The screen dissolves into black. A little androglossian strained voice starts to speak-out, feebly. It narrates a story as a first-person account. A story that is nothing but a state-of-mind. A story that transforms the mind and vision of blackness into white. All this transformation accompanied with a lot of trouble, anguish, agony and zillion other words that you relate to the word PAIN. Cut.
Film Fare Awards 2005 – And the filmfare award for the best – film, screenplay, direction, camera, back ground music, actor, actress and child artist goes to the cast and crew of BLACK. Will sport a moustache if this doesn’t come true. Sometimes, even if you are stiff emotionsless critic, you fall shaken with emotions when a movie moves so deeply from the heart. Black is one such gem. A classic that can stand over gimmicks and modernities of film techniques. Cut.
A Hellenkellrish story that carves lives of two people, where both become teacher and student to the other, at various points of the thorn-filled garden of life. A story that could well be complained for being straightly copied / stollen or even inspired from the life of Hellen Keller, known to us from the english textbooks of 4th grade.
Take a vivid look into the black, non-imaged, non-pixelated, muted life of Michelle McNally [Rani Mukherjee], living in Shimla. Take a detailed view into the life of the humane, adorable and angry old Debraj Sahai [Amitabh Bachchan] who is losing his worthy life and it’s memories to Alzheimer’s diesease. Their lives gets inter-twined when Debraj comes to hand-hold the blind ‘n’ deaf Michele. And what would you teach to a child who has no idea about the world around her, except for the sense of smell, taste and touch. All Michelle knows is her maa who has a hand that is soft that touches her cheeks. Any other hand and Michelle reveals her ultra famous emotion, anger. It is this anger that when postively charged gets her moving in her life to the heights, she never had imagined even in the wildest of dreams.
The movie moves firmly for a two and half hours without a single boring frame. Not only it makes you cry, laugh and applaud but also it teaches you that a movie needn’t pronounce a message. A movie can just arouse plethora of emotions in you. The physically challenged have a zest for life. A thirst to know more and know it completely. Shallow knowledge gets them upset. Their anger is sharp and uncontrolled for they are the ones who react appropriately at situations than the normal mortals who are numb with emotions. Michelle gets angered when Sahai slaps her for not typing as fast as expected. She reacts immediately. From 10 words a minute, she types 30 a minute. She bursts out when her sister makes a miunderstands her on the engagement day. Proves that she has much more to offer than what’s known to the outisde world. Also she becomes a patient teacher to her ex-teacher only to create a miracle on him.
For the first time, one would understand the demon behind Alzheimers disease. You could forget to carry a pen, forget to meet someone at four o’ clock. But what if you forget yourself, your past and every single thing around you. Terrible.
As Debraj Sahai, Amitabh Bachchan carries the entire movie on him. With the intonation so accurate and expressions very classy he takes away the cake in the movie. I’ve never seen such a spell binding male performance in a bollywood flick before. With those wide-open eyes and that stupendous acting performance, I see Kamal Hassan. As a south Indian, I’ve known Amitabh as a bollywood hero compared to the Rajinikanth of south. Being a Rajinikanth admirer, I hated Amitabh for a reason because some of Rajinikanth’s earlier flicks were remakes of Amithabh’s bollywood hits. And I hated to believe this fact. As a carorepathi host, Amitabh was convicing but did not catch my fancy. Many bollywood films that featured after that used him as a brand ambassador for their films. This one is a killer effort. A perfect way for Amitabh to prove he is truly the the BIG B. As he catches the young Michelle with strands of her hair to control the blind kid’s anger, as he slaps her when she could never type more than 10 words a minute, as he walks effortlessly with his head shaking of aging and being suffered with Alzheimers, Amitabh creates magic. He adds color to this rather black movie. A true champion.
Rani Mukherjee. WOW. No exaggerations but this is far most one the best performances by any actress in recent times. As a grown Michelle McNally, she occupies the second half of the movie ans stays throughout in the heart. She has this amazing voice that brings in reality to the movie. It’s her voice that narrates the entire movie. A swaggering gait with a walking stick on her hand, she sometimes reminds the Chaplin walk. And not only that but also dances so rapturously. She listens to the college lecture by feeling the lip movement of her mentor. What everyone does in 3 years, she does it in a two decades withstanding all the pains of being blind and earing impaired. And yeah, even as a blind woman, she wants to know how it feels to be kissed by a man on her lips. She has just her teacher to help her with that. Afterall, isn’t he the one who teached her life, maa, papa, water, cry, snow and every other damned thing of life. She asks. He teaches. A classy scene that brings out gross realities of life as they are without exaggerations. Rani Mukerjee can be announced as the Indian actress of the decade, undoubtedly.
Ayesha Kapur, as the young Michelle grabs the first half with her lovely debut performance. With a movie full of scope for performance, it is the casting department which needs to be appreciated to have casted Ayesha Kapur as young Michelle. Hats off.
Ironically, for a movie that details the life of a blind and deaf girl, the images and the sound stand out first class. Ravi K Chandran, known for his stylish modern camerawork in Mani Ratnam‘s Kannathil Muthamittal and Aayitha Ezhuthu goes in for a conservative yet astonishing camera work. It is through his lens that we look into the life of Michelle and Sahai. The lighting is modern but the camera angles are truly old fashioned. And probably thats what Bhansali drove Ravi K Chandran to do. If only the movie was shot and edited as modern as Aayitha Ezhuthu, it would have failed to impress. This slow movie requires patient camera movements but yet needs to touch the audience. Pre-dominantly colored with black, wherever possible, the color tone itself is rich, lavish and conveys what the movie is upto. I could devote a paragraph for the music by Monty. It would be right to do that. The music and camera are inter-weaved in the movie. So is the review. If only we get to watch the movie with either one of this(visual and sound), it wouldn’t make any sense . The camera pitches the emotion while the music accompanies and heightens it ten fold. There are no songs however and hence the distractions are reduced largely.
The editing and the sets adds more value. The sets of the bungalow as situated in Shimla are realistic and to re-create them after a fire accident must have been a great effort for the entire team. From the title card, it looks like most of the movie was shot in Himachal Pradesh.
Bhansali did a great job in Khamoshi but it was just not reaching there. His efforts that followed in Hum Dil De Chukke Sanam and Devdas were lavish and were heavily commercialised. With Black, Bhansali proves that he is the bollywood master of melodrama and blacks out the better movies of Bollwood. Black is a picture postcard movie. Any single shot can be blown out into a poster and to this Bhansali has compromised to heavlily exaggerate at some places. By making the story revolve around an Anglo-Indian family situated in a a hill-station, Bhansali tries to show places, people and their costumes which a normal middle class Indian, couldn’t relate so easily. That gives you a feel that the movie happens far away from India. You can shirk these off for the kind of movie Black is. Am sure this effort of Bhansali wouldn’t go unnoticed. If only the reviews/reactions to Black turn-out the otherway it could be because of the prepossessed mind-set on Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his movies.
Black is an effort that needs to be showcased inside and also outside India. While outside India, people would definetly see Black, it needs to be taken to places deep inside India. The best way would be to dub them in many regional languages without affecting the moments of the movie. If you don’t want the rest-of-the-world to dub bollywood from looking at the colorful Monsoon Wedding and Bride and Prejudice, represent Black to the world as an ideal Bollywood flick and articulate the fact that we are one of the movie super stars. For it takes a huge effort to create a movie of this excellence. Whatever it takes, beg-borrow-steal, watch BLACK.
kirukkal.com 
91 responses to “Black Movie Review – Bhansali Blacks-out Bollywood !!”
And the Filmfare for Best review goes to “Lazygeek”. I guess mine won’t even qualify:(.
Seriously, its an awesome movie one cannot miss. Ravi Chandran,Ayesha Kapur and SLB stand out in this movie. What a treat!!. Nice review dude. I enjoyed reading yours than writing mine.
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“No exaggerations but this is far most one the best performances by any actress in recent times”
by this you mean world cinema or just indian movies because I saw movie call “MARIA FULL OF GARCE”AND felt the same
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Venu, Thanks Dude.
Das, I changed it and I meant only Indian actresses.
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LG..
Ur review rocks!
Awaiting Black’s release in Austin.
-Raapi
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LG, I bet no can write more than your review. Awaiting for the DVD Release in Omaha,US. I wish if this review to get publised to a National News Paper or any website.
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If Bhansali happened to come across this piece….I am sure he will read it more than once. Your review is great….
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Hi,
Watched Black. I agree with you completely. It is one of the best movies that indian cinema has ever seen. I liked it a lot and i am working on my review on the movie. I have no words to praise the whole cast and crew. Incredible job done. I think OST is gonna be released soon and that is again a first stepping stone for a bollywood movie as the album consits only the BG Score of the movie.
I don’t how many times i am gonna watch this movie again and again.
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guru, filmfare vudunga..OSCAR kadaikumma?
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LG,
Technically the movie was too good.I thought the movie was shot abroad(i missed first few minutes).Still not sure whether it has been made in Himachal Pradesh.This flim will win many accolades techincally.But commercially it has disappointed me.I could see a great relief from all the people in theatre as soon as the film ended(appada padam mudinchathu da).Atleast it didn’t appeal to the audience here in seattle.
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I dont know about Seatle but it did impress people here in Dallas, they all clapped after the movie ended.
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ohh i cant wait to watch this one! you have made it sound so good!
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Now I can answer “How a movie review should be?”. Nice job!
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Guru, came here straight from Rediff review, and have to say this is one of your best reviews man. It is as good as the one you wrote for Anbe Sivam. So, now I know what makes you tick – a great film brings out a great review.
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yeah, LG. great review. the best review that I have read so far. I read good things about this movie at other places too, it was a quick review too, because i believe it released yesterday.I have to wait a long time to watch this mvoie, because no theater in Florida. but, have to wait for the DVD, not gonna watch it on thiruttu VCD. Does it have any rewatch value, if you had a chance to watch it again, will you?
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Nice review. It has prompted me to watch the movie despite being a bollywood hater.
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I would still prefer Khamoshi .. Even though black is a great movie.. I feel it lacked that “sparK”..
Probably my expectations were huge..Wondering how mani would have handled the same subject..!!
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Chenthil, Nandri. But as you say, its only a nice film that impresses us. Whats the point in writing about thirupacchi 😉
Thanks Raapi, Sethu, Ganesh, JAS, Prabhu and Karthik.
Pavan, At second thought, Mani might not have even attempted this subject. Even if he had handled, it might have not been this jazzy and lavish. Basically BLACK could have been made in a compact shoe-string budget. Bhansali is bollywood Shankar atleast in production values.
Kamoshi had great music and it was easy to relate to. This one isn’t. Other than that I don’t see where BLACK looses out to Kamoshi.
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On the point of actresses, yes sure Rani has done a good job, but stating that she is the best Indian actress of the last decade is, in my opinion, going over the top. I have a noticed a trend, that when a glamourous actress like Rani decides to do a role without much glamour, people applaud her and praise her lavishly. The film was great and touched me just like it has done to many here, but (unlike some North Indian critics) Black is by no means the best movie in Indian cinema, obviously they are getting carried over with hype and bias.
People talk of a strange pairing of Amitabh and Rani, which is not conventional, I don’t think Maddy and Kamal was exactly conventional either, and that was just as much touching. As for the Oscars, I hope Black DOESN’T win. Definitely Kamal deserves that for himself. To this date, I have not seen a more realistic, powerful, meaningful and truthful film like Hey Ram. … and then there’s the Maradunayagam matter!
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hi lazygeek!
yet to watch the movie.
but u incresed my xpectations on it exponentially!
Gr8 review there!!!!
now the talk on mani doing a “black” was interesting.
who would have done a better job?
tough to answer.. though Mr. SLB not as versatile (in handling subjects i mean) as mani.. this is his fave subject.. he can deal infinite sensitivities and can go (most probably) overboard too (with due respects to black which i am yet to watch).. but how many times have we seen mani goin the “sensitive” way.. i mean even anjali was more inspired from E.T. and than what the mush-directors like to call “from the heart”.. so mani would not inherently opt for such a subject is my answer.
now, is SLB bollywood’s shankar?? i dont agree. shankar is a core commercial director who has always taken political or heroic deeds etc.. when he attempts to make a good movie. this i am asserting self-indulgently just to prove a point because i feel shankar is pretty much over-rated here. i dont have much of a respect on SLB too.. )pre-black of course) but he chooses for totally different subjects than shankar.. the lavish thing is still common!! :))
keep writing such gems!
Srihari
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absolutely overwhelming.the best of indian cinema n the most meaningful and up to expectations by bhansali.ITS ALSO AN EYE OPENER FOR PEOPLES LIKE FARHA KHAN WHO WHEN ASKED ONE WORD FOR BHANSALI AT “COFEE WITH KARAN” REPLIED “OVERRATED”.
a meaninful one not the used up mass entertainer stuff as main hoon na. THAT IS ONE FROM INDIA TO CHECK THE AUTHENTICITY OF OSCARS WHO CLAIM ABOUT JUDGING THE WORLD”S BEST PERFORMANCES IN THE “BEST FOREIGN FILM” CATEGORY ONLY.and no doubt that in this decade the best director we can get is bhansali for such and al the subjects.master of potrayal of al diverse patterns of life on just a dead celluloid.all actors do there best when mastered by bhansali.how much of aish’s potential do u see in when used by other directors.so is the case with rani.she may not be the best but is drawn to give the best performance possible and none the less ayesha kapur(the child) mrs mcnaly n bachchan all are blessed when they work with bhansali.who can be better.-ADITYA pawar
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androglossian – what does it mean?
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Tilo, A woman’s voice with male qualities. Rani Mukherjee has those qualities and thats what adds to her sex appeal.
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Srihari – “anjali was more inspired from E.T.”
The funniest I came across among these comments 🙂
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Guru,
Very good review… Tend to differ in just 1 platform, viz., this film may NOT get so many filmfare nominations as it may not turn out to be a FAVOURITE number of year 2005. But surely will get some noteworthy acclamations using our National Awards category.
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remember those brilliant lines frm “Avatharam”–
“Thendral vandhu theendum podhu enna vannamo manasula
Thingal vandhu saayum podhu enna vannamo nenaipilae
vandhu vandhu poogudhamae ennamellam vannamamma
ennaagaluku ethapadi vannamellam maarumamma”
‘Black’ is poetry on screen!
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hey…
i was pretty serious when i said anjali was inspired from E.T.!
i dunno if everybody had noticed it..
i never said its a lift.. so u wont find actually any alien from some other planet ending up on earth in the movie.. but u will find someone alien to mundane world and thats anjali.. there are some scene and shot tributes too.. of course besides the tributes to star wars (rathiri naerathil) and E.T. (maegham maegham magi journey with anjali and cycles flying up in the air) in songs too!
if u agree some scenes in Nayagan was inspired from Godfather, u mite agree with this as well!
Srihari.
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Amazing review. I had really wanted to see this movie, now I REALLY want see this movie!!!!!!
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ITS BLACK MAGIC. I WATCHED THE MOVIE YESTERDAY AND I AM TOO NUMB TO BE ABLE TO WRITE ABOUT IT. TO WATCH THIS MOVIE IS HUMBLING AND AT THE SAME TIME ELEVATING.
I FEEL ABSOLUTELY INADEQUATE COMMENTING ON THE PERFORMANCES OF AMITABH, THE KID AND RANI. THEIR PERFORMANCES ARE STELLAR.
COMING TO THINK OF IT, BLACK WOULD BE AN HONOUR TO THE OSCARS THAN THE OTHER WAY AROUND. PLEASE AWARD BLACK TO THE OSCARS, AND MIND YOU IN THE MAIN STREAM CATEGORY AND NOT IN THE BEST FOREIGN FILM CATEGORY.
BLACK…….GO SEE IT.
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Kalakkal review thaleeva. Will surely watch the movie sometime this week
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LG, great review all round. But there is one thing which is upsetting me “Bhansali proves that he is the bollywood master of melodrama…” What has a film like Black got to do with extravagent comedy (which is the meaning of melodrama)?
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Venkat, Answer is here at answers.com 😉
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Thanks for increasing by vocabulary LG, I had a dictionary long ago which stated that melodrama was only extravagent comedy!
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wow, this is a gr8 review. I booked my ticket now and am waiting for that (!damn) 4PM 🙂 will post back by tom.. Thanks for the review LG.
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HI,UR review was wonderful.
I saw the movie in a theatre in India where people generally whistle and get restless when a movie is bad. I can vouch that this audience wathced it in silence which speaks volumes for the movie.
I think in addition to the stellar performances from the entire cast, one has to hand it to Bhansali for recording a strong narrative in such a poetic manner. Very graceful!
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http://films.tamizhan.com/item/1676
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You need to Buy Courage to watch the movie, Its unbelivable to watch The Hieght of Patience and Hieght Of Self Belive….
It’s Imagination of World without Light
It Contains Dance of a Desires and Dreamz
It Contains Songs of Healing which no one can sung
and wrote .
It Made me belive the True Color of Love
which can be Either Black Or White but not mixture of any thing else.
Some time you feel short of words in life Watch it to Belive “BLACK”
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Hey LG,
After reading your review I feel Black is just black in the movie title. Hope to see the movie soon & come back again to read your review for getting the full satisfaction. Kalakiringa LG Vazhthukal.
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IMHO,
Black is a great attempt.
Amitabh and ravi k cahndran were FANTASTIC!
I think the little girl who played the young rani was better than Rani!Needless to say manisha being a better actress was obviously better in khamoshi!
The one thing i did not like about the movie was
its deliberate attempt to please the international audience!
First of all, why should they?
Second of all, if you did, then make it in english!
The whole anglo indian families,christian names,pseudo european locations were very weird. Do you really think chaplin movies like THE KIDd were released in some hill station in india 40 years ago. Maybe it was but it just sounded trying a little too hard to please the people who really dont pay to see your movie.
As a film, it is outstanding.NO DOUBT!!
Btw,
Anjali is a take off on E.T!
Remember E.T was not a theme about aliens but had more emphasis on the human emotions of understanding an alienated personality!!In case,if you come across this book titled “Dear god this is anna speaking” You will see how much it resembles anjali, particularly the sketches of Anna!
Cheers
Rama
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Totally Agreed.
BLACK was a truly fabulous movie which brings forth a wide range of issues, and evokes as many emotions within.Reading your review made me relive the experience of watching such a masterpiece all over again.Very nice review there.
I certainly hope this movie/cast/crew gets their much well deserved awards, but more than that, being part of this in itself says all that it can for each and every person involved in this film.
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BLACK is a movie to cherish close to your heart…a treasure-trove of memories to treasure…a heartrendingly true rendition of the brilliantly colourful art they call “life”.
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Brilliant review!!!
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48 hours since i watched the movie… but still thinking of the scenes and crying….
the word AWESOME gains a new meaning when you attribute it to this movie…. everything in this movie is class and BIG B …. oh god how do i rate him …. he is god
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Nice review. Inspires me to see the movie soon !
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Fantastic review !
Am watching the movie in a couple of hours, your review assures me an enjoyable time 🙂
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I watched the movie yesterday and it is beyond all superlatives. All awards would seem tiny for a movie of this class.
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Based on your review, we decided to see BLACK.
Saw the movie at Naz8 Fremont, CA on Feb. 12…was almost full house…one of the very best from AB and Rani. Ravi K was classy.
Very different has no songs, no running around, no stunts.
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ok guys, it’s a very well made movie but … but let me take u in on a secret ..
it’s a hindi remake of a hollywood 1962 double oscar winner movie The Miracle Worker. that movie depicted the real life of helen keller who was tutored by a woman anne sullivan. that movie was true to their story.
this hindi remake borrows heavily from that, lifting almost every scene at least upto the interval. yet it doesnot declare the “true” source of “inspiration” behind its making. also the sister, wedding and alzheimer bits have been added in hindi version to increase the length of the film and to make it appear as different.
i was in the usa late sixties and have personally seen that movie 3-4 times. it was really touching. if you dont believe this, click on the url below.
http://www.firsttvdrama.com/show2/histor y/mir1.php3
this isnt original and far from being an indian in many ways. apart from helen keller, there’s no other known case in india or elsewhere of any individual born with both sight and hearing deficiencies together. so there’s no question of it being an indian experience.
yet, it’s well made cos it’s stolen scene by scene in hindi with masala added. happy viewing.
email | website
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sorry, the url is :
http://www.firsttvdrama.com/show2/history/mir1.php3
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Saw the movie!! grrreat!!
People in the theatres were standing and clapping when the movie ended..need I say more.
Someone mentioned abt the Charlie Chaplin “the kid ” poster , there were movie theatres in that time in India especially in the hill stations being summer getaways for the Britishers which released english movies , I dont see why the Chaplin movie could not be released at that time in India and why it could not be there in Black.
The film comes across pretty authentic and thoroughly researched.
No Oscar is needed to commemorate the greatness of this movie!
Black truly Rocks!!!!!!!
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read all the reviews and am currently bunking school to go check it out!!! thats how WORTH it it sounds!
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Black Impressions
I will not even venture into a long drawn review of Black, the movie currently attracting crowds at the local multiplex because it has been done eruditely elsewhere. In one line – I loved the movie. One of Bollywood’s interesting
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Read these reviews too –
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/02/11/stories/2005021102150201.htm
http://indiauncut.blogspot.com/2005/02/lets-try-again-sanjay-leela-bhansalis.html
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this review is AWESOME!!! it really brings out the gooshy feeling you get after watching the movie. it explains everything about black tempting u to go and watch it. by reading this review, i can Black isn’t like any other film. it has true emotions and outstanding chemistry. i can’t wait till i see it
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Simply Superb!!! Classic Movie.
Best performances ever in the Indian Movie History by Big B and Rani. Excellent Direction and Screen play.
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Its definitely NOT one of those commercial movies which have songs, dances, stunts, big bang dialogues etc. It is a movie packed with performances, tests the skill of any artist. Both AB & RM get 100% marks for their performances. Don’t just miss it!!! You dont get to see these kind of films quite often.
TRUE – Achaa kaam karney kaa moka bar bar nahin aatha. Sanjay and his team has not missed his opportunity.
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I’ve watched the movie and this is my honest take on it:
It is a good effort for Hindi cinema and must be watched once. But, don’t get carried away and look at the movie rationally and I think you will agree with me that it has two major distractions that detract from superlatives – the cinematography and the background score. Considered individually as stand alone aspects outside the movie, the cinematography is brilliant and the score good but neither fits seamlessly into the whole. For a story of this kind, the music is crashing, loud in parts and effortlessly interrupts. Employing silence would have been masterful and would have had a more powerful impact, than the intrusive drama of the score.
And the cinematography is SO incredulously stylised that it distracts your attention with its unreal fairy-land feeling, to the point of making you feel uncomfortable. So stylised is it, that it doesnt let you get into the characters or the story at all and leaves you feeling irritated. Stand it alone and it is beautiful cinematography no doubt, but the kind of beauty that does not stir the soul at all. It is simply too overt, too in the face with no nuance or subtlety at all; not even a hint. And here is how a Satyajit Ray becomes a masterpiece whilst the Bhansali one doesnt even come close. The aesthetics in Black are so structured that it becomes unappealing. Old man Sahai’s wig is a classic case; its incredibly artificial look was so bad it serioulsy grated on my nerves.
The performances are good but are beaten down into submission by the visuals.
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if this doesnt get an oscar,then the oscar will lose its value……no exaggeration
simply no words to rate or to talk abt this masterpiece…..
its about listening to light and seeing sound…..
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YA.
its nice movie ever before.who agree with me ,send ur openion to me.
thank you.
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ya
it was a very nice movie….even a blind can see this movie….it was a very touching one…i even cried in many scenes…the character played by both rani and the big B were very sensational and real…last but not the least i have to mention here about the character of ayesha in the film…my rating was for this film is 99.99.
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ya
it was a very nice movie….even a blind can see this movie….it was a very touching one…i even cried in many scenes…the character played by both rani and the big B were very sensational and real…last but not the least i have to mention here about the character of ayesha in the film…my rating was for this film is 99.99.
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hello mr.subramaniam,
i also did watch “Black”. Film didnt impress me as any other films on handicaps/mentally retarded.film is average.
ravi.k.chandran (cinematographer behind kanathil Muthamital, Dil Chatha Hai, Koi Mil Gaya, Yuva) is the real hero in the movie with good camera lightings.
No wonder director waited 2 months for him. There is certain way to portray a handicap character in movie which will make everybody to appreciate the character.who can forget Manirathnam ‘s Anjali ? even cheran’s Poarkaalam was conveying a better message than this movie.
i understand that the subject in BLACK is different. it’s a student/teacher relationship. believe me, there is no depth in the story.
lot of places, i cud find rani mukerjee and amitabh’s artificial action scenes.
it was a gr8 disappointment for me.
bhansali sir…better luck next time.
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SLB’S black is truly a masterpiece. Amitabh, Rani
and Ayesha’s acting were flawless.
Black truly deserves an OSCAR.
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The Black is the best Movie in the life of Bolly wood. A sanjay Leela Bhansali has done a brelient job. The performance of Amitabh Bachan and Rani Mukarji is the best of their life. The little Girl did a great job in this Movie. Congratulation to the team of this Movie. I recommmend this film for Askar Award and this Movie shall also be Awarded film fare Award.
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The Black is the best Movie in the life of Bolly wood. A sanjay Leela Bhansali has done a brelient job. The performance of Amitabh Bachan and Rani Mukarji is the best of their life. The little Girl did a great job in this Movie. Congratulation to the team of this Movie. I recommmend this film for Askar Award and this Movie shall also be Awarded film fare Award.
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Just watched Black….it gripped me like another movie had gripped me long time ago…Junoon….no link, but just couldn’t get up from my seat. I was most impressed by the child actress Ayesha Kapur ..WHAT AN EXCELLENT performance from a 9 yr old…with no acting experience. AB has given a great performance yet again. RANI’s magic might be more Sanjay’s direction capability than her own. Most of all I was glad to see this topic attempted on the bollywood screen with glamorous actors. If this is a copy of “The Miracle Worker” then I am dissapointed that proper and due recognition was not given…but still a gripping film…the only flaw I could see was the ending. Usually in cases of Alzheimers the oldest memories remain…AB childhood memories would be the ones to come back…not Rani’s childhood memories!!!! A “Must SEE” film definitely.
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One of the best movies I had ever seen.the Story is really touching.Big-B is the highlight of the film.Worth watching twice.obviously not a commercial movie.Hats off,AMITABH!!
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movie is black totally bla(n)k
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I LIKE YOU ARE MY FAVOURITE ACTRESS IN THE FILM BLACK YOU HAVE MADE IS WONDERFUL JUST AS NO OTHER PERSON CAN ACT LIKE YOU NOT EVEN ASHWARIA RAI CAN ACT I AM 11 YEARS OLD AND I WANT TO KNOW LOTS ABOUT YOU IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HERE IS MY EMAIL ADDRESS:-WWW@SONY.I LOVE YOUR ACTIONS PLEASE SEND SOME PICTURES WITH OUT MAKE UP MAKE LOTS OF OTHER FILMS.
THANKYOU
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Ridiculous,realy rediculous,why to waste time & money!
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simly the best movie ever made by an indian director – well done sanjay
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Finally, a Bollywood movie that is as good as a Tamil/Malayalam movie!
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I was planning to watch the movie on a VCD before I read the review. Fantastic review dude!!! Then I decided to watch the movie in the theatre. Ordered the tickets via phone and was a little apprehensive and reluctant to watch it as it was not the usual masala movie. Am a die hard fan of AB. The first half of the movie flew like a rocket and we did not even realise that it was interval. I liked the movie so far. The second half was also good and the ending left me feeling sad for AB’s character as he is struck by Alzeimers disease.I had read in some reviews that ppl gave a standing ovation at the end of the movie.It did happen ppl, it happend in PVR , Bangalore also . PPl stood up and started to clap when the movie ended.
It is an awesome movie, really touching , I could c many ppl crying while watching the movie.The characters are etched out very well , sometimes AB overacts but what the heck ,he is a walking ACTING CLASS.Truely one of his BEST PERFORMANCE. All the characters have acted well, special mention to the little girl. Rani is as usual good. The camera work is excellent. Editing is slick. It DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A BOLLYWOOD MOVIE!!!!
I just hope AB gets award as THE BEST ACTOR this time . HE always looses out to SRK ( not that SRK is not good , but an award for VEER ZAARA for best actor is unbelievable). I think this time AB , RAni should get best actor awards .Infac I hope that the award ceremony is swept by this movie. Oscar nomination is inevitable, I really hope it wins. Win or no Win , it has touched our hearts.
A MUST WATCH MOVIE.
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When I first saw the fil i loved it but i heard that this flick is a copy of an Hollywood Film i started hating this Movie.Why Indians have to copy an International Flick when they have a suck a good brain.Peoples who are expecting this film to won an oscar award should think twice.This film is frame to frame copy of Miracle worker.This Movie is a cheting for India.
This Movie Doesn’t Deserves an Oscar Award Or Filmfare Awards
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this sucks balls
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BLACK is a great movie or i should say greatest of the bollywood movies i have ever seen. It’s truely a masterpiece. Great performances by little Ayesha, Raani and Big B and also excellent script and direction. Hat’s off to Sanjay Leela Bansali.
regards,
Rohit
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Movie of the year………..
Amitabh is an all time KING og KINGS and rani both qualifies for oscar
a great great effort what a beautiful adorable film by sanjey leela bansali.
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fine weblog you have here
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o my god! man i cant believe this! this movie was so dumb it really pissed me off for 3 hours (:| god dammn it fawk i should have bought another pair of shoes by adding up some more money instead of watching this junk movie! damm they copied it from THE MIRACLE WORKER..holy shyt crap when would indian producers get some akal so that one day they would be able to make something like really good movie! fawk that was bullshyt i wasted my time, my money fawkkkkkkk dont watch this movie poeple itz really shyt!
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I just realized I missed this post and was wondering how come there was no review on BLACK. Prasad is right the first half of the movie is scene by scene copy of “The Miracle Worker” but of the 1990’s version comes closer than the 1962 version. This not a movie we shud have nominated for Oscar…they will throw the movie out due to lack of originality! The only decent thing is the acting by AB and Rani. The child falls short of expectations and has copied heavily from the orginal movie. Of course people from Shimla do not dress that way not even during the British Rule.
Sorry for the late comment!
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I felt ‘black’ was too cliched.
Lots of hype!
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“BLACK” is the best Indian movie I have ever seen. Some people might disagree with me, especially those who still expect the Indian movies to be melodramatic having atleast four or five songs with dance sequences. “BLACK” has re-defined the definition of Indian entertainment and has taken Indian cinema to a different level altogether, comparable to some of the best hollywood movies of all times such as Godfather and Shawshank Redemption. Amitabh Bachan and Rani Mukerjee have given an exhilarating performance, the best ever in their acting career. The Director Sanjay Leela Bansali has given the Indian cinema an exquisite work of art that transcends every given definition of entertainment experience.
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I am an Irish American woman who thought this movie was one of the best movies I have ever seen.
This was the first time I ever saw an Indian film and as a result, I am going to check out more.
Well done.
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BLACK…………..Well crafted milky white.
It stands out of the crowd in INDIAN cinema in technical aspects.Gourgious camera work, Fine cutted, good sounds to move subject as smoothly as an art.every one in the film lived as they are…..casting is too good.
My hands to the crew members of the movie.
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thought bhansali’s black was far better than previous outings. He handles the subject matter with utmost grace, humanity and realism that the audience members are kept glued to the screens. This too is shown in his direction of the principle stars, and did they deliver!
the music, cinematography, costume, art direction and other elements of presentation is brilliant and on par with best the world has to offer.
Amitabh, Rani and Ayesha are brilliant. Ayesha as a 9 year old is breath taking and she is an actress to watch out for.
RAni is amazing and perhaps the greatest the best actress of her generation (she outdoes the former Bhansali heroines even in the absence of dialogue and exquisite costumes/jewelry etc). For those that have said that Rani’s performance is based on Bhansali’s direction, this claim is absolutely fallacious. Rani is a natually talented, spontaneous actress and she is far better than any we have to offer, north or south. There is no comparing to her.
AB is in a word phenomenonal and his interactions with Ayesha in the early scenes and Rani in the latter scenes is exemplary. He is truly the superstar of BW.
Black is brilliant and for all those who think it is on par with TAMil and Malayalam movies, they must surely be mistaken,BLACK is FAR BETTER THAN THOSE STUPID LOOKING, Ill-ACTED PRESENTATIONS CALLED TAMIL/MALAYALAM MOVIES.
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The following Link is not exactly my opinion. But, such opinions about the movie exist. After all it makes feel that Bhansali is not original…
We may have to watch “The Miracle Worker” before making any judgement….??
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The link is…
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur4026871/comments
Read my previous post… Not my opinion.
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BLACK!!!!
If you start filming each and every frame with getting an award in mind then the movie sucks…
As is with Black.
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[…] Black Movie Review – Bhansali Blacks-out Bollywood !! […]
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