Monday, February 07, 2005

Black thoughts

Rave reviews everywhere. The now-infamous Nikhat Kazmi awards four stars (and we assume these are her own opinions). The movie has been credited with altering Bollywood and Indian cinema forever. High, high praise.

Dare I say what I think? Ok… the film is as detailed and well researched as it gets. Sign language, the costumes, the nitty-gritties of teaching a deaf-blind student… The subject lends itself to intensity and in this case, high drama.
What else?
Amitabh Bachchan – excellent
Rani Mukherjee – luminously beautiful in a performance of a lifetime
The frames – overwhelmingly aesthetic (at times at the cost of the narrative: I use the word ‘overwhelming’ consideredly)

Problem? Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Whose intrusive presence pervades every single shot in the film. The subject deserves delicate strokes with a zero brush and Bhansali reaches for the bludgeon. Every time.

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