Peek-a-boo: Good Morning Vietnam

"Goooooooooodddd Morrrrrnnnnninnnnggggg Vietnaaaaaaaammmmmmm!!!", he hollers to welcome listeners to his show. His shriek shatters the monotony of the drab tunes that act as "entertainment" to hordes of American GIs stationed in Vietnam. He makes them shake their leg, he makes them smile, he makes them laugh, and he makes them realize that they too have a life. For the average GI Joe, Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams) is more than just a voice.

'Good Morning Vietnam' was perhaps the first movie to look at Vietnam with a comin touch, through the world of a radio jockey. Williams, as Cronauer, not only enlivens the lives of the soldier, but also endears himself to the locals through his English Classes. In the process he also crosses paths with his superiors who are not really amused with his antics and method. And they, are out to get him busted.

GMV is all about Robin Williams. The role gives him full freedom to let loose his energy and bring in the elements that has made him a top stand-up comedian. His performance is addictive. There's not much scope in the role of Forest Whitaker, but he does a credible job in the limited screen time he has. The movie also has some brilliant moments - Cronauer's rebellious broadcast of the report of a bomb-blast in a pub in Saigon, the brilliantly pieced together music track. Lastly one cannot forget the immensely eloquent shots of mass bombing and destruction as the voice of Louis Armstrong floats through the radio singing "What a wonderful world". Shades of "Apocalypse Now" and "The Doors"?

Peek-a-boo: Midnight Cowboy

The proverbial 'gaon ka chhora' comes to Bombay, in search of glory and stardom. He believes that he has it in him to make it big in tinseltown. But life in the city is harsh. He struggles each day, in the walk of life. But in the end, everything turns out well...we've seen it in innumerable Hindi movies.

New York...the big apple. The Empire City. The City that never sleeps. The city of hope for millions of people who turn up on her shores in search of fame and money. Joe Buck (JonVoight) wants to make it big in this city of dreams. He is a male prostitute from Texas who believes that the women of New York would not be able to resist his charms and would be willing to pay for his services. In his struggle to survive, he befriends Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), a tuberculosis-infected conman, who's dream is to move to Florida one day. Together, they eke through a living in the harsh, cruel and corrupted city.

Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman give excellent performances as the lead pair. The movie is a must watch. Midnight Cowboy portrays a realistic view of the harsh life on the streets of New York - the struggles of the ordinary man on the streets of an unforgiving city. And unlike the proverbial Hindi movie, there is no rags to riches story here. Not all clouds have a silver lining.

Till date, Midnight Cowboy remains the only X-rated movie to ever win an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Peek-a-boo: Shoot the Piano Player

'Shoot the Piano Player' is confusing, 'Shoot the Piano Player' is a muddle. But make no mistake, 'Shoot the Piano Player' is a classic.

Coming from the stables of the acclaimed director Francois Truffaut, 'Shoot the Piano Player' tells the story of a pianist, who gives up fame after his wife's suicide and leads a quiet life playing in a bar. But his brother's troubles in the world of crime soons pulls him into the same.

'Shoot...' takes us by surprise as it changes track from the slow and dragging facets of the pianist's life and unravels his mysterious past.

Peek-a-boo: Reservation Road

Returning from a school concert, Ethan Learner and his family stop for a breather at a gas station. A speeding SUV, while trying to avoid another car, fatally hits Ethan's young son Josh. Unable to come to terms with what he has done, Dwight Arno, driver of the SUV speeds away into the night. Frustrated with the local police's inability to find the perpertrator of the crime, Ethan decides to hire a lawyer to track down his son's killer and extract revenge. Ironically the lawyer turns out to be Dwight.

The lead cast is magnetic, with Joaquin Phoenix as Ethan and MarkRuffalo as Dwight squaring up against each other. These acting powerhouses are two of the most overlooked actors in Hollywood. Every time they come on the screen produces a memorable moment in the filem - especially the scene where Ethan tries to extract the truth out of Dwight as they visit the crime scene. However, the rest of the cast have not been given as much importance - Jennifer Connolly as Grace (Ethan's wife), and Mira Sorvino as Dwight's estranged wife Ruth. The deterioration in relationship between Ethan and Grace after the gruesome incident is left undeveloped, whereas Ruth's presence is reduced to a few handful scenes.

Coming from Terry George, the director of the aclaimed Hotel Rwanda, Reservation Road disappoints majorly. The culprit in the movie seems to be the screenplay. What was a powerful premise is weakened by the screenplay. The climax of the movie looks contrived, as if taken out of a cheap bollywood tearjerker. At 90 minutes, one feels that the movie could have been longer, and the unexplored relationships between the actors been explored more. It's true that Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo light up the screen with their presence - the duo probably make up for the rest of the fallacies in the movie. But what promises to be a mouthwatering recipe turns out to be a half-cooked meal in the end.

Peek-a-boo: The Boy in Striped Pyjamas

Should i call it a war movie? or should I call it a horror movie? Not everybody ranted and raved about this movie. Some said that it was the most depressing movie of the year! I ventured to watch it, since the book had taken by breath away!

'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' tells a brutal story. Bruno cannot fathom the great horrors that happen around him. He is protected by the high walls of his father's large mansion (though not large enough in his eyes compared to their house in Berlin). He cannot image why his father left the cosy comforts of Berlin to come to the countryside. And neither can he fathom awhy the people in the neighbouring farm don't wear anything except striped pyjamas. His search for a playmate leads him to the huge barb-wire fence and the little figure who sits staring at it all the time. As their friendship blossoms across this barrier, the reader is swept into the maelstrom of its heartbreaking an inevitable ending. The stunning narration reads like a children's book, as if written to be read out to a kid tucked cosily under sheets, waiting for his bedtime story.

However, 'The Boy...' as a movie disappoints. To me it would perhaps qualify as one of the weakest screenplay adaptations of a book. It's perhaps futile to expect such a narrative to be efficiently transferred on to the silver screen, but the emotions of the little child is lost in the screenplay. Asa Butterfield as Bruno just about passes muster. The innocence of little Bruno that one comes to imagine in the book is not completely conveyed through the eyes of Butterfield. Both David Thewlis and Vera Farmiga have excelled in their parts. But Farmiga paints a picture of an aristocratic lady, who seems to want to ignore what happens outside, rather than that of the anguished mother who is concerned and wants to protect her children from the actions of her husband, and Thewlis is good, but not as menacing as he is presented in the book. The most lovable character is little Shmuel, the little Jewish boy, and the best moments in the movie are those little conversations he has with Bruno across the fence. They are bound together in their solitude, but neither of them can comprehend the other's world.

The second world war was one of the darkest periods of the last century - a time in which unimaginable horrors were enacted. 'The Boy...' makes muted and veiled references to these horrors, completely staying away from the graphic depiction of them. There is not a single shot fired, nor are there bloodied bodies falling like flies. Even as the screenplay takes us through the comfortabl life of the aristocratic soldier's family one cannot but shudder at the thought of what goes on outside that cocoon of comfort. Perhaps it is this foreboding sense of doom that really gives "The Boy..." its magnetic appeal. It is indeed depressing. The movie IS depressing. If you do not want to spend the rest of your weekend with a heavy heart, stay away from this movie on a Friday night. It's sure to make you cry.

As for me, perhaps I should not have read the book first...I would then have cried more.

Into the Valley of Death...

1200 km south of Tokyo, halfway to Saipan, lies a volcanic island approximately 21 square kilometers in area. The most prominent feature of this island is the dormant Mount Suribachi that rises up at the Southern tip. Sixty three years ago, as the Second World War reached its climax, US and Japanese armies met on this island, in an epic battle for supremacy on Japanese soil. What was predicted to be a quick rout was transformed into nearly 40 days of heroic combat by the sheer will and determination by the Japanese soldiers who were expected to die in defense of their homeland. As Admiral Chester Nimitz put it, “Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

On February 23, 1945, Joe Rosenthal photographed five US marines raising the stars and stripes atop Mount Suribachi. That photograph and its commercial exploitation to aid the American war efforts was the crux of Clint Eastwood’s phenomenal “Flags of our fathers”. It took another month for the US troops to secure the island of Iwo Jima, and the determined fight to death by the Japanese army forms the essence of Eastwood’s twin film to “Flags”, the award-winning “Letters from Iwo Jima” (Iō Jima Kara no Tegami).

Based on a non-fictional work, “Letters from Iwo Jima” relates the story of the brave Japanese resistance on the island through the letters of General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) and the ordinary soldier Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) addressed to their wives. The story is spun through the eyes of two people from different walks of life – Saigo is a baker by profession, who pines for the pregnant wife he has left behind, while Kuribayashi has been to America and understands the futility of the war he is fighting. On landing on Iwo Jima, Kuribayashi realizes that the impending attack cannot be met by the traditional Japanese technique of diving headlong into the landing enemy troops and embracing a brave but futile death. As General Patton famously said, “No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.” However, Kuribayashi’s train of thoughts and ideas are not endorsed by other generals who believe in outright victory or glorified sacrifice. The average Japanese soldier is torn between this clash of opinion – whether to die rather than face dishonor or to live and fight another day. Kuribayashi, and his trusted lieutenant Nishi hold fort against the odds even though the denouement would be an inevitable death.

From a broad perspective, there is nothing new in the plot of the film. “Letters from Iwo Jima” treads the beaten path of many a war movie – of how war is futile; of how the soldier is driven to his appointment with death and glory by the machinery that controls the war from somewhere safe; of how there is a human side for the people on the front on either side. But we still love to watch these moments on the screen, perhaps partly due to the fact that these are people who venture into the action, knowing perfectly well that they might not live to see the next day, and partly because we chose not to venture out from our own couches to fight for our country. And thankfully, Eastwood treats the viewer with well controlled doses of these much-clichéd scenes. The soldier’s anguish is expressed with subtlety in the letters that Saigo writes to his pregnant wife (“Hanako, This is the hole that we will fight and die in”), and through the letters that Kuribayashi addresses to his wife Taro, we can see the image of a man who knows he cannot win, but is determined to fight and die for his country. There is no specific story woven into the film – just a splash of history, interspersed with human emotions. But those splashes leave indelible impressions on our heart.

Eastwood shot the film in shades of dark taking the viewer along on a gruesome journey of the volcanic hell that the island of Iwo Jima turned into in those few days. The characters leave a lasting impression in our minds. Ken Watanabe, as ever, towers over the film in the role of General Kuribayashi. He once again proves without doubt that he is one of the finest actors Asia has produced - in my honest opinion, it was a sin to deny him an Oscar for “The Last Samurai”. Kazunari Ninomiya essays the role of Saigo with ease and makes it easy for the viewer to empathize with the baby-faced soldier pining for his beloved. Tsuyoshi Ihara is a surprise in the role of Baron Nishi – the Olympic champion who once partied with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, and still turns up to die for his homeland. The story leaves us with some unforgettable memories – the light moments between Baron Nishi and the wounded American POW, Sam, as they exchange pleasantries; the spellbound faces of the Japanese soldiers as Nishi reads out a letter from Sam’s mother; the final moments of Kuribayashi before he shoots himself (“Is this still Japanese soil?” he asks Saigo); and finally, the grim picture of what the future holds – recuperating on a stretcher, Saigo watches the horizon with a weak smile as the sun sets on the Empire of the Rising Sun.

“Letters from Iwo Jima” and “Flags of our Fathers” are two sides of the same coin, both masterpieces in their own right. It does not matter which one you watch first. For those who have never heard of the island before, “Letters from Iwo Jima” serves as an eye opener to the heroic combat between two determined armies, and for those who have heard of the Battle of Iwo Jima, it provides the new perspective that there was more to Iwo Jima than a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph. Historically, Iwo Jima was an eye opener to the Allies. The stark realization dawned on them that they could never accomplish an invasion of Japan without heavy losses (the Allies suffered 27,000 casualties in Iwo Jima, whereas the Japanese had only around 20,000). The result was even more devastating for the world – for it paved the way for the most destructive weapon ever dreamed of by man – the Atomic Bomb.

The Fog

Antonio Bay is one of the many scenic towns that dot the West Coast of America. Today, it celebrates the hundredth year of its founding, and preparations are afoot to honour its founding fathers. But unknown to its inhabitants, Antonio Bay holds a dreadful secret – a secret that is as old as the town itself and will destroy the town on this day. One hundred years ago, six of the town’s founders had deliberately sunk and plundered the “Elizabeth Dane”, a ship owned by the wealthy leper Blake, who wanted to establish a leper colony near the town. By lighting a fire on the rocks, they had lured the ship and everyone aboard to their doom. The gold plundered from the ship was later used to build the town church. As if like an act of God, an unearthly fog had come in from the sea, aiding them in their ghastly act.

As the town gears up for the celebrations, Stevie Wayne, who runs the local radio station from her lighthouse, spots a strange glowing fog moving in from the sea. She is convinced that there is something in the fog. Something or someone that wants revenge for the wrongs done in the past…

John Carpenter’s “The Fog”, starring Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh was released in 1980 to big commercial success, but mixed reviews from the critics (A remake was released in 2005). Coming on the heels of his highly successful “Halloween”, “The Fog” is another quintessential horror flick that you would love to watch on a restless night with dogs howling outside your window (as was the case with me). Inspired from the real life event of the sinking and plundering of a ship in the 19th century near Goleta, California, "The Fog" is mercifully short, with only an hour-and-a-half of running time, which perhaps works much in its favour of scaring the viewer. The short duration of the film makes the plot move at a good pace thus ensuring that the viewer is not detached from what happens on the screen.

There are no great performances on screen, since this is just a low budget horror flick and does not provide ample screen space for the actors. However, “The Fog” has its moments of spook, which still manages to raise the hair on your arms. The phosphorescent fog moving in from the ocean with the dead sailors silhouetted against the white twirls, are memorable shots. Thankfully, the movie spares us of the gory facial features that accompany the horror movies of the present. “The Fog” never rises to the levels of spook and scare that Carpenter dished out for us in “The Halloween”, but what is now considered as one of the better horror movies ever made (501 Must See Movies: Bounty Books) is a definite watch for people who love that old style of horror where the movie-goer is made to imagine his/her darkest fears come alive.

"Theirs not to reason why"

IMDB Title: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077416/

Twilight descends on Clairton, a sad-looking town, somewhere in Pennsylvania. A massive steel plant looms over the rain-soaked streets. The spires of the Russian Orthodox Church rise up into the sky, but they are dwarfed by the chimneys of the factory where Michael, Nick and Steven work for a living. It would be last few hours they spend happily together in that sleepy town, for their decision to join the American war effort in Vietnam would irreversibly alter their lives. “A drama of friendship and courage and what happens to these qualities under stress” is how Michael Cimino describes his 1978 epic, “The Deer Hunter”. The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won five, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor.

On the eve of his departure to Vietnam, Steven (John Savage) is getting married to Angela. His friends Michael (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken), Stanley (John Cazale), Axel (Chuck Aspegren) and John (George Dzundza) join in the revelry and then set off for their last hunting trip before the war. During the course of the war, Mike, Steven and Nick are captured by the Vietnamese soldiers and forced at gunpoint to play Russian roulette. Steven loses his mind, but Michael manages to outwit his captors and rescue his friends. However, the game takes its toll on Nick and he goes AWOL from the hospital where he is recuperating. Michael returns home, but is unable to comprehend the muted life after war without his friends. He tries to find solace in the arms of Linda (Meryl Streep), Nick’s girlfriend. On his visit to the hospital to see Steven, who has lost his legs in the war, he learns that Nick is alive and still in Vietnam. With the intention of fulfilling the promise he had made to his friend, Michael returns to Saigon to bring back Nick, only to find him playing Russian roulette professionally.

Though there is only about 25 minutes of war footage, “The Deer Hunter” is one of the most poignant anti-war movies ever made. Inspired by Erich Maria Remarque’s 1937 novel Drei Kameraden (Three Comrades), it was the first major American film about the Vietnam War. Holding back the actual horrors of Vietnam, the director tries to portray the impact and repercussions of the war on the survivors as they strive to pick up their shattered lives. The central cog around which the story moves is the deadly game of Russian roulette, where the players gamble with their lives, brandishing the revolver with one bullet. On the hunting trip with his friends, Michael stalks the best deer and fells it with a single shot. “A deer has to the taken with one shot!” exclaims Mike, and it is that One Shot – the lone fatal bullet in the chamber – that tears the three friends apart, as Nick loses himself to the mad game of death in the dark streets of Saigon.

The film courted controversy in its portrayal of the Russian roulette – there is no record of captives being forced at gunpoint to play Russian roulette by the captors during the Vietnam War. Critics also claimed that “The Deer Hunter” sparked off a string of suicides with viewers trying to imitate the roulette scenes. Deric Washburn’s screenplay, though at times elongated, keeps the viewers captivated in the surreal narrative of love, friendship and disenchantment. The long wedding scene in the beginning (reminiscent of The Godfather) and the hunting expedition that follows, perfectly etches the portraits of the lead characters in our minds. The haunting “Cavatina” written by Stanley Myers and performed on the guitar by John Williams, floats through the movie like an unseen ghost, invoking a feeling of dread and agony at the fate of the war veterans. The cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond is mesmerizing and serves to hold the film together.

De Niro is perfectly cast as Michael, the natural leader of the group, torn apart by his inability to protect and bring home his mates. But it is Christopher Walken - in an Academy Award winning role – who steals the show as the doomed Nick – Michael’s lovable and loyal friend who loses everything to the dangerous game of death. Meryl Streep – as beautiful as ever (sigh!) – gives a smashing portrayal as the subdued and suffering Linda, uncertain, whether to wait for Nick or surrender herself to the love of Michael. The supporting cast is equally brilliant. But spare a thought for the tragic John Cazale whom you will love to loath as the eccentric and self-centered Stanley. The immensely talented Cazale did not live to see the release of the film, succumbing to bone cancer barely a month after the completion of the film. His sparkling career last just five hugely successful films (The Godfather, The Godfather II, The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter), all of which were nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award.

Though the leading cast went on to establish a name for themselves in Hollywood, Michael Cimino never rose to the heights that he achieved with “The Deer Hunter”. With its moving story, “The Deer Hunter” touches your heart and leaves you numb with horror. A few images leave an indelible imprint in the mind: the old couple resting peacefully in each others’ arms as the guests revel in Steven’s wedding party; As Steven and Angela toast to the crowd and drink together, two drops of blood-red wine drip down on to Angela’s white bridal dress – the omen of dark days ahead; The gaunt and ghostly face of the heroin-influenced Nick, as he steps into the dark room to face Michael in his last game of Russian roulette. But the most poignant scene of them all? On a hunting trip after his return, Michael stalks the best deer. He has the deer in his gun sight, but cannot bring himself to shoot the animal. He pulls up his gun just as he pulls the trigger, and lets the animal go.

Perhaps never again will he be able to take a deer with One Shot…

The boy who asked for more...

"Please Sir, I want some more"

Who can forget those immortal lines? The little orphan boy requesting for more soup in Charles Dickens's evergreen classic, Oliver Twist... and that is exactly the feeling I had after watching Roman Polanski's version of this classic on TV yesterday...

No. It was not because, I was so impressed that I was left wanting for more. But Polanski could have done a little more justice to the final product that he has presented before us.

Polanski has taken up one of the finest classics and churned it out into an impressive movie. Perhaps he found inspiration in his own childhood to detail the story of the little orphan boy on celluloid. As a child he spent the years during World War II wandering around Europe, after his parents' imprisonment in the German concentration camps.

Technically the film is impressive. The art design and cinematography are excellent in the way Polanslki has managed to recreate 19th century London. Barney Clark does a fine job as little Oliver. There is a certain sadness in his face that endears him to the audience. But it is Ben Kingsley who steals the show in the role of the roguish, but immensely lovable character of Fagin. He simply walks away with all the laurels.

As the movie progresses, Polanski digresses from the classic and has completely erased out the characters of Rose Mailey - Oliver's Aunt and Monks - Oliver's stepbrother. For a two-hour long movie, Polanski has deliverd! It is definitely a must watch for movie lovers. But for ardent lovers of the Dickens classic, it falls short as a representation of the little boy's travails on the silver screen

The Dark Side of the Moon - review of "All Quiet on the Western Front"

IMDB title: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020629/

“This story is neither an accusation, nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shell, were destroyed by the war”…Thus begins one of the most influential war movies of all time – so influential that, years after its release, it was still being banned in countries mobilizing for World War II. Based on Erich Maria Remarque’s book and directed by Lewis Milestone, “All quiet on the Western Front” won two Academy Awards - for the Best Motion Picture and Best Director - in the year 1930.

“All quiet on the Western Front” relates the story of young German recruits in World War I, as they pass from idealism to disillusionment. A classroom lecture inspires the group of young men led by Paul Baumer (Lew Ayres), to enlist in the army, eager to serve the fatherland. As their teacher says, “To be foremost in battle is a virtue not to be despised”. However, their induction into the “2nd Company” at the front is far from cheerful. Stomachs cringe for every morsel of food, whenever it comes by. The fear of death lingers in the trenches as deadly shells whiz past. One by one, they fall by the wayside – Kropp, Behn, Kemmerick, Mueller, Albert – either into the jaws of death or losing their mind in the absolute madness of “the war to end all wars”. As what he expected to be a “short war” stretches on for four years, the passion of fighting for the country turns to frustration, and finally to despair for Baumer, leading to a fatal conclusion.

The movie digresses from the proverbial “good v bad” theme. There are no stereotype “enemies” out here. Rather, it paints the picture of a war that nobody wanted. Trapped in a crater with the enemy soldier he has killed, Baumer echoes these very sentiments: “You’re just a man like me. We only wanted to live! If we threw away this uniform, we can be like brothers!” For those of us brought up on the steady diet of the technically brilliant present day war movies, “All quiet…” has all the drawbacks of black & white movies of a bygone era – over-dramatization of emotional sequences, the editing that sometimes tends to make the scenes a bit too long, and not to mention the least, the complete absence of a background score (a deliberate ploy by Milestone).

Lew Ayres gives a convincing performance as the young protagonist, Paul Baumer, though at times he goes overboard with the portrayal. This was his stepping stone into an illustrated career that would stretch well into the late nineteen eighties. However, it is Louis Wolheim as the cynical Corporal “Kat” Katczinsky – the 2nd Company’s ‘canteen’ – who holds the movie together. His sardonic wit lights up the whole film. His prophetic statement – “the war won’t be over until they get me” – ironically comes true when he is felled by a shell during the last days of the Great War.

“All Quiet on the Western Front” is a collection of now-famous cinematic moments: The first meeting of the young recruits and the veteran soldiers, Baumer’s anguish as he lies in the crater with the soldier he has killed, his pacifist speech to his astonished schoolmates, and that final moment, when the enemy soldier fixes Baumer in the crosshairs of the rifle, as he reaches his hand out for that fatal butterfly…

Far away in the hills of Kohima, in an immaculate cemetery, lie the graves of the Indian Army soldiers who fought in the Burma campaign of World War II. On a monument at the foot of the cemetery, one can find the poem:

When you go home
Tell them of us and say
For your tomorrow
We gave our today

This is a story of a lost generation – of young men, who gave their today for no tomorrow. There is rarely any glory in war…only the stark reality of death! As Paul Baumer says, “We live in the trenches out there. We fight. We try not to be killed. Sometimes we are…that’s all!”

-The Klansman

”Let there be light”

Black is the colour of life. Life beings in the darkness of the woman’s womb, before exploding into light. Black is also the colour of that endless eternity, which we call “space”. And as the protagonist of the movie “Black” puts it, “Black is the colour of knowledge, education and ceremonies. Like the graduation ceremony, where every student is in the black garb. And nothing is deeper and stronger than knowledge”.

Inspired from the real-life experiences of Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan, ‘Black’ details the relationship between the blind and deaf Michelle McNally and her teacher Debraj Sahay. Michelle (Ayesha Kapur/Rani Mukherjee) will never see the beauty of what so many of us are blessed to see. In her childhood, Michelle is rendered blind and deaf through an illness. The silent world in which she lives, without any means of communication turns her into a violent and explosive child. Enter Debraj (Amitabh Bachhan), a failed teacher, to lead her to the word of senses. He tries to tame her by paying back in the same coin – through aggression. After initial obstacles, he succeeds – Michelle learns her first words. But the triumph is not over. Debraj dreams of Michelle going to college, and becoming a graduate. However, fate has something more in store – Debraj falls into the grip of Alzheimer’s Disease, and slowly starts to forget everything – even Michelle. Now, the student has to become the teacher.

Amitabh Bachhan and Rani Mukherjee carry the film on their shoulders. This is perhaps Rani’s best performance till date. For those who believe Amitabh has already tried all kinds of roles, the eccentric Debraj Sahay is a revelation. This is his film. Your heart goes out to Shernaz Patel (of UTV fame – remember her?) who plays Michelle’s mother. Nandana Sen passes off fairly as Sarah, Michelle’s sister. However, it is Ayesha Kapur as the little Michelle who steals the show.

Black is a visual treat to watch – the cinematography by Ravi K Chandran is just splendid. The scenes shown in semi-dark conditions, with predominance to black-blue shades add to the beauty of the film. The background music and art direction are excellent – especially the huge sprawling McNally household. Some scenes do stand out – young Michelle’s first lessons on table manners, the incident with the “cake” (“Sometimes having eyes is not of much help” quotes Debraj), the scene where Michelle recognizes her dad and mom, the first signs of Debraj’s encounter with Alzheimer’s Disease, Michelle’s outburst at Sarah’s engagement and her speech at the graduation ceremony. And thankfully, there are no songs to spoil the situations.

So is ‘Black’ the perfect Hindi film that we have dreamed for? Far from it. Rani Mukherjee tends to go a little overboard at times (of course, Helen Keller did not have that cute Charlie Chaplin gait). After a brilliant first half, where the focus is on Michelle’s childhood, the film’s pace slackens considerably in the second half. Perhaps more attention could have been given at Debraj Sahay’s condition. The final scene where Michelle meets her teacher in her graduation robes, does not create the desired effect. I’ve heard that Alzheimer’s Disease does not have a cure. There’s no miraculous “Maa, main dekh sakti hoon” dialogues for Michelle(thanks!). Then why take a different view of Debraj’s disease alone?

Ah! Did I say “Hindi movie” at the start of that paragraph? Most of the characters use predominantly English. “Black” may not appeal to the masses in India, due to it’s sparing use of the national language. Does Sanjay Leela Bhansali believe that movies should be made only for the “Dil-Chahta-Hai” crowd in India? Or is he, through this movie, targeting a specific award that is given every year at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles? An Oscar dream might be a trifle too much for “Black”.

All said and done, Black is definitely a path-breaking effort in Indian cinema – a treat to watch for everyone who needs a break from the run-of-the-mill stuff dished out in the name of hindi films