.
Way to go Black!
TIME FOR YOU TO WRITE SOMETHING IN BLACK AND WHITE IN COMMENTS SECTION.