Black

<p>Michelle McNally, a 42-year-old woman from , lives in a world of silence and darkness. One day, Michelle, her mother Catherine, and her sister Sara find Debraj Sahai—Michelle’s former teacher—wandering near their home. He is diagnosed with late-stage and admitted to a . Refusing to accept his decline, Michelle vows to help Debraj recover, just as he once helped her overcome her own limitations. The story flashes back to Michelle’s early years. After an illness at the age of two, she lost her ability to see, hear, and speak, leading to violent outbursts and isolation. Her parents, Paul and Catherine, struggle to care for her, particularly after the birth of Sara. When Michelle turns eight, Debraj—a spirited and unconventional teacher from —enters their lives. He believes in reaching Michelle through discipline and perseverance, even refusing a salary in exchange for time and trust. His unorthodox methods initially alarm Paul, but Catherine allows him to continue while Paul is away on business. Over 20 days, Debraj begins to teach Michelle basic communication and manners, though she struggles to grasp the meaning of words. In a breakthrough moment, he throws her into a fountain to help her associate the sensation of water with its name. This sparks her comprehension, and her parents decide to retain Debraj as her teacher. As an adult, Michelle becomes articulate and expressive, able to sign and even dance. With Debraj’s help, she gains admission to a university as its first deafblind student. Despite repeated failures over several years, she persists in her studies. A version of the syllabus and improved typing skills eventually aid her progress. Meanwhile, Debraj’s mental health deteriorates, and he begins to forget even Michelle. Michelle also reconciles with Sara, who had long resented the attention given to her. After Sara’s wedding, Michelle reflects on love and, seeking to understand physical affection, asks Debraj to kiss her. Disturbed, he leaves without warning. Twelve years after enrolling, Michelle finally earns her degree and delivers a speech at the graduation ceremony. She saves her graduation robe to wear for Debraj, whom she visits at the hospital. There, he briefly regains lucidity and recognizes her accomplishment. In the final scene, Michelle writes a letter to Mrs. Nair, describing Debraj’s tentative steps toward relearning speech. As they vocalize the syllable “wa”—evoking their early lessons—Michelle declares it his first day of school. The film ends with her joining a candlelight procession, suggesting Debraj’s passing and the full circle of their journey. The cast is listed below: The production of started when came up with the idea for the film while the shooting of his directorial debut, the musical , between 1993 and 1994 when he interacted with physically disabled children. After the successes of the romance (1999) and the historical epic (2002)—one of the most expensive Hindi films ever made at the time—he had made a plan to make another film in the romantic genre. Still, the actress criticized his work from and encouraged him to “attempt something different”; in later years, he would say that it motivated him to make . Bhansali chose to address a subject that no other directors had done before: “I didn’t want to stop making a film straight from my heart because of the fear of losing my audiences.” He described it as “a step towards a more complex kind of film than what we get in mainstream cinema”, adding, “It is an uplifting tale on the triumph of the human spirit.” He announced the film in July 2003, along with his other project, , which would be released in 2015. The media declared it as his “most personal film”. Bhansali revealed that he was inspired by American activist ‘s life story. However, he stated that he only used it as a reference and the film was “a completely original piece of work”. Additionally, Bhansali also read Keller’s autobiography and other related books, including ‘s (about a musician). In an interview with , he said, “I was fascinated by the ways in which teachers and parents struggled to reach out to the hearing-impaired children. How do you start the communication? How do you keep it going? What takes other children a year to learn takes 10 years for them to absorb.” In addition, some sources claimed that it served as a remake for ‘s (1962), but Bhansali denied the reports. Others claimed that the film was based on Prakash Kapadia’s Gujarati play , which was inspired by . Bhansali chose the word for the film’s title; according to him, black is his favorite color and he felt it has a “universal resonance”. He explained how the color’s monotones and shades were “very attractive if used intelligently”, and it was “the best element … that … doesn’t overshadow the characters or narrative”. He added that it was “a powerful striking colour which describes the film’s sensitivities”, and defined his mood and temperament. “I wear black clothes most of the time. The colour calms me. When I decided to make a film about the world of the sightless, was the title that came to mind immediately”, he said when interviewed by . The same title had been registered by the actor before, and Bhansali asked him to relinquish and gave the title for his next project. According to an article published by in November 2005, Gaurav saw that the film was “bold and path-breaking”; consequently, he finally gave up the title. As gratitude, Bhansali credited Gaurav’s name in the opening credits of . Bhansali told that Keller’s life was an “exemplary to all of us”, believing that he had “personally learned so much from her”; he stated that he learned “the value of a teacher in any student’s life”. Journalists asserted that his involvement in both and (a period film about the and his second wife ) proved his ability in two opposite film genres; he expressed: “It is a conscious process of rejuvenation as a filmmaker. I have to reinvent myself as a creative person.” He then described the former film as “an uplifting tale on the triumph of the human spirit”, and it was “about feeling, not speaking”. Furthermore, he added, ” is about the love between a girl and her teacher. They teach each other the dignity of living. To call a love story is a true compliment. is a pure love story.” On the same day of the film’s announcement, Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji were officially cast in the lead roles. Bachchan featured as Debraj Sahai, a role which he described as a “brilliant teacher but an alcoholic”, and he took it as an attempt to avoid . Bhansali, who is a “diehard fan” of him, said that he actually wanted to cast him (and his wife ) in . However, that was the time when Bachchan took a hiatus from his acting career. Bhansali eventually cast Bachchan in , after the actor watch his previous work, (1999). Bachchan had big expectations with , as he said in an interview to the , “I feel the Indian audience should like this film.” He praised the “fascinating” and “unusual” screenplay of the film, stating, “To be very frank, I would have said ‘Yes’ even without listening to the script.” To prepare for his part, Bachchan underwent special training before the shooting. He visited schools for physically disabled children and learned , which he found to be “very weird because we can not see, hear or talk”, from them for six to seven months; he read some books related on it. Also, he did extensive research about Alzheimer’s disease and what happens after a person being affected by it. He thought that it “was the most-challenging role… It is a first-time experience because there is not even a single scene in this film that I felt I have done before.” Meanwhile, Mukerji got the role of Michelle McNally and confirmed her involvement in the film in July 2003. She spoke positively of her rapport with Bachchan, and stated that she felt “humbled” with the actor, describing him as “a very modest person, very sweet, a father figure”. Same as Bachchan, she accepted it to avoid the typecasting in romantic roles. Mukerji revealed that she was initially reluctant to play the part, when Bhansali read the story to her in June that year, because of the “challenging” subject and she had no reference to do it. She confessed, “I was scared when I heard the script. I wondered how I will play this character.” In preparation, she also met children with physical disabilities, this time, at the Helen Keller Institute in and practiced there for six months. According to Mukerji, her interaction with them helped her to “gain sensitivity towards their reactions, aspirations and hopes”. Moreover, she had to learn and found the experience was “like speaking with my hands and my fingers.” In spite of that, she said that the film “has made me realize that those who are physically or mentally challenged are actually much stronger than normal, successful human beings.” The child artist Ayesha Kapur made her debut with , playing the version of Michelle. She learned sign language for prepared her brief role as well as Mukerji. Media reports stated that it was “the most difficult character ever written for a child”, but Kapur refused that by saying, “I don’t know how I played Michelle. I just did it. It wasn’t that difficult, really.” Shernaz Patel, who had only one film experience in ‘s drama (1985), portrayed Michelle’s mother Catherine “Kathy”; she was cast by casting director Amita Sehgal on the basis of her work as a theatre actress. Nandana Sen played Michelle’s younger sister Sarah, a role she described as “an emotional experience”. She observed of her part, “… she’s a typical 16 year old … You see her evolving in the film, from this oversensitive, moody teenager who is constantly hungry for more affection to a nurturing, loving, caregiver who deals with her sister’s circumstances with a lot of love and understanding.” She found to be “a pathbreaking film, both in terms of content and style”, and called her role “a ” in her acting career. For it, she learned how to communicate with sign language, four months before the shooting. “Here the look was so intense and understated that I couldn’t bring anything that I usually do. It was never the play of colours and that special juxtaposition and rhythm that colours bring. It was particularly fascinating for me because the look was so monochromatic, so minimalist. It was pure … and I seriously feel that I evolved to a new plane while doing that look.” Bhansali—with his production company —produced, financed, and distributed the film alongside Anshuman Swami of Applause Entertainment; another company, , also served as a distributor. Bhansali wrote the screenplay in three months, and the story with and Kapadia; the latter two also wrote the dialogues in and , respectively. When asked by ‘s , Bhansali found the English dialogues to be “too lucid to be left behind in translation”. was the art director for . In a party sequence featuring all of the lead cast from the film, he used 200 lamps on the ceiling. According to , Bhansali was not sure about it, but he allowed Kumar to do that as an “experiment”. He used black as the main color to be in tune with the film’s themes. Clothes for all actors from were done by the costume designer for eight months. He spoke of excitement involved in the project: ” was a brilliant experience, literally a once in a lifetime experience.” He added that “the film is about you and me and, therefore, it called for serious clothes.” In preparation, Mukherjee saw many photographs. He used a lot of —including , black, brown, gray, , and —for the film, as it is set between the 1950s and 1960s. For her role, Mukerji (who has brown eyes) was required to use dark-tinted . After the release of , Sabyasachi Mukherjee talked about his experiment with the film’s two leads; he found working with Bachchan to be “amazing”, as the latter “is so down-to-earth”, and similarly to Mukerji, saying that she was the ” “. and were chosen as assistant directors for Bhansali; the newcomers confessed that their motives were to get Bhansali to offer them acting jobs. They later made their debut as actors in Bhansali’s next directorial venture, (2007), an adaptation of ‘s 1848 short story ” “, which was commercially and critically failed. Kapoor would go on to become one of the highest-paid actors in Bollywood while establishing himself as a leading actor of Indian cinema. Ahuja has a good career in Bollywood as well. was filmed in 100 days by . In an interview with Rediff.com, Chandran called it one of the most “important” films in his career and considered it as his favorite project; this also marked the first time he shot a film without songs. He revealed that he had previously rejected Bhansali’s offers to shoots as he had busy schedules at that time. However, Chandran promised to collaborate with Bhansali in his next venture, which would be . When Bhansali narrated the film’s story to him, Chandran decided to use the cinematography style same with that of ‘s 1959 drama . Sham Kaushal was the action director. Kapoor served as a for Bachchan in several scenes. In mid-January 2004, the entire cast and crew of went to to begin the first schedule. The first sequence filmed was the film’s opening scene, featuring Mukerji stretching out her hand when snow begins to fall. Shimla was very cold at the time, but it did not show any signs that snow would fall. Therefore, the crew bought kilos of salt and machines from ‘s local markets. The media reported that the shooting would end at 04:00. Filming moved to the film studio complex the next month and said that seventy percent of was shot there. The studio, which has a 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m ) area, was rented by Bhansali in January 2004 for 45 days, but on 18 February, a fire burned most of the set, resulting in a shooting delay. Bhansali recalled, “It was a torturous exercise and I couldn’t sleep, but we needed continuity. I would not shoot if the cottage looked different.” In June 2005, the Maharashtra Film, Stage and Cultural Development Corporation fined Bhansali (US$1.36 million), with (US$453,514.74) for its reconstruction and (US$907,029.48) for its rental cost. A month later, the art dealer Farida Hoosenwally also accused him for not return 390 artifacts she lent, and she sent a complaint letter to the . According to the media reports, the incidents made the initial budget of the film—estimated (US$3.06 million)—increased to more than (US$4.54 million). The schedule was continued on 28 February 2004. The filming was done two months later, and Bhansali’s sister Bela Sehgal edited it. Canadian composer completed its background score. In October 2003, reported that was initially signed to compose the music for . However, he was later replaced by , who had previously collaborated with Bhansali on (2002). The reasons for the change were not publicly disclosed. Unlike Bhansali’s earlier films, features only one song with lyrics, titled “Haan Maine Chukar Dekha Hai”, written by and performed by . The remainder of the soundtrack comprises instrumental tracks composed as background score. The complete soundtrack, consisting of thirty-three tracks, was released digitally via on 10 February 2005 by YRF Music, a subsidiary of . The album received positive reviews from critics, who praised Sharma’s compositions and their contribution to the film’s emotional tone. Sharma received several accolades for his work, including the . He also won the , , and in the same category. garnered attention before its release. In Internet poll of “The Most Awaited Movie of 2005”, the film peaked the first position with 66 percent. The trade analyst felt that the film had good publicity, though he believed that it would attract a restricted audience: “It might be difficult for such a subject to click in the B and C centres. One thing which could go against the film is that 60 percent of the film is in English.” A similar sentiment was shared by the exhibitor Manoj Desai, saying that the film’s subject was “very sensitive” and its first show would “decide the final outcome”. The critic and journalist , however, stated: “It will be a great film. I am eagerly awaiting the premiere. Considering the technical brilliance of Bhansali, I pray that breaks the 2005 jinx. No film has succeeded this year so far.” “It was an experience I’ll never forget… not only because it was my first retrospective at any festival, but also because of the interaction that I had to undergo with the audience after my film was screened. A lot of them were cinema students and their curiosity about our films and culture and their insightful questions made me very proud to represent our country and cinema.” On 24 January 2005, Bhansali organized a special screening of to Bachchan’s and Mukerji’s family, his mother and himself, and his close friends. Bachchan’s wife Jaya was amazed with the film. She stated that it was “something we’ve never experience before. just ends all discussion”, describing it as “the kind of movie experience that raises the scale of our cinema so high that you cannot classify its merits”. The film’s theatrical release was originally scheduled on 10 December 2004, but Bhansali decided to postpone it, as the date coincided with the week, which he considered to be “inauspicious”. It was opened in 170 different towns in India on 4 February 2005, the same day as the release of ‘s and Irfan Khan’s . The film was released in South Korea on 28 August 2009 on 180 screens, a big number for a non-Korean film, with its distribution handled by Yash Raj Films. It clashed with two other Korean films, including and . has been screened at a number of events. On 21 January 2005, the film and a retrospective of Mukerji’s films— (2002), (2003), (2004) and (2004)—were screened with subtitles at the Casablanca Film Festival. It was showcased at the on 20 April. The next month, the film was screened in the section of at the . It was selected for the Indian Panorama section of the in November. In 2012, the film was screened at the . The latest was at the Seoul International Film Festival in 2017. The world television premiere of the film took place on 25 September 2005 on . Distributed by Dancing Dolphin, it was released on on 20 November 2007 in all regions in a single-disc pack. A version was released at the same time. The film was available for streaming on in May 2017. received positive reviews, with most critics praising its story, Bhansali’s direction, and the performances—mostly that from Bachchan and Mukerji. It received a rating of 87 percent on the review aggregator website based on six reviews, with an average rating of 8.5 out of 10. The entertainment portal gave the film two stars, finding it to be “relies heavily on performances”. The critic observed of Mukerji, “With no dialogues in her lap, the actress conveys through expressions solely and what a terrific impact she makes! Here’s a performance that should act as a reference guide for all aspiring actors. And yes, she’s bound to walk away with all major awards next year as well!” of felt that the actress was “outstanding” in the part, which Rediff.com’s described as “a pure, performance-driven role”. hailed her for “[pleasing] the [audience] eyes” despite her “minimal make-up”. of added, “Rani Mukherjee is a revelation, belting out a multi-nuanced performance which compels you to reach out for that hyperbolic adjective, awesome. Lock up all the awards already, they’re hers.” Devesh Sharma from said that Bachchan and Mukerji have given “the performance of a lifetime”, noting that with the film, “Bhansali has proved that we don’t lack raw materials or the talent—all it takes is guts and a determined belief in oneself to make a world class film.” Jaspreet Pandohar of opined that “Bhansali proves that neither he, nor the never better Bachchan, need a Hollywood film to produce an -worthy film [with ].” She also took note of its production aspects; she lauded that the screenplay and cinematography were “carefully crafted” and “beautiful”, respectively. In , Gautaman Bhaskaran claimed that the film was the best among Bhansali’s other directorial ventures. of wrote of how it “provides a redefining moment in commercial , pushing its frontiers of narration and style”. Sunny Dua of said, ” is beautiful, for it is real. What is unreal is the way multicoloured, multilateral mainstream Hindi cinema has been suddenly rendered colourless. It will be hard to rate staple Bollywood fare from now, for the bar has been set way too bright by a stark, dark colour.” reviewer Vinayak Chakravorty rated three out of five stars, appreciating Kapur’s portrayal of young Michelle and described her as “the anchor of the film’s first half”. Similar thoughts was given by , who felt that Kapur was “absolutely brilliant”. called the film “a world-class Hindi film” and “a landmark”, and found both Bachchan and Mukerji to be “brutally unattractive but always heart wrenching”; Shruti Gupta of added that they “score yet again with their performance”. Writing for another review, Anil Grover complimented the “fantastic” chemistry between the two actors. Shubhra Gupta of , also positively reviewed the chemistry, hailing it was “mesmeric”. Gupta, however, believed that Mukerji “who really lights up” the film, concluding, “The tilt of the head, the face, alternating between animation and vacuousness, the slightly open mouth, the bewildered lost look, the jerky gait—any or all of it could have turned Michelle into a caricature. But Rani overcomes the handicap of being ‘normal’, and nails all of it down with an unsparing, unsentimental starkness.” critic Jhoomur Bose Malik praised Mukerji’s costume, elaborating that “she did cut a diminutive yet striking picture with the cap, the structured black outfits and of course the no make-up look.” Reviewing Bachchan’s role, Subhash K. Jha saw that it resembled ” tragic-hero” character. Sushma Mohan of the compared the film’s story with , and argued that it was “more complex and sensitive” but “better and finer” than the latter. The director and critic from Rediff.com also did a comparative review of with (2005), also starring Bachchan (in a guest appearance) and Mukerji (in a lead role opposite ). He termed the former “a half-baked, often derivative and crucially flawed film”, while called the latter “leads to a languorously unhurried fairytale, a unique love story told without fuss”. In , Sen felt that its script “keeps [Mukerji’s performance] from being an immortal [one]”. Conversely, in , he believed that she had delivered “a powerful, sensuous, emotive performance”. of called Mukerji “seems to be hitting her stride as a serious actress”. A reviewer of said that Bhansali “expertly draws engaging, convincing [p]erformances” from the leads of despite his “unsentimental” direction. Pakistani magazine concluded, “[It] is an inspirational film and a must-see, even if only for its beautiful direction and acting.” was successful at the box office in India and overseas; trade analysts believed that it was influenced by its positive critical reviews. In India, the film had a theatrical run of nine weeks. It earned (US$233,560.09) on its opening day. It collected (US$410,000) on its first weekend and (US$1.47 million) at the end of its first week. The film earned (US$7.48 million) in India, making it the year’s ninth highest-grossing film in the country. In North America, grossed $560,000 in four weeks. In the United Kingdom, it grossed $600,000 in four weeks. The film-trade website estimated the language version’s total collections to be (US$9.28 million), concluding its commercial performance to be “average”. In South Korea, the version was a major success upon release there in 2009. The newspaper reported that it sold 560,000 tickets and collected â‚©3.8 billion ( ) within two weeks of its release. It went on to sell 877,408 tickets and gross â‚©6,241,612,000, equivalent to ( ). It became the with ( ), and the second highest-grossing 2005 Indian film worldwide with (US$15.1 million). was the fifth film to win all 4 major awards ( , , , and ) at the , after (1965), (1995), (1998) and . The film won a total of 11 awards at the ceremony, setting a record at the time for the most trophies for a single film. However, when the was held in 2019, broke the record with 13 awards. won 3 awards at the , including those for and (Bachchan). It also received 2 , 5 , 9 , 11 , 10 , 6 , and 10 . has featured in several listings. In 2005, of included it in “Best Movies of 2005”, peaking at #5. He wrote, “In so many Indian films the deepest searches are for romantic ecstasy and for reconciliation with the father figure. By addressing both these needs, is more than a noble weepie; it is the ultimate Bollywood love story.” The same year, it ranked #1 in Rachna Kanwar of “25 Must See Bollywood Movies”, stating that it was “made with astounding sensitivity and enthralling quest for perfection”. In 2017, cultural professor featured it in “70 Iconic Movies of Independent India”, and in 2018, Lata Jha of featured it in “10 Unusual Indian Film Takes on Disability”. placed the film at 80th position in its “The 100 best Bollywood movies” list. Mukerji’s performance has been noted as one of her notable works, and it was referenced in several films. In , a 2006 comedy by , actor dressed up as Mukerji’s character. In 2010, included her work in their listing of Indian cinema’s “80 Iconic Performances”, and wrote, “… Mukerji sure filled the silences with her stupendous presence and how. Mukerji has left an indelible mark with this role that usually comes once in a lifetime for most.” In its March 2016 issue, magazine asserted: “It is hard to forget Mukerji … essaying the role of a speech-impaired, deaf and blind girl with little or no make-up … This was once when her action spoke louder than words.” was remade in as (2013), which generated controversy in the media. On 5 September, when TMC Films released its trailer, Bhansali sent e-mails to the production company as no remake rights had been purchased, but they did not provide any response. The remake opened on 25 October 2013 to positive reviews from critics. In February 2024, was made available for streaming on , to mark its 19th anniversary.</p>