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Black (film)
Encyclopedia
Black is a 2005 Indian film in Hindi
and Indian English
directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
. Black revolves around a blind and deaf
girl, and her relationship with her teacher who himself later develops Alzheimer's disease
. The film is a creative adaptation of the 1962 Hollywood film The Miracle Worker
starring Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke directed by Arthur Penn. This critically acclaimed film was adapted with certain modifications for example the female protagonist was changed to a male protagonist etc. Miracle Worker was further adapted from the 1959 play of the same title which in turn was an inspiration from Helen Keller's life and struggle.
The film was screened at the Casablanca
Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India
. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
and eleven Filmfare Awards
. Time Magazine (Europe) selected the film as one of the 10 Best Movies of the Year 2005 from across the globe. The movie was positioned at number five. Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films.
), a blind and deaf
woman, visiting her former teacher Debraj Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan
), who now has Alzheimer's disease
, in a hospital. The film then flashback
s to the past to her childhood.
Michelle was a girl who lost her eyesight and hearing after recovering from an illness at the age of two and exists in a black world where she is isolated in the darkness of her own existence, trapped by her inability to see, hear and express. She grows up becoming more and more frustrated by the black and dark world around her, making her a violent, uncontrollable eight-year old child. Her parents, Paul and Catherine, are at their wits' end trying to control her, until one day the light shines through the end of the tunnel.
Debraj Sahai enters their lives, an elderly alcoholic teacher for the deaf and blind, Debraj sees himself as a magician and is a disillusioned eccentric man. He takes it upon himself to bring young Michelle into the light. He uses harsh methods, although always for Michelle's long-term benefit. Initially, his methods are met with disapproval by Michelle's father, who asks Debraj to leave. Although her father thinks he is gone, Debraj stays as the teacher while her father is away on business for 20 days. Her mother grudgingly approves of his continuation given her fear of Michelle being sent to an asylum. By the 20th day, Debraj manages to teach Michelle some words and better manners, but he has difficulty teaching her the meaning of words. When Michelle's father returns, Debraj packs his bags. At the very last moment, as he is walking towards the door suitcase in hand, Debraj gets frustrated with Michelle's continuing insolent behavior and he throws her into a fountain full of water. Michelle suddenly takes to Debraj's lessons at that moment and begins to understand meaning. She is able to recognize her mother and father, and can vocalize the first syllables of some words. The McNallys decide to keep Debraj as Michelle's teacher.
Many years later, Michelle has learned a great deal, becoming relaxed and expressive, and she is even able to dance and expertly sign
. Debraj convinces the Principal of a university to grant her an interview which she passes and gets admission to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree, the first deaf-blind person to do so at that university. Michelle moves away from home and lives with Debraj and one of her servants. Over the next 20 years, she struggles to gain her Bachelor of Arts degree, failing year after year, but she still maintains her spirit. One reason is that she must rely on Debraj completely for interpretation of the material and studying. This problem is overcome by the Principal of the school preparing the whole first-year Arts course of study in Braille
. Another reason for her continuing failure is that her typing skills are lacking and typing is her only way to write down what she knows during exams. However, she also soon overcomes this deficiency through another flash of increased of competence when she almost quits the university and gets into an argument with Debraj.
As the same time as Michelle suffers through and triumphs over her challenges, we also witness numerous other changes. Debraj begins to succumb to Alzheimer's, first forgetting the way out of the Principal's office and then forgetting Michelle and leaving her stranded during an ice cream celebration for her improved typing. We also see Michelle reconcile with her sister Sara, who we find out was jealous of her parents' affection for Michelle throughout her life. After attending Sara's wedding, Michelle begins to wonder about love, which she has not experienced, and she even asks Debraj to kiss her on the lips. Debraj reluctantly does so but decides to leave Michelle on her own because of this demand and the position she has put him in. Twenty years after enrollment, Michelle does manage to gain her BA, and with her proud parents looking on her, she even gives a speech to the graduating class. Wearing no black graduation robe, she thanks her parents and her teacher and she announces that she will only wear the robe so that her teacher may see her first.
Debraj is in a mental hospital due to his almost complete inability to remember his past and even how to speak. Michelle visits him wearing her robe and we see glimmers of memory return as Debraj realizes that she has graduated and even does a victory dance. As the window opens to the rain outside, we see Debraj's hand in Michelle's reaching into the rain, and we hear the teacher-student pair say the first syllable of the word "water", with echoes of the scene in which Michelle first begins understanding the meaning of words earlier in the movie. However this time, it is Debraj who is beginning to learn to speak and understand.
The movie ends with a scene of Michelle amongst a crowd of people all dressed in black carrying candles walking towards a church. There is a voiceover of a letter Michelle has written to Debraj's friend Mrs Nair explaining that today was her teacher's first day of school, and that like her's, his alphabet began with "B L A C K", implying that Debraj had finally succumbed to his illness and died.
. He was inspired by Helen Keller
's autobiography The Story of My Life and visited the Helen Keller Institute to do research. He also read the autobiography of deaf-mute pianist Geraldine Lawhorn for ideas. Much of the film was based on his observations between students, teachers and parents at the Institute. Bhansali originally planned for the film to be a low-budget film in Hindi and English which would provide a change from his prior film, the expensive Devdas
.
A self-described "diehard fan" of Amitabh Bachchan since he was a child, Bhansali was able to cast him after Bachchan watched Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
and approached him about starring in one of his films. When Bhansali first approached Rani Mukherjee to play the role of Michelle McNally, she declined because she believed it was too challenging for her. To prepare for his role, Bachchan watched documentaries. Rani Mukherjee wore coloured contacts to give her the appearance of a blind girl and both Bachchan and Mukherjee studied sign language and Braille
for seven months. A team of deaf-blind students were also on set advising the actors and instructing them in sign language.
The film was shot in Mumbai and in Shimla
. The sets of Black were closed to prevent details about the film from leaking. The cast and crew experienced many difficulties during the film's shooting. During filming in February 2004 a fire broke out at the 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) Mumbai set, destroying costumes and props. The fire was started in the night when a plug sparked and ignited. Bhansali was forced to start the indoor sets from scratch. Also, during the outdoor shoot in Shimla the script required snow but there was none so the crew brought in snowmaking
machines from Mumbai and created a man-made snowy landscape. Permission to shoot at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study
's Viceregal Lodge was initially denied, delaying the film further.
Constantly on the sets of this movie was 'Zamir Dhale' - somebody who is blind and deaf. He stayed in Shimla during the time of the shooting to help Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee understand the world of the blind and the deaf. He also taught them the usage of sign language and how to communicate with such people.
Film Festival.
of Time
magazine selected it as one of the best films of 2005. It was also listed at number one on the Indiatimes list of 25 Must See Bollywood Movies.
was originally roped in to score the music, but he had to refuse due to busy schedules. The film's music is composed by Monty Sharma. Unlike many other Bollywood films, Black has only one song, "Haan maine chookar dekha hain", performed by Gayatri Ganjawala
.
: ब्लैक, Urdu
: ) is a 2005 Indian film in Hindi
and Indian English
directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
. Black revolves around a blind and deaf
girl, and her relationship with her teacher who himself later develops Alzheimer's disease
. The film is a creative adaptation of the 1962 Hollywood film The Miracle Worker
starring Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke directed by Arthur Penn. This critically acclaimed film was adapted with certain modifications for example the female protagonist was changed to a male protagonist etc. Miracle Worker was further adapted from the 1959 play of the same title which in turn was an inspiration from Helen Keller's life and struggle.
The film was screened at the Casablanca
Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India
. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
and eleven Filmfare Awards
. Time Magazine (Europe) selected the film as one of the 10 Best Movies of the Year 2005 from across the globe. The movie was positioned at number five. Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films.
), a blind and deaf
woman, visiting her former teacher Debraj Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan
), who now has Alzheimer's disease
, in a hospital. The film then flashback
s to the past to her childhood.
Michelle was a girl who lost her eyesight and hearing after recovering from an illness at the age of two and exists in a black world where she is isolated in the darkness of her own existence, trapped by her inability to see, hear and express. She grows up becoming more and more frustrated by the black and dark world around her, making her a violent, uncontrollable eight-year old child. Her parents, Paul and Catherine, are at their wits' end trying to control her, until one day the light shines through the end of the tunnel.
Debraj Sahai enters their lives, an elderly alcoholic teacher for the deaf and blind, Debraj sees himself as a magician and is a disillusioned eccentric man. He takes it upon himself to bring young Michelle into the light. He uses harsh methods, although always for Michelle's long-term benefit. Initially, his methods are met with disapproval by Michelle's father, who asks Debraj to leave. Although her father thinks he is gone, Debraj stays as the teacher while her father is away on business for 20 days. Her mother grudgingly approves of his continuation given her fear of Michelle being sent to an asylum. By the 20th day, Debraj manages to teach Michelle some words and better manners, but he has difficulty teaching her the meaning of words. When Michelle's father returns, Debraj packs his bags. At the very last moment, as he is walking towards the door suitcase in hand, Debraj gets frustrated with Michelle's continuing insolent behavior and he throws her into a fountain full of water. Michelle suddenly takes to Debraj's lessons at that moment and begins to understand meaning. She is able to recognize her mother and father, and can vocalize the first syllables of some words. The McNallys decide to keep Debraj as Michelle's teacher.
Many years later, Michelle has learned a great deal, becoming relaxed and expressive, and she is even able to dance and expertly sign
. Debraj convinces the Principal of a university to grant her an interview which she passes and gets admission to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree, the first deaf-blind person to do so at that university. Michelle moves away from home and lives with Debraj and one of her servants. Over the next 20 years, she struggles to gain her Bachelor of Arts degree, failing year after year, but she still maintains her spirit. One reason is that she must rely on Debraj completely for interpretation of the material and studying. This problem is overcome by the Principal of the school preparing the whole first-year Arts course of study in Braille
. Another reason for her continuing failure is that her typing skills are lacking and typing is her only way to write down what she knows during exams. However, she also soon overcomes this deficiency through another flash of increased of competence when she almost quits the university and gets into an argument with Debraj.
As the same time as Michelle suffers through and triumphs over her challenges, we also witness numerous other changes. Debraj begins to succumb to Alzheimer's, first forgetting the way out of the Principal's office and then forgetting Michelle and leaving her stranded during an ice cream celebration for her improved typing. We also see Michelle reconcile with her sister Sara, who we find out was jealous of her parents' affection for Michelle throughout her life. After attending Sara's wedding, Michelle begins to wonder about love, which she has not experienced, and she even asks Debraj to kiss her on the lips. Debraj reluctantly does so but decides to leave Michelle on her own because of this demand and the position she has put him in. Twenty years after enrollment, Michelle does manage to gain her BA, and with her proud parents looking on her, she even gives a speech to the graduating class. Wearing no black graduation robe, she thanks her parents and her teacher and she announces that she will only wear the robe so that her teacher may see her first.
Debraj is in a mental hospital due to his almost complete inability to remember his past and even how to speak. Michelle visits him wearing her robe and we see glimmers of memory return as Debraj realizes that she has graduated and even does a victory dance. As the window opens to the rain outside, we see Debraj's hand in Michelle's reaching into the rain, and we hear the teacher-student pair say the first syllable of the word "water", with echoes of the scene in which Michelle first begins understanding the meaning of words earlier in the movie. However this time, it is Debraj who is beginning to learn to speak and understand.
The movie ends with a scene of Michelle amongst a crowd of people all dressed in black carrying candles walking towards a church. There is a voiceover of a letter Michelle has written to Debraj's friend Mrs Nair explaining that today was her teacher's first day of school, and that like her's, his alphabet began with "B L A C K", implying that Debraj had finally succumbed to his illness and died.
. He was inspired by Helen Keller
's autobiography The Story of My Life and visited the Helen Keller Institute to do research. He also read the autobiography of deaf-mute pianist Geraldine Lawhorn for ideas. Much of the film was based on his observations between students, teachers and parents at the Institute. Bhansali originally planned for the film to be a low-budget film in Hindi and English which would provide a change from his prior film, the expensive Devdas
.
A self-described "diehard fan" of Amitabh Bachchan since he was a child, Bhansali was able to cast him after Bachchan watched Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
and approached him about starring in one of his films. When Bhansali first approached Rani Mukherjee to play the role of Michelle McNally, she declined because she believed it was too challenging for her. To prepare for his role, Bachchan watched documentaries. Rani Mukherjee wore coloured contacts to give her the appearance of a blind girl and both Bachchan and Mukherjee studied sign language and Braille
for seven months. A team of deaf-blind students were also on set advising the actors and instructing them in sign language.
The film was shot in Mumbai and in Shimla
. The sets of Black were closed to prevent details about the film from leaking. The cast and crew experienced many difficulties during the film's shooting. During filming in February 2004 a fire broke out at the 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) Mumbai set, destroying costumes and props. The fire was started in the night when a plug sparked and ignited. Bhansali was forced to start the indoor sets from scratch. Also, during the outdoor shoot in Shimla the script required snow but there was none so the crew brought in snowmaking
machines from Mumbai and created a man-made snowy landscape. Permission to shoot at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study
's Viceregal Lodge was initially denied, delaying the film further.
Constantly on the sets of this movie was 'Zamir Dhale' - somebody who is blind and deaf. He stayed in Shimla during the time of the shooting to help Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee understand the world of the blind and the deaf. He also taught them the usage of sign language and how to communicate with such people.
Film Festival.
of Time
magazine selected it as one of the best films of 2005. It was also listed at number one on the Indiatimes list of 25 Must See Bollywood Movies.
was originally roped in to score the music, but he had to refuse due to busy schedules. The film's music is composed by Monty Sharma. Unlike many other Bollywood films, Black has only one song, "Haan maine chookar dekha hain", performed by Gayatri Ganjawala
.
: ब्लैक, Urdu
: ) is a 2005 Indian film in Hindi
and Indian English
directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
. Black revolves around a blind and deaf
girl, and her relationship with her teacher who himself later develops Alzheimer's disease
. The film is a creative adaptation of the 1962 Hollywood film The Miracle Worker
starring Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke directed by Arthur Penn. This critically acclaimed film was adapted with certain modifications for example the female protagonist was changed to a male protagonist etc. Miracle Worker was further adapted from the 1959 play of the same title which in turn was an inspiration from Helen Keller's life and struggle.
The film was screened at the Casablanca
Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India
. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
and eleven Filmfare Awards
. Time Magazine (Europe) selected the film as one of the 10 Best Movies of the Year 2005 from across the globe. The movie was positioned at number five. Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films.
), a blind and deaf
woman, visiting her former teacher Debraj Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan
), who now has Alzheimer's disease
, in a hospital. The film then flashback
s to the past to her childhood.
Michelle was a girl who lost her eyesight and hearing after recovering from an illness at the age of two and exists in a black world where she is isolated in the darkness of her own existence, trapped by her inability to see, hear and express. She grows up becoming more and more frustrated by the black and dark world around her, making her a violent, uncontrollable eight-year old child. Her parents, Paul and Catherine, are at their wits' end trying to control her, until one day the light shines through the end of the tunnel.
Debraj Sahai enters their lives, an elderly alcoholic teacher for the deaf and blind, Debraj sees himself as a magician and is a disillusioned eccentric man. He takes it upon himself to bring young Michelle into the light. He uses harsh methods, although always for Michelle's long-term benefit. Initially, his methods are met with disapproval by Michelle's father, who asks Debraj to leave. Although her father thinks he is gone, Debraj stays as the teacher while her father is away on business for 20 days. Her mother grudgingly approves of his continuation given her fear of Michelle being sent to an asylum. By the 20th day, Debraj manages to teach Michelle some words and better manners, but he has difficulty teaching her the meaning of words. When Michelle's father returns, Debraj packs his bags. At the very last moment, as he is walking towards the door suitcase in hand, Debraj gets frustrated with Michelle's continuing insolent behavior and he throws her into a fountain full of water. Michelle suddenly takes to Debraj's lessons at that moment and begins to understand meaning. She is able to recognize her mother and father, and can vocalize the first syllables of some words. The McNallys decide to keep Debraj as Michelle's teacher.
Many years later, Michelle has learned a great deal, becoming relaxed and expressive, and she is even able to dance and expertly sign
. Debraj convinces the Principal of a university to grant her an interview which she passes and gets admission to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree, the first deaf-blind person to do so at that university. Michelle moves away from home and lives with Debraj and one of her servants. Over the next 20 years, she struggles to gain her Bachelor of Arts degree, failing year after year, but she still maintains her spirit. One reason is that she must rely on Debraj completely for interpretation of the material and studying. This problem is overcome by the Principal of the school preparing the whole first-year Arts course of study in Braille
. Another reason for her continuing failure is that her typing skills are lacking and typing is her only way to write down what she knows during exams. However, she also soon overcomes this deficiency through another flash of increased of competence when she almost quits the university and gets into an argument with Debraj.
As the same time as Michelle suffers through and triumphs over her challenges, we also witness numerous other changes. Debraj begins to succumb to Alzheimer's, first forgetting the way out of the Principal's office and then forgetting Michelle and leaving her stranded during an ice cream celebration for her improved typing. We also see Michelle reconcile with her sister Sara, who we find out was jealous of her parents' affection for Michelle throughout her life. After attending Sara's wedding, Michelle begins to wonder about love, which she has not experienced, and she even asks Debraj to kiss her on the lips. Debraj reluctantly does so but decides to leave Michelle on her own because of this demand and the position she has put him in. Twenty years after enrollment, Michelle does manage to gain her BA, and with her proud parents looking on her, she even gives a speech to the graduating class. Wearing no black graduation robe, she thanks her parents and her teacher and she announces that she will only wear the robe so that her teacher may see her first.
Debraj is in a mental hospital due to his almost complete inability to remember his past and even how to speak. Michelle visits him wearing her robe and we see glimmers of memory return as Debraj realizes that she has graduated and even does a victory dance. As the window opens to the rain outside, we see Debraj's hand in Michelle's reaching into the rain, and we hear the teacher-student pair say the first syllable of the word "water", with echoes of the scene in which Michelle first begins understanding the meaning of words earlier in the movie. However this time, it is Debraj who is beginning to learn to speak and understand.
The movie ends with a scene of Michelle amongst a crowd of people all dressed in black carrying candles walking towards a church. There is a voiceover of a letter Michelle has written to Debraj's friend Mrs Nair explaining that today was her teacher's first day of school, and that like her's, his alphabet began with "B L A C K", implying that Debraj had finally succumbed to his illness and died.
. He was inspired by Helen Keller
's autobiography The Story of My Life and visited the Helen Keller Institute to do research. He also read the autobiography of deaf-mute pianist Geraldine Lawhorn for ideas. Much of the film was based on his observations between students, teachers and parents at the Institute. Bhansali originally planned for the film to be a low-budget film in Hindi and English which would provide a change from his prior film, the expensive Devdas
.
A self-described "diehard fan" of Amitabh Bachchan since he was a child, Bhansali was able to cast him after Bachchan watched Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
and approached him about starring in one of his films. When Bhansali first approached Rani Mukherjee to play the role of Michelle McNally, she declined because she believed it was too challenging for her. To prepare for his role, Bachchan watched documentaries. Rani Mukherjee wore coloured contacts to give her the appearance of a blind girl and both Bachchan and Mukherjee studied sign language and Braille
for seven months. A team of deaf-blind students were also on set advising the actors and instructing them in sign language.
The film was shot in Mumbai and in Shimla
. The sets of Black were closed to prevent details about the film from leaking. The cast and crew experienced many difficulties during the film's shooting. During filming in February 2004 a fire broke out at the 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) Mumbai set, destroying costumes and props. The fire was started in the night when a plug sparked and ignited. Bhansali was forced to start the indoor sets from scratch. Also, during the outdoor shoot in Shimla the script required snow but there was none so the crew brought in snowmaking
machines from Mumbai and created a man-made snowy landscape. Permission to shoot at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study
's Viceregal Lodge was initially denied, delaying the film further.
Constantly on the sets of this movie was 'Zamir Dhale' - somebody who is blind and deaf. He stayed in Shimla during the time of the shooting to help Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee understand the world of the blind and the deaf. He also taught them the usage of sign language and how to communicate with such people.
Film Festival.
of Time
magazine selected it as one of the best films of 2005. It was also listed at number one on the Indiatimes list of 25 Must See Bollywood Movies.
was originally roped in to score the music, but he had to refuse due to busy schedules. The film's music is composed by Monty Sharma. Unlike many other Bollywood films, Black has only one song, "Haan maine chookar dekha hain", performed by Gayatri Ganjawala
.
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and Indian English
Indian English
Indian English is an umbrella term used to describe dialects of the English language spoken primarily in the Republic of India.As a result of British colonial rule until Indian independence in 1947 English is an official language of India and is widely used in both spoken and literary contexts...
directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian film director. He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India...
. Black revolves around a blind and deaf
Deafblindness
Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful sight and little or no useful hearing. Educationally, individuals are considered to be deafblind when the combination of their hearing and vision loss causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they...
girl, and her relationship with her teacher who himself later develops Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. The film is a creative adaptation of the 1962 Hollywood film The Miracle Worker
The Miracle Worker (1962 film)
The Miracle Worker is a 1962 American biographical film directed by Arthur Penn. The screenplay by William Gibson is based on his 1959 play of the same title, which originated as a 1957 broadcast of the television anthology series Playhouse 90...
starring Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke directed by Arthur Penn. This critically acclaimed film was adapted with certain modifications for example the female protagonist was changed to a male protagonist etc. Miracle Worker was further adapted from the 1959 play of the same title which in turn was an inspiration from Helen Keller's life and struggle.
The film was screened at the Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India
International Film Festival of India
The International Film Festival of India , founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually in the beach town of Goa, in the Western Coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of...
. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi awards the best regional film in Hindi language. Initially the award was known as the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The winners in this category are:...
and eleven Filmfare Awards
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...
. Time Magazine (Europe) selected the film as one of the 10 Best Movies of the Year 2005 from across the globe. The movie was positioned at number five. Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films.
Plot
The film begins with Michelle McNally (Rani MukerjiRani Mukerji
Rani Mukerji is an Indian film actress who works in Hindi movies. In the course of her film career, she has received six Filmfare Awards, among twelve nominations....
), a blind and deaf
Deafblindness
Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful sight and little or no useful hearing. Educationally, individuals are considered to be deafblind when the combination of their hearing and vision loss causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they...
woman, visiting her former teacher Debraj Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
), who now has Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, in a hospital. The film then flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
s to the past to her childhood.
Michelle was a girl who lost her eyesight and hearing after recovering from an illness at the age of two and exists in a black world where she is isolated in the darkness of her own existence, trapped by her inability to see, hear and express. She grows up becoming more and more frustrated by the black and dark world around her, making her a violent, uncontrollable eight-year old child. Her parents, Paul and Catherine, are at their wits' end trying to control her, until one day the light shines through the end of the tunnel.
Debraj Sahai enters their lives, an elderly alcoholic teacher for the deaf and blind, Debraj sees himself as a magician and is a disillusioned eccentric man. He takes it upon himself to bring young Michelle into the light. He uses harsh methods, although always for Michelle's long-term benefit. Initially, his methods are met with disapproval by Michelle's father, who asks Debraj to leave. Although her father thinks he is gone, Debraj stays as the teacher while her father is away on business for 20 days. Her mother grudgingly approves of his continuation given her fear of Michelle being sent to an asylum. By the 20th day, Debraj manages to teach Michelle some words and better manners, but he has difficulty teaching her the meaning of words. When Michelle's father returns, Debraj packs his bags. At the very last moment, as he is walking towards the door suitcase in hand, Debraj gets frustrated with Michelle's continuing insolent behavior and he throws her into a fountain full of water. Michelle suddenly takes to Debraj's lessons at that moment and begins to understand meaning. She is able to recognize her mother and father, and can vocalize the first syllables of some words. The McNallys decide to keep Debraj as Michelle's teacher.
Many years later, Michelle has learned a great deal, becoming relaxed and expressive, and she is even able to dance and expertly sign
Sign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
. Debraj convinces the Principal of a university to grant her an interview which she passes and gets admission to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree, the first deaf-blind person to do so at that university. Michelle moves away from home and lives with Debraj and one of her servants. Over the next 20 years, she struggles to gain her Bachelor of Arts degree, failing year after year, but she still maintains her spirit. One reason is that she must rely on Debraj completely for interpretation of the material and studying. This problem is overcome by the Principal of the school preparing the whole first-year Arts course of study in Braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
. Another reason for her continuing failure is that her typing skills are lacking and typing is her only way to write down what she knows during exams. However, she also soon overcomes this deficiency through another flash of increased of competence when she almost quits the university and gets into an argument with Debraj.
As the same time as Michelle suffers through and triumphs over her challenges, we also witness numerous other changes. Debraj begins to succumb to Alzheimer's, first forgetting the way out of the Principal's office and then forgetting Michelle and leaving her stranded during an ice cream celebration for her improved typing. We also see Michelle reconcile with her sister Sara, who we find out was jealous of her parents' affection for Michelle throughout her life. After attending Sara's wedding, Michelle begins to wonder about love, which she has not experienced, and she even asks Debraj to kiss her on the lips. Debraj reluctantly does so but decides to leave Michelle on her own because of this demand and the position she has put him in. Twenty years after enrollment, Michelle does manage to gain her BA, and with her proud parents looking on her, she even gives a speech to the graduating class. Wearing no black graduation robe, she thanks her parents and her teacher and she announces that she will only wear the robe so that her teacher may see her first.
Debraj is in a mental hospital due to his almost complete inability to remember his past and even how to speak. Michelle visits him wearing her robe and we see glimmers of memory return as Debraj realizes that she has graduated and even does a victory dance. As the window opens to the rain outside, we see Debraj's hand in Michelle's reaching into the rain, and we hear the teacher-student pair say the first syllable of the word "water", with echoes of the scene in which Michelle first begins understanding the meaning of words earlier in the movie. However this time, it is Debraj who is beginning to learn to speak and understand.
The movie ends with a scene of Michelle amongst a crowd of people all dressed in black carrying candles walking towards a church. There is a voiceover of a letter Michelle has written to Debraj's friend Mrs Nair explaining that today was her teacher's first day of school, and that like her's, his alphabet began with "B L A C K", implying that Debraj had finally succumbed to his illness and died.
Cast
- Amitabh BachchanAmitabh BachchanAmitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
as Debraj Sahai - Rani MukerjiRani MukerjiRani Mukerji is an Indian film actress who works in Hindi movies. In the course of her film career, she has received six Filmfare Awards, among twelve nominations....
as Michelle McNally - Ayesha KapoorAyesha KapoorAyesha Kapur , born 13 September 1994 in India, is an award winning Indian film actress who is best known for playing young Michelle McNally in the Bollywood movie Black. Kapur received unanimous praise for the role, and quickly became the recipient of many Awards in the "Best Supporting Actress"...
as Young Michelle McNally - Shernaz PatelShernaz PatelShernaz Patel is an Indian film and theatre actor, who works in Hindi and English films, most known for her roles in films like Black and Guzaarish and English language theatre in Mumbai. She made her theatre debut with The Diary Of Anne Frank in 1984...
as Catherine McNally - Dhritiman ChaterjiDhritiman ChaterjiDhritiman Chaterji is an Indian actor. He began his acting career in 1970 as the protagonist of Satyajit Ray's Pratidwandi . Most of his acting work has been in the India's "parallel", or independent, cinema with filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Aparna Sen, among others...
as Paul McNally - Nandana SenNandana Sen-Early life:Sen was born in Kolkata, West Bengal to a Bengali Hindu family. She is the daughter of Nobel Laureate and Bharat Ratna economist Amartya Sen and Padma Shri winner Nabanita Dev Sen, one of the most prominent authors in the contemporary Bengali literature....
as Sarah McNally - Sillo MahavaSillo MahavaSillo Mahava is an actress who played the role of Mrs. Gomes in the Indian film, Black , based on the life of Helen Keller, featuring Ayesha Kapoor, Rani Mukerji and Amitabh Bachchan. Mrs...
as Mrs. Gomes - Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal as Mrs. Nair
Production
Sanjay Leela Bhansali first came up with the idea for Black in 1995 while filming Khamoshi: The MusicalKhamoshi: The Musical
Khamoshi: The Musical is a critically acclaimed Indian Hindi film which was released on 9 August 1996. The film starred Nana Patekar, Manisha Koirala, Salman Khan, Seema Biswas and Helen, and marked Sanjay Leela Bhansali's directorial debut...
. He was inspired by Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
's autobiography The Story of My Life and visited the Helen Keller Institute to do research. He also read the autobiography of deaf-mute pianist Geraldine Lawhorn for ideas. Much of the film was based on his observations between students, teachers and parents at the Institute. Bhansali originally planned for the film to be a low-budget film in Hindi and English which would provide a change from his prior film, the expensive Devdas
Devdas (2002 film)
Devdas is a 2002 Bollywood film based on the 1917 Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novella Devdas. This is the third Hindi version and the first colour film version of the story in Hindi...
.
A self-described "diehard fan" of Amitabh Bachchan since he was a child, Bhansali was able to cast him after Bachchan watched Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
The music was composed by Ismail Darbar with lyrics by Mehboob. It received nine Filmfare Awards nominations in the music and singing categories and produced some winners as well.-Track listing:-2000 National Awards:* Best Music Direction - Ismail Darbar...
and approached him about starring in one of his films. When Bhansali first approached Rani Mukherjee to play the role of Michelle McNally, she declined because she believed it was too challenging for her. To prepare for his role, Bachchan watched documentaries. Rani Mukherjee wore coloured contacts to give her the appearance of a blind girl and both Bachchan and Mukherjee studied sign language and Braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
for seven months. A team of deaf-blind students were also on set advising the actors and instructing them in sign language.
The film was shot in Mumbai and in Shimla
Shimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
. The sets of Black were closed to prevent details about the film from leaking. The cast and crew experienced many difficulties during the film's shooting. During filming in February 2004 a fire broke out at the 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) Mumbai set, destroying costumes and props. The fire was started in the night when a plug sparked and ignited. Bhansali was forced to start the indoor sets from scratch. Also, during the outdoor shoot in Shimla the script required snow but there was none so the crew brought in snowmaking
Snowmaking
Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun" or "snow cannon", on ski slopes. Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliability of their snow cover and to extend their ski...
machines from Mumbai and created a man-made snowy landscape. Permission to shoot at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study
Indian Institute of Advanced Study
The Indian Institute of Advanced Study is a prestigious research institute based in Shimla, India. It was set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 1964 and it started functioning from October 20, 1965....
's Viceregal Lodge was initially denied, delaying the film further.
Constantly on the sets of this movie was 'Zamir Dhale' - somebody who is blind and deaf. He stayed in Shimla during the time of the shooting to help Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee understand the world of the blind and the deaf. He also taught them the usage of sign language and how to communicate with such people.
Release
Black was originally scheduled to be released on 10 December 2004, but Bhansali decided to postpone its release. Black was released on 4 February 2005 in 170 different towns in India, a small number compared to most large-budget Bollywood films. Black was also screened at several international film festivals like the CasablancaCasablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
Film Festival.
Critical reception
Black was met by mostly positive reviews. Amitabh Bachchan bagged the filmfare critic's best actor award also, besides the best actor award. The performances of Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji and Ayesha Kapoor were especially praised by critics. Richard CorlissRichard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine selected it as one of the best films of 2005. It was also listed at number one on the Indiatimes list of 25 Must See Bollywood Movies.
Box office
Black grossed around 22,00,00,000 making it the eleventh highest grossing Bollywood film of 2005. It was designated as an "average" financial success by BoxOffice India.com. In addition, Black earned approximately $754,819 in the US and £473,862 in the UK.Music
A. R. RahmanA. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
was originally roped in to score the music, but he had to refuse due to busy schedules. The film's music is composed by Monty Sharma. Unlike many other Bollywood films, Black has only one song, "Haan maine chookar dekha hain", performed by Gayatri Ganjawala
Gayatri Iyer
Gayatri Iyer is an Indian playback singer, primarily in Bollywood. She landed up with the part of Princess Anjuli in the West End of London musical production of M. M. Kaye's The Far Pavilions, which opened in the summer of 2007....
.
Awards
- Black won the Best Feature Film in Hindi AwardNational Film Award for Best Feature Film in HindiThe National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi awards the best regional film in Hindi language. Initially the award was known as the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The winners in this category are:...
and Amitabh Bachchan received Best ActorNational Film Award for Best ActorThe National Film Award for Best Actor is an honor presented annually at the National Film Awards of India to an actor who has delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry.-Background:The Directorate of Film Festivals makes awards annually in several categories...
award at the 53rd National Film AwardsNational Film AwardsThe National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel...
.
- Black made an all-time record at the Filmfare AwardsFilmfare AwardsThe Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...
by winning eleven awards, beating the previous record holders: Dilwale Dulhania Le JayengeDilwale Dulhania Le JayengeDilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge , also known as DDLJ, is a Hindi language film released on 20 October 1995. A romantic comedy, the film marked the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra, and stars Shahrukh Khan and Kajol...
(1995) and DevdasDevdas (2002 film)Devdas is a 2002 Bollywood film based on the 1917 Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novella Devdas. This is the third Hindi version and the first colour film version of the story in Hindi...
(2002) with ten wins each. Those two films, GuideGuide (film)Guide is a 1965 Hindi film starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. It was directed by Vijay Anand, who also contributed to the screenplay. The film is based on the critically acclaimed novel, The Guide, by R. K. Narayan, and is widely considered to be one of the masterpieces of the Indian film...
(1965), Kuch Kuch Hota HaiKuch Kuch Hota HaiKuch Kuch Hota Hai is a Hindi romantic comedy film, released in India and the United Kingdom on 16 October 1998. The film was written and directed by the debuting Karan Johar and stars the popular on-screen pair of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in their fourth movie together...
(1998), and this one are the only films to win all of the four major awards (Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress).
National Film Awards (2006)
Filmfare Awards (2006)
Star Screen Awards (2006)
IIFA Awards (2006)
Zee Cine Awards (2006)
|
Other awards
|
External links
Black (HindiHindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
: ब्लैक, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
: ) is a 2005 Indian film in Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and Indian English
Indian English
Indian English is an umbrella term used to describe dialects of the English language spoken primarily in the Republic of India.As a result of British colonial rule until Indian independence in 1947 English is an official language of India and is widely used in both spoken and literary contexts...
directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian film director. He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India...
. Black revolves around a blind and deaf
Deafblindness
Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful sight and little or no useful hearing. Educationally, individuals are considered to be deafblind when the combination of their hearing and vision loss causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they...
girl, and her relationship with her teacher who himself later develops Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. The film is a creative adaptation of the 1962 Hollywood film The Miracle Worker
The Miracle Worker (1962 film)
The Miracle Worker is a 1962 American biographical film directed by Arthur Penn. The screenplay by William Gibson is based on his 1959 play of the same title, which originated as a 1957 broadcast of the television anthology series Playhouse 90...
starring Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke directed by Arthur Penn. This critically acclaimed film was adapted with certain modifications for example the female protagonist was changed to a male protagonist etc. Miracle Worker was further adapted from the 1959 play of the same title which in turn was an inspiration from Helen Keller's life and struggle.
The film was screened at the Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India
International Film Festival of India
The International Film Festival of India , founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually in the beach town of Goa, in the Western Coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of...
. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi awards the best regional film in Hindi language. Initially the award was known as the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The winners in this category are:...
and eleven Filmfare Awards
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...
. Time Magazine (Europe) selected the film as one of the 10 Best Movies of the Year 2005 from across the globe. The movie was positioned at number five. Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films.
Plot
The film begins with Michelle McNally (Rani MukerjiRani Mukerji
Rani Mukerji is an Indian film actress who works in Hindi movies. In the course of her film career, she has received six Filmfare Awards, among twelve nominations....
), a blind and deaf
Deafblindness
Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful sight and little or no useful hearing. Educationally, individuals are considered to be deafblind when the combination of their hearing and vision loss causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they...
woman, visiting her former teacher Debraj Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
), who now has Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, in a hospital. The film then flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
s to the past to her childhood.
Michelle was a girl who lost her eyesight and hearing after recovering from an illness at the age of two and exists in a black world where she is isolated in the darkness of her own existence, trapped by her inability to see, hear and express. She grows up becoming more and more frustrated by the black and dark world around her, making her a violent, uncontrollable eight-year old child. Her parents, Paul and Catherine, are at their wits' end trying to control her, until one day the light shines through the end of the tunnel.
Debraj Sahai enters their lives, an elderly alcoholic teacher for the deaf and blind, Debraj sees himself as a magician and is a disillusioned eccentric man. He takes it upon himself to bring young Michelle into the light. He uses harsh methods, although always for Michelle's long-term benefit. Initially, his methods are met with disapproval by Michelle's father, who asks Debraj to leave. Although her father thinks he is gone, Debraj stays as the teacher while her father is away on business for 20 days. Her mother grudgingly approves of his continuation given her fear of Michelle being sent to an asylum. By the 20th day, Debraj manages to teach Michelle some words and better manners, but he has difficulty teaching her the meaning of words. When Michelle's father returns, Debraj packs his bags. At the very last moment, as he is walking towards the door suitcase in hand, Debraj gets frustrated with Michelle's continuing insolent behavior and he throws her into a fountain full of water. Michelle suddenly takes to Debraj's lessons at that moment and begins to understand meaning. She is able to recognize her mother and father, and can vocalize the first syllables of some words. The McNallys decide to keep Debraj as Michelle's teacher.
Many years later, Michelle has learned a great deal, becoming relaxed and expressive, and she is even able to dance and expertly sign
Sign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
. Debraj convinces the Principal of a university to grant her an interview which she passes and gets admission to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree, the first deaf-blind person to do so at that university. Michelle moves away from home and lives with Debraj and one of her servants. Over the next 20 years, she struggles to gain her Bachelor of Arts degree, failing year after year, but she still maintains her spirit. One reason is that she must rely on Debraj completely for interpretation of the material and studying. This problem is overcome by the Principal of the school preparing the whole first-year Arts course of study in Braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
. Another reason for her continuing failure is that her typing skills are lacking and typing is her only way to write down what she knows during exams. However, she also soon overcomes this deficiency through another flash of increased of competence when she almost quits the university and gets into an argument with Debraj.
As the same time as Michelle suffers through and triumphs over her challenges, we also witness numerous other changes. Debraj begins to succumb to Alzheimer's, first forgetting the way out of the Principal's office and then forgetting Michelle and leaving her stranded during an ice cream celebration for her improved typing. We also see Michelle reconcile with her sister Sara, who we find out was jealous of her parents' affection for Michelle throughout her life. After attending Sara's wedding, Michelle begins to wonder about love, which she has not experienced, and she even asks Debraj to kiss her on the lips. Debraj reluctantly does so but decides to leave Michelle on her own because of this demand and the position she has put him in. Twenty years after enrollment, Michelle does manage to gain her BA, and with her proud parents looking on her, she even gives a speech to the graduating class. Wearing no black graduation robe, she thanks her parents and her teacher and she announces that she will only wear the robe so that her teacher may see her first.
Debraj is in a mental hospital due to his almost complete inability to remember his past and even how to speak. Michelle visits him wearing her robe and we see glimmers of memory return as Debraj realizes that she has graduated and even does a victory dance. As the window opens to the rain outside, we see Debraj's hand in Michelle's reaching into the rain, and we hear the teacher-student pair say the first syllable of the word "water", with echoes of the scene in which Michelle first begins understanding the meaning of words earlier in the movie. However this time, it is Debraj who is beginning to learn to speak and understand.
The movie ends with a scene of Michelle amongst a crowd of people all dressed in black carrying candles walking towards a church. There is a voiceover of a letter Michelle has written to Debraj's friend Mrs Nair explaining that today was her teacher's first day of school, and that like her's, his alphabet began with "B L A C K", implying that Debraj had finally succumbed to his illness and died.
Cast
- Amitabh BachchanAmitabh BachchanAmitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
as Debraj Sahai - Rani MukerjiRani MukerjiRani Mukerji is an Indian film actress who works in Hindi movies. In the course of her film career, she has received six Filmfare Awards, among twelve nominations....
as Michelle McNally - Ayesha KapoorAyesha KapoorAyesha Kapur , born 13 September 1994 in India, is an award winning Indian film actress who is best known for playing young Michelle McNally in the Bollywood movie Black. Kapur received unanimous praise for the role, and quickly became the recipient of many Awards in the "Best Supporting Actress"...
as Young Michelle McNally - Shernaz PatelShernaz PatelShernaz Patel is an Indian film and theatre actor, who works in Hindi and English films, most known for her roles in films like Black and Guzaarish and English language theatre in Mumbai. She made her theatre debut with The Diary Of Anne Frank in 1984...
as Catherine McNally - Dhritiman ChaterjiDhritiman ChaterjiDhritiman Chaterji is an Indian actor. He began his acting career in 1970 as the protagonist of Satyajit Ray's Pratidwandi . Most of his acting work has been in the India's "parallel", or independent, cinema with filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Aparna Sen, among others...
as Paul McNally - Nandana SenNandana Sen-Early life:Sen was born in Kolkata, West Bengal to a Bengali Hindu family. She is the daughter of Nobel Laureate and Bharat Ratna economist Amartya Sen and Padma Shri winner Nabanita Dev Sen, one of the most prominent authors in the contemporary Bengali literature....
as Sarah McNally - Sillo MahavaSillo MahavaSillo Mahava is an actress who played the role of Mrs. Gomes in the Indian film, Black , based on the life of Helen Keller, featuring Ayesha Kapoor, Rani Mukerji and Amitabh Bachchan. Mrs...
as Mrs. Gomes - Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal as Mrs. Nair
Production
Sanjay Leela Bhansali first came up with the idea for Black in 1995 while filming Khamoshi: The MusicalKhamoshi: The Musical
Khamoshi: The Musical is a critically acclaimed Indian Hindi film which was released on 9 August 1996. The film starred Nana Patekar, Manisha Koirala, Salman Khan, Seema Biswas and Helen, and marked Sanjay Leela Bhansali's directorial debut...
. He was inspired by Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
's autobiography The Story of My Life and visited the Helen Keller Institute to do research. He also read the autobiography of deaf-mute pianist Geraldine Lawhorn for ideas. Much of the film was based on his observations between students, teachers and parents at the Institute. Bhansali originally planned for the film to be a low-budget film in Hindi and English which would provide a change from his prior film, the expensive Devdas
Devdas (2002 film)
Devdas is a 2002 Bollywood film based on the 1917 Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novella Devdas. This is the third Hindi version and the first colour film version of the story in Hindi...
.
A self-described "diehard fan" of Amitabh Bachchan since he was a child, Bhansali was able to cast him after Bachchan watched Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
The music was composed by Ismail Darbar with lyrics by Mehboob. It received nine Filmfare Awards nominations in the music and singing categories and produced some winners as well.-Track listing:-2000 National Awards:* Best Music Direction - Ismail Darbar...
and approached him about starring in one of his films. When Bhansali first approached Rani Mukherjee to play the role of Michelle McNally, she declined because she believed it was too challenging for her. To prepare for his role, Bachchan watched documentaries. Rani Mukherjee wore coloured contacts to give her the appearance of a blind girl and both Bachchan and Mukherjee studied sign language and Braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
for seven months. A team of deaf-blind students were also on set advising the actors and instructing them in sign language.
The film was shot in Mumbai and in Shimla
Shimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
. The sets of Black were closed to prevent details about the film from leaking. The cast and crew experienced many difficulties during the film's shooting. During filming in February 2004 a fire broke out at the 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) Mumbai set, destroying costumes and props. The fire was started in the night when a plug sparked and ignited. Bhansali was forced to start the indoor sets from scratch. Also, during the outdoor shoot in Shimla the script required snow but there was none so the crew brought in snowmaking
Snowmaking
Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun" or "snow cannon", on ski slopes. Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliability of their snow cover and to extend their ski...
machines from Mumbai and created a man-made snowy landscape. Permission to shoot at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study
Indian Institute of Advanced Study
The Indian Institute of Advanced Study is a prestigious research institute based in Shimla, India. It was set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 1964 and it started functioning from October 20, 1965....
's Viceregal Lodge was initially denied, delaying the film further.
Constantly on the sets of this movie was 'Zamir Dhale' - somebody who is blind and deaf. He stayed in Shimla during the time of the shooting to help Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee understand the world of the blind and the deaf. He also taught them the usage of sign language and how to communicate with such people.
Release
Black was originally scheduled to be released on 10 December 2004, but Bhansali decided to postpone its release. Black was released on 4 February 2005 in 170 different towns in India, a small number compared to most large-budget Bollywood films. Black was also screened at several international film festivals like the CasablancaCasablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
Film Festival.
Critical reception
Black was met by mostly positive reviews. Amitabh Bachchan bagged the filmfare critic's best actor award also, besides the best actor award. The performances of Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji and Ayesha Kapoor were especially praised by critics. Richard CorlissRichard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine selected it as one of the best films of 2005. It was also listed at number one on the Indiatimes list of 25 Must See Bollywood Movies.
Box office
Black grossed around 22,00,00,000 making it the eleventh highest grossing Bollywood film of 2005. It was designated as an "average" financial success by BoxOffice India.com. In addition, Black earned approximately $754,819 in the US and £473,862 in the UK.Music
A. R. RahmanA. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
was originally roped in to score the music, but he had to refuse due to busy schedules. The film's music is composed by Monty Sharma. Unlike many other Bollywood films, Black has only one song, "Haan maine chookar dekha hain", performed by Gayatri Ganjawala
Gayatri Iyer
Gayatri Iyer is an Indian playback singer, primarily in Bollywood. She landed up with the part of Princess Anjuli in the West End of London musical production of M. M. Kaye's The Far Pavilions, which opened in the summer of 2007....
.
Awards
- Black won the Best Feature Film in Hindi AwardNational Film Award for Best Feature Film in HindiThe National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi awards the best regional film in Hindi language. Initially the award was known as the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The winners in this category are:...
and Amitabh Bachchan received Best ActorNational Film Award for Best ActorThe National Film Award for Best Actor is an honor presented annually at the National Film Awards of India to an actor who has delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry.-Background:The Directorate of Film Festivals makes awards annually in several categories...
award at the 53rd National Film AwardsNational Film AwardsThe National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel...
.
- Black made an all-time record at the Filmfare AwardsFilmfare AwardsThe Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...
by winning eleven awards, beating the previous record holders: Dilwale Dulhania Le JayengeDilwale Dulhania Le JayengeDilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge , also known as DDLJ, is a Hindi language film released on 20 October 1995. A romantic comedy, the film marked the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra, and stars Shahrukh Khan and Kajol...
(1995) and DevdasDevdas (2002 film)Devdas is a 2002 Bollywood film based on the 1917 Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novella Devdas. This is the third Hindi version and the first colour film version of the story in Hindi...
(2002) with ten wins each. Those two films, GuideGuide (film)Guide is a 1965 Hindi film starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. It was directed by Vijay Anand, who also contributed to the screenplay. The film is based on the critically acclaimed novel, The Guide, by R. K. Narayan, and is widely considered to be one of the masterpieces of the Indian film...
(1965), Kuch Kuch Hota HaiKuch Kuch Hota HaiKuch Kuch Hota Hai is a Hindi romantic comedy film, released in India and the United Kingdom on 16 October 1998. The film was written and directed by the debuting Karan Johar and stars the popular on-screen pair of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in their fourth movie together...
(1998), and this one are the only films to win all of the four major awards (Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress).
National Film Awards (2006)
Filmfare Awards (2006)
Star Screen Awards (2006)
IIFA Awards (2006)
Zee Cine Awards (2006)
|
Other awards
|
External links
Black (HindiHindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
: ब्लैक, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
: ) is a 2005 Indian film in Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and Indian English
Indian English
Indian English is an umbrella term used to describe dialects of the English language spoken primarily in the Republic of India.As a result of British colonial rule until Indian independence in 1947 English is an official language of India and is widely used in both spoken and literary contexts...
directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian film director. He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India...
. Black revolves around a blind and deaf
Deafblindness
Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful sight and little or no useful hearing. Educationally, individuals are considered to be deafblind when the combination of their hearing and vision loss causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they...
girl, and her relationship with her teacher who himself later develops Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. The film is a creative adaptation of the 1962 Hollywood film The Miracle Worker
The Miracle Worker (1962 film)
The Miracle Worker is a 1962 American biographical film directed by Arthur Penn. The screenplay by William Gibson is based on his 1959 play of the same title, which originated as a 1957 broadcast of the television anthology series Playhouse 90...
starring Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke directed by Arthur Penn. This critically acclaimed film was adapted with certain modifications for example the female protagonist was changed to a male protagonist etc. Miracle Worker was further adapted from the 1959 play of the same title which in turn was an inspiration from Helen Keller's life and struggle.
The film was screened at the Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India
International Film Festival of India
The International Film Festival of India , founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually in the beach town of Goa, in the Western Coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of...
. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi awards the best regional film in Hindi language. Initially the award was known as the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The winners in this category are:...
and eleven Filmfare Awards
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...
. Time Magazine (Europe) selected the film as one of the 10 Best Movies of the Year 2005 from across the globe. The movie was positioned at number five. Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films.
Plot
The film begins with Michelle McNally (Rani MukerjiRani Mukerji
Rani Mukerji is an Indian film actress who works in Hindi movies. In the course of her film career, she has received six Filmfare Awards, among twelve nominations....
), a blind and deaf
Deafblindness
Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful sight and little or no useful hearing. Educationally, individuals are considered to be deafblind when the combination of their hearing and vision loss causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they...
woman, visiting her former teacher Debraj Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
), who now has Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, in a hospital. The film then flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
s to the past to her childhood.
Michelle was a girl who lost her eyesight and hearing after recovering from an illness at the age of two and exists in a black world where she is isolated in the darkness of her own existence, trapped by her inability to see, hear and express. She grows up becoming more and more frustrated by the black and dark world around her, making her a violent, uncontrollable eight-year old child. Her parents, Paul and Catherine, are at their wits' end trying to control her, until one day the light shines through the end of the tunnel.
Debraj Sahai enters their lives, an elderly alcoholic teacher for the deaf and blind, Debraj sees himself as a magician and is a disillusioned eccentric man. He takes it upon himself to bring young Michelle into the light. He uses harsh methods, although always for Michelle's long-term benefit. Initially, his methods are met with disapproval by Michelle's father, who asks Debraj to leave. Although her father thinks he is gone, Debraj stays as the teacher while her father is away on business for 20 days. Her mother grudgingly approves of his continuation given her fear of Michelle being sent to an asylum. By the 20th day, Debraj manages to teach Michelle some words and better manners, but he has difficulty teaching her the meaning of words. When Michelle's father returns, Debraj packs his bags. At the very last moment, as he is walking towards the door suitcase in hand, Debraj gets frustrated with Michelle's continuing insolent behavior and he throws her into a fountain full of water. Michelle suddenly takes to Debraj's lessons at that moment and begins to understand meaning. She is able to recognize her mother and father, and can vocalize the first syllables of some words. The McNallys decide to keep Debraj as Michelle's teacher.
Many years later, Michelle has learned a great deal, becoming relaxed and expressive, and she is even able to dance and expertly sign
Sign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
. Debraj convinces the Principal of a university to grant her an interview which she passes and gets admission to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree, the first deaf-blind person to do so at that university. Michelle moves away from home and lives with Debraj and one of her servants. Over the next 20 years, she struggles to gain her Bachelor of Arts degree, failing year after year, but she still maintains her spirit. One reason is that she must rely on Debraj completely for interpretation of the material and studying. This problem is overcome by the Principal of the school preparing the whole first-year Arts course of study in Braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
. Another reason for her continuing failure is that her typing skills are lacking and typing is her only way to write down what she knows during exams. However, she also soon overcomes this deficiency through another flash of increased of competence when she almost quits the university and gets into an argument with Debraj.
As the same time as Michelle suffers through and triumphs over her challenges, we also witness numerous other changes. Debraj begins to succumb to Alzheimer's, first forgetting the way out of the Principal's office and then forgetting Michelle and leaving her stranded during an ice cream celebration for her improved typing. We also see Michelle reconcile with her sister Sara, who we find out was jealous of her parents' affection for Michelle throughout her life. After attending Sara's wedding, Michelle begins to wonder about love, which she has not experienced, and she even asks Debraj to kiss her on the lips. Debraj reluctantly does so but decides to leave Michelle on her own because of this demand and the position she has put him in. Twenty years after enrollment, Michelle does manage to gain her BA, and with her proud parents looking on her, she even gives a speech to the graduating class. Wearing no black graduation robe, she thanks her parents and her teacher and she announces that she will only wear the robe so that her teacher may see her first.
Debraj is in a mental hospital due to his almost complete inability to remember his past and even how to speak. Michelle visits him wearing her robe and we see glimmers of memory return as Debraj realizes that she has graduated and even does a victory dance. As the window opens to the rain outside, we see Debraj's hand in Michelle's reaching into the rain, and we hear the teacher-student pair say the first syllable of the word "water", with echoes of the scene in which Michelle first begins understanding the meaning of words earlier in the movie. However this time, it is Debraj who is beginning to learn to speak and understand.
The movie ends with a scene of Michelle amongst a crowd of people all dressed in black carrying candles walking towards a church. There is a voiceover of a letter Michelle has written to Debraj's friend Mrs Nair explaining that today was her teacher's first day of school, and that like her's, his alphabet began with "B L A C K", implying that Debraj had finally succumbed to his illness and died.
Cast
- Amitabh BachchanAmitabh BachchanAmitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
as Debraj Sahai - Rani MukerjiRani MukerjiRani Mukerji is an Indian film actress who works in Hindi movies. In the course of her film career, she has received six Filmfare Awards, among twelve nominations....
as Michelle McNally - Ayesha KapoorAyesha KapoorAyesha Kapur , born 13 September 1994 in India, is an award winning Indian film actress who is best known for playing young Michelle McNally in the Bollywood movie Black. Kapur received unanimous praise for the role, and quickly became the recipient of many Awards in the "Best Supporting Actress"...
as Young Michelle McNally - Shernaz PatelShernaz PatelShernaz Patel is an Indian film and theatre actor, who works in Hindi and English films, most known for her roles in films like Black and Guzaarish and English language theatre in Mumbai. She made her theatre debut with The Diary Of Anne Frank in 1984...
as Catherine McNally - Dhritiman ChaterjiDhritiman ChaterjiDhritiman Chaterji is an Indian actor. He began his acting career in 1970 as the protagonist of Satyajit Ray's Pratidwandi . Most of his acting work has been in the India's "parallel", or independent, cinema with filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Aparna Sen, among others...
as Paul McNally - Nandana SenNandana Sen-Early life:Sen was born in Kolkata, West Bengal to a Bengali Hindu family. She is the daughter of Nobel Laureate and Bharat Ratna economist Amartya Sen and Padma Shri winner Nabanita Dev Sen, one of the most prominent authors in the contemporary Bengali literature....
as Sarah McNally - Sillo MahavaSillo MahavaSillo Mahava is an actress who played the role of Mrs. Gomes in the Indian film, Black , based on the life of Helen Keller, featuring Ayesha Kapoor, Rani Mukerji and Amitabh Bachchan. Mrs...
as Mrs. Gomes - Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal as Mrs. Nair
Production
Sanjay Leela Bhansali first came up with the idea for Black in 1995 while filming Khamoshi: The MusicalKhamoshi: The Musical
Khamoshi: The Musical is a critically acclaimed Indian Hindi film which was released on 9 August 1996. The film starred Nana Patekar, Manisha Koirala, Salman Khan, Seema Biswas and Helen, and marked Sanjay Leela Bhansali's directorial debut...
. He was inspired by Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
's autobiography The Story of My Life and visited the Helen Keller Institute to do research. He also read the autobiography of deaf-mute pianist Geraldine Lawhorn for ideas. Much of the film was based on his observations between students, teachers and parents at the Institute. Bhansali originally planned for the film to be a low-budget film in Hindi and English which would provide a change from his prior film, the expensive Devdas
Devdas (2002 film)
Devdas is a 2002 Bollywood film based on the 1917 Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novella Devdas. This is the third Hindi version and the first colour film version of the story in Hindi...
.
A self-described "diehard fan" of Amitabh Bachchan since he was a child, Bhansali was able to cast him after Bachchan watched Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
The music was composed by Ismail Darbar with lyrics by Mehboob. It received nine Filmfare Awards nominations in the music and singing categories and produced some winners as well.-Track listing:-2000 National Awards:* Best Music Direction - Ismail Darbar...
and approached him about starring in one of his films. When Bhansali first approached Rani Mukherjee to play the role of Michelle McNally, she declined because she believed it was too challenging for her. To prepare for his role, Bachchan watched documentaries. Rani Mukherjee wore coloured contacts to give her the appearance of a blind girl and both Bachchan and Mukherjee studied sign language and Braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
for seven months. A team of deaf-blind students were also on set advising the actors and instructing them in sign language.
The film was shot in Mumbai and in Shimla
Shimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
. The sets of Black were closed to prevent details about the film from leaking. The cast and crew experienced many difficulties during the film's shooting. During filming in February 2004 a fire broke out at the 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) Mumbai set, destroying costumes and props. The fire was started in the night when a plug sparked and ignited. Bhansali was forced to start the indoor sets from scratch. Also, during the outdoor shoot in Shimla the script required snow but there was none so the crew brought in snowmaking
Snowmaking
Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun" or "snow cannon", on ski slopes. Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliability of their snow cover and to extend their ski...
machines from Mumbai and created a man-made snowy landscape. Permission to shoot at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study
Indian Institute of Advanced Study
The Indian Institute of Advanced Study is a prestigious research institute based in Shimla, India. It was set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 1964 and it started functioning from October 20, 1965....
's Viceregal Lodge was initially denied, delaying the film further.
Constantly on the sets of this movie was 'Zamir Dhale' - somebody who is blind and deaf. He stayed in Shimla during the time of the shooting to help Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee understand the world of the blind and the deaf. He also taught them the usage of sign language and how to communicate with such people.
Release
Black was originally scheduled to be released on 10 December 2004, but Bhansali decided to postpone its release. Black was released on 4 February 2005 in 170 different towns in India, a small number compared to most large-budget Bollywood films. Black was also screened at several international film festivals like the CasablancaCasablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
Film Festival.
Critical reception
Black was met by mostly positive reviews. Amitabh Bachchan bagged the filmfare critic's best actor award also, besides the best actor award. The performances of Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji and Ayesha Kapoor were especially praised by critics. Richard CorlissRichard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine selected it as one of the best films of 2005. It was also listed at number one on the Indiatimes list of 25 Must See Bollywood Movies.
Box office
Black grossed around 22,00,00,000 making it the eleventh highest grossing Bollywood film of 2005. It was designated as an "average" financial success by BoxOffice India.com. In addition, Black earned approximately $754,819 in the US and £473,862 in the UK.Music
A. R. RahmanA. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
was originally roped in to score the music, but he had to refuse due to busy schedules. The film's music is composed by Monty Sharma. Unlike many other Bollywood films, Black has only one song, "Haan maine chookar dekha hain", performed by Gayatri Ganjawala
Gayatri Iyer
Gayatri Iyer is an Indian playback singer, primarily in Bollywood. She landed up with the part of Princess Anjuli in the West End of London musical production of M. M. Kaye's The Far Pavilions, which opened in the summer of 2007....
.
Awards
- Black won the Best Feature Film in Hindi AwardNational Film Award for Best Feature Film in HindiThe National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi awards the best regional film in Hindi language. Initially the award was known as the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The winners in this category are:...
and Amitabh Bachchan received Best ActorNational Film Award for Best ActorThe National Film Award for Best Actor is an honor presented annually at the National Film Awards of India to an actor who has delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry.-Background:The Directorate of Film Festivals makes awards annually in several categories...
award at the 53rd National Film AwardsNational Film AwardsThe National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel...
.
- Black made an all-time record at the Filmfare AwardsFilmfare AwardsThe Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...
by winning eleven awards, beating the previous record holders: Dilwale Dulhania Le JayengeDilwale Dulhania Le JayengeDilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge , also known as DDLJ, is a Hindi language film released on 20 October 1995. A romantic comedy, the film marked the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra, and stars Shahrukh Khan and Kajol...
(1995) and DevdasDevdas (2002 film)Devdas is a 2002 Bollywood film based on the 1917 Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novella Devdas. This is the third Hindi version and the first colour film version of the story in Hindi...
(2002) with ten wins each. Those two films, GuideGuide (film)Guide is a 1965 Hindi film starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. It was directed by Vijay Anand, who also contributed to the screenplay. The film is based on the critically acclaimed novel, The Guide, by R. K. Narayan, and is widely considered to be one of the masterpieces of the Indian film...
(1965), Kuch Kuch Hota HaiKuch Kuch Hota HaiKuch Kuch Hota Hai is a Hindi romantic comedy film, released in India and the United Kingdom on 16 October 1998. The film was written and directed by the debuting Karan Johar and stars the popular on-screen pair of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in their fourth movie together...
(1998), and this one are the only films to win all of the four major awards (Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress).
National Film Awards (2006)
Filmfare Awards (2006)
Star Screen Awards (2006)
IIFA Awards (2006)
Zee Cine Awards (2006)
|
Other awards
|