’’Black’’ is truly one of the most amazing pieces of cinema I have seen, both in Bollywood and Hollywood terms!! I honestly was left completely spellbound by the mindblowing performances of the Big B, Rani Mukherjee, and the young Ayesha Kapoor. For the first time, both Rani and Amitabh were not props to dress up, dance, and pull in a crowd. They were true ACTORS, and amazing ones at that...
’’Black’’ is basically inspired by the life of Helen Keller. Rani (Michelle) is initially shown as a child (Ayesha Kapoor) who is deaf, dumb, and blind. Ayesha’s portrayal is unbelievable. I walked out of the theater wondering if that child was truly blind, because seeing her act, no one could believe otherwise! Our Bollywood actors/actresses could learn many things about histrionics from this incredibly talented child. Michelle’s parents do not know how to communicate with this child, whose world is basically, well...Black.
This is when the Big B enters the picture as a teacher who with sheer determination, belief, and perseverance teaches this child to communicate and opens a completely new world for her. At the end, this same teacher who has opened this world for her, himself can no longer communicate or remember anything as a result of Alzheimer’s disease. Michelle, as a 40 year old adult, is determined to jog his memory and cure him.
I must say, I was a Rani Mukherjee fan before, but I am now a die hard one. I was initially a Kajol fan, and Rani has BY FAR exceeded even her brilliant cousin’s performances. This is truly the best role of Amitabh’s career. He shows exactly what he is capable of, and the fact that he should stay away from pathetic cinema like ’’Ab Thumhare Hawalen Wathan Sathiyo.’’
This film should not be judged according to what it does at the box office, or how the masses would like it. It should be judged according to the quality of the film, and the quality is the ultimate in EVERY respect.
This film deserves a trip to the Oscars. If the public can appreciate very silly films like ’’Moojse Shaadi Karogi’’ and not appreciate this mindblowing film, I will be thoroughly disappointed with the Indian audiences!