| Young
Michelle McNelly (Ayesha Kapoor) is a deaf and blind girl, who is
completely wild as her parents are unable to understand her.
So
to help her frustrated mind, retired teacher from the deaf and blind
school, Mr Debraj (Amitabh Bachchan), is assigned the task of teaching
her to communicate with the outside world.
But
as expected, Michelle rebels to Debraj's unethical learning tactics.
So a conflict is erupted between the teacher and Michelle's parents.
They
decide to send her to an asylum but Debraj stands by his promise
to succeed in his training.
Slowly
but surely after many misgivings, Debraj manages to gain Michelle's
trust. They finally become friends and the young girl learns her
first word - water followed by Mama, Papa and
teacher.
The film then fast forwards to a much older Michelle, a role played
by Rani Mukerji. She
decides to go to University to do a degree.
Debraj
accompanies this young lady. He becomes her sign language interpreter.
It
takes Michelle quite a few years to overcome one obstacle after
another to achieve her dream of graduating. But during that time
she looses her teacher's close company.
By
now, Debraj suffers from Alzheimer's disease. He has become old
and has forgotten everything, even Michelle.
And
so begins a reverse process as Michelle tackles the impossible and
that is to teach Debraj everything she has learnt from him, starting
from the very first word, water.
With
Black, Sanjay Bhansali has reached another level of filmmaking.
He has succeeded in advancing much more from his colourful Devdas
production.
The
colonial era projected in Black comes as a nice surprise
which Mr Bhansali created with painstaking perfection.
Every
minute detail such as the sets of the McNelly household, the mall
of Shimla and the props were created with a lot of research and
effort. And this shows in every frame.
Cinematography
by Ravi K. Chandran is up to international standards. And the background
musical score by Monty elevates the film to another level. A major
plus point for Mr Bhansali.
Rani
Mukerji and Amitabh Bachchan are simply marvellous in their respective
roles. And so is young Ayesha Kapoor. A lot of hard work has gone
into their characters. There are black moments in the film
which make you cry.
It
makes you realise that a different world exists where people who
are unfortunate than yourself manages to pull through life against
all odds.
Black
is Oscar nominated material. One thing for sure, Mr Bhansali will
definitely be taking the trophies during awards ceremonies this
year. That applies to Amitabh and Rani too!
A great
piece of work from India's most accomplished directors. Hats off
to Mr Bhansali!
If
you really call yourself a true Bollywood fan then this film is
a must see.
It
will not only move you deeply but the film will linger on your mind
well after you have left the auditorium.
Reviewed
by Manish Gajjar
麻豆官网首页入口 Shropshire Bollywood
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