Black (2005)

The story of making of Black is something like this (as against the one given by SLB that he got this idea while making Khamoshee, a film he wanted to make since he'd seen Gulzar's Koshish): Screenwriter Prakash Kapadia (Devdas, Black) met Bhansali at the premiere of P Kapadia's Gujarati film Dariya Chhoru (directed by Vipul Shah of Aankhen fame). Bhansali was invited to the screening by Aatish Kapadia (writer of Aankhen and the then screenwriter of Devdas). Bhansali came up to Prakash Kapadia after the screening and told him, "You are the real hero of the film." Of course, a few days later, Aatish Kapadia was replaced by Prakash Kapadia to write Devdas for SLB. During the making of Devdas and later, Prakash Kapadia would discuss all his plays (some 20 great stories that he made in his 20 year long illustrious theatre career). Among these, were two plays: one was a story called "Aatam Vinjhe Paankh", a Gujarati play inspired straight from "The Miracle Worker" and the other was a story of an ageing teacher suffering from the Alzheimer's. Post Devdas, Bhansali asked PK to render the story of Bajirao and Mastani for him. While PK was busy with that, Bhansali clubbed the two stories of Miracle Worker and Alzhiemer's, with the help of co-writer Bhavani Iyer and developed a complete English script titled "Black". When he sent the script to PK, PK rejected most of the screenplay as dry and dull. With PK entering the scene, it was decided that SLB will make a bilingual film instead of an out-and-out English film. SLB approached the Helen Keller Institute for rights and assistance. He was denied the rights, but was offered the assistance. So the secondary level problem had now become a primary one. They had to deviate from Helen Keller's life and The Miracle Worker as much as they could. They gave a thank you note to the institute in the film, but couldn't mention anywhere that Black is indeed inspired from the Miracle Worker or Keller's life. Problem 2 was they had to expand the role of Debraj's character because it was going to be played by Amitabh Bachhan. In this confusion of events, they ended up creating a mess out of a great story. They maintained Anne Sullivan's character of a half blind teacher (Bachhan getting the eye drops from Ms. Nayar), but added Alzhiemer's to it for further drama and forced sensitivity. They maintained most of the other characters, but couldn't use the real names, though they ended up using the same costume, setting and make-up. They didn't use the same education techniques of Anne Sullivan and because of their lack of imagination, they ended up making a 60-year old frustrated compulsive brute instead of a compassionate imaginative teacher. They still used the high points in Keller's life like the fountain "water" scene. For those who defend this kind of plagiarism by saying that remakes are made all the time, are forgetting a basic priciple - remakes are made after acquiring the rights from the original. SLB and PK didn't research through archives and works of Keller, but instead just relied on an artiste's rendering of her life "The Miracle Worker". Several films are made with Gandhi in it, but they do not show a man named "McNally" getting thrown out of a train for being brown and inventing satyagraha. Get my point?

Upward downward arrogant pretentious cinema designed for awards and critical appreciation in a country which has had very little collective self analysis

Fmovies: I saw this movie in first week of its release itself and i liked movie too much ,much more than any Hindi movie till date but i didn't want to compare it with any other Hindi movie. SOme ppl are arguing that this movie is crap or similar words for it but i couldn't find any suitable explanation for saying the movie is not gud enough to be a part of one of the best movies ever. The concept,acting,direction and screenplay was superb. This is one of the few movies which got potential to bind u emotionally with the movie . THe best part was SLB tried something very diff and took huge risk by doing something which was never done before. No songs and very apt music which runs throughout the movie. I do agree that this movie certainly deserves an Oscar and i do agree that it was totally framed for it as the length of the movie, most of the dialogs in English,total British background, Cristian characters but i guess this can bring golden era to bollywood which is already contributing maximum no. of movies(even more than Hollywood) by providing some excellent works. Good work SLB

Black is an unusual and interesting film in idea and visualization. It's a very special film and there is no doubt; Sanjay Leela Bhansali is among the best talents Indian Film Industry has produced.

There have been films like Sadma, Sparsh and Koi Mil Gaya and Sanjay's directorial debut Khamoshi - The Musical, where the protagonists of the films were physically challenged. KHAMOSHI - THE MUSICAL, was a tale of a deaf and dumb couple and their ordinary child. Despite the presence of matinée idols like Salman Khan, Manisha Koirala and Nana Patekar, the film failed.

Black cannot be described in sheer words. It has been handled with extreme kindliness and it does boast of a plot that's rarely attempted on the Indian screen. Before this movie, Gulzar made a movie 'Koshish' in early 70's starring Jaya Bhaduri and Sanjeev Kumar for which they have won the awards.

Michelle McNally (Ayesha Kapur/Rani Mukerji), born to an Anglo-Indian family, is deaf and blind. She is a bright and intelligent girl and she lives in the world of black and this frustrates her because she desires to speak. Therefore, because of her frustration she becomes harsh and cruel on numerous events.

Debraj Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan) is a strange person. He is an alcoholic, a teacher to the deaf and blind children. The principal of the school believes in his ability and sends him to the McNally house to teach Michelle. Debraj's arrival at the McNally home is far from favorable, as he arrives intoxicated, annoyed and impolite. On encountering Michelle, Debraj realizes that the only way to tackle her is to distress her, be violent at times and at the same time, show her the love.

Debraj succeeds and Michelle amazingly learns her first word - Ma. But this is just the beginning. There are several battles to be won. His dreams of Michelle going to a college with students without any disability. But, at this stage, Debraj starts to suffer from Alzheimer. He slowly forgets everything including all words and their meanings. The roles are now reversed!

Sanjay Leela Bhansali explanation of Helen Keller's outstanding life and the role Annie Sullivan played in her life. The real-life story was presented on the big screen in the 1962's Hollywood flick THE MIRACLE WORKER, which starred Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft for which both the performers won the Oscars.

A film like BLACK relies heavily on performances and Bhansali has extracted award-worthy work from practically the entire cast. When you talk of BLACK, it's not just Bachchan or Rani's work you would like to extol, but Shernaz Patel, Nandana Sen, Dhritiman Chaterji and Ayesha Kapur's contribution as well.

International Cinematography by Ravi K. Chandran. Each and every frame is laudable of a great compliment. Omung Kumar has created lively sets for the film. The Shimla shopping mall has been reconstructed to precision in Mumbai. Background music by Monty is apt. BLACK belongs to Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji primarily. After Khakee and Dev, this one is his best performance and for this role, he felt that for the last 25 years I have been working in the movies but this is the first time that I have shown such an interest. Bachchan comes up with a performance that he'll always be remembered for!

There's no denying that Rani delivers her best performance to date and her performance in this movie has topped on the number one spot and crossed her early performances i.e. 'Yuva', 'Hum Tum&

Black fmovies. Sanjay Leeela Bhansali's Black is definitely a good film. It is brilliantly scripted, made and executed, and it is also profound and complex. Many have called it a pretentious show, and indeed, that's something very obvious and annoying. I'm sure Bhansali from the very outset had planned to get many awards, five-star reviews, and "the-best-filmmaker-in-the-country" titles, but that said, nobody can completely begrudge him since this movie is as impressive and well-invested as it is ostentatious, and it deserves the hype. Let's start with saying that technically and visually Black is a treat. It boasts of fantastic sets and wonderful costumes, and the cinematography is incredibly good. All these, along with the superb background score, create a beautifully dark film. Having said that, this may be the exact reason why many viewers found it hard to relate to, and that's something I can easily understand, particularly after having seen his best feature to date, Khamoshi: The Musical, in which everything was kept simple. Here there's no simplicity: everything is lavish, big, grandiose - and that's why it's often labelled pretentious. The film is emotional yet unsentimental, which is good, but then, one of its main flaws is the fact that more than once it resorts to emotional manipulation, trying to forcibly wring tears.

Well, one thing is sure and it is that you can always expect good acting in a SLB film, particularly when it has an Amitabh Bachchan. Bachchan's performance is out of this world. His character goes through many phases, and each time you feel he's sinking into it more and more, so much that no words can be found to describe it. Seeing an actor of his calibre still being there, and playing a part with such passion, intensity, emotion, anger and hunger, makes one believe that the sky is the limit. Along with Yuva, Hum Tum and Veer-Zaara, Black is a film that constructs Rani Mukherjee's transformation from an average performer to a mature actress. She plays the character brilliantly. The scene which had her crying on the phone to her mom, is one of her career-best acts. It's cruel that she is cast opposite Bachchan, as she can't take the whole credit to herself, and well, frankly speaking, in my view her role is not as powerful as his, as it is a technical part that requires extensive training rather than soul. It's still a memorable performance, and in her case, if the sky is the limit, Black was probably the sky. Without taking anything from Mukherjee, I was more impressed and amazed by the far more superior performance of Ayesha Kapur, who played the young Michelle to perfection. Kapur is simply flawless in this role.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a crafted filmmaker who knows his work and his goals very well. In spite of its flaws, Black remains artistic and it is overall a moving movie experience. The words hope, love, dedication and success always come to the mind while watching it. It might not be original, it may be extremely manipulative at points, but the effort that was put into it by the entire cast and crew is evident and appreciable. Black is definitely better than most of the films made in the Hindi film industry. Though for me too it is a mixed bag, I admit that the first time I saw it, I kept thinking of it after the show had ended and for quite some time. This is an achievement few films can achieve (for me), and here's why my high rating.

Here's very briefly what the movie is about:

It is the story of Helen Keller & Anne Mansfield Sullivan, suitably modified though, to nicely fit into the Bollywood mould.

That however should not take anything away from the three main highlights of the film:

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Direction, Rani Mukherjee's execution of a difficult role, & Mr. Amitabh Bachchan!!!

Bhansali is best at stories highlighting human struggle. And with this adaptation he comes up trumps once again. He also proves that if you have a great story & just one great actor in a meaty role, you have a hit on your hands. Strange how the so called moguls of Hindi cinema cannot see that!

Rani Mukherjee's performance as the Indian Helen Keller (Michelle) is very commendable. It is just her misfortune that she was pitted against Amitabh Bachchan in the BEST Role (Devraj Sahay) of his life!!!

Mr. Bachchan tends to dwarf everyone. To all those who doubt that he is the GREATEST Actor this country has produced, go watch Black. You will return transformed for life! From the moment he comes on screen, he mesmerizes you. And he holds you till the last frame of the movie. He gives you goose bumps with his performance. And to think that the effort doesn't even show...

Now if only other film makers would give him roles worthy of his calibre as an actor, we could well have our first Best Actor Oscar ever. No kidding. Go see the film!

And Oh! I almost forgot. The little girl who plays the young Michelle is the best child actor this author ever seen! And that includes the Macaulay Culkins & Haley Joel Osments of the world!

Trust me! Go see the film!

Excellent performance of the two main actors: Rani Mukherjee is unrecognizable and believable in her role of a blind person & Amitabh Bachchan, well, wonderful as usual! It is a sad and dark movie though. I do not think that this movie is about love nor God... but about hope for sure! It is a good movie, well played. For people looking for a Hindi movie without the Bollywood songs and dances, this one will make them happy; there is nothing of that sort here in this film that is a bit long (124 minutes!).

For those who admire Amitiji(I am one of them), I guess you must watch this movie because he really is incredible!