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Beauty
of Black
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black is not just about blind and deaf Michelle McNally (Rani Mukherjee) trying to come to terms with her handicap or her trainer Debraj Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan), once on faculty of the Deaf and Blind School, dismissed due to his failing vision but also about living life with dignity and pride. Doomed to a life of eternal darkness, Michelle’s attempt to live life on her own terms is full of obstacles. But the fighting spirit and the self-belief which her teacher Debraj instils in her makes her invincible. Life comes full circle when Debraj suffers from the Alzheimer’s disease and is confronted by a black wall. Black becomes not just a colour of darkness but a colour of pride, dignity and power. It becomes a robe of achievement when the graduation degree is conferred upon Michelle. Michelle, who was trapped in a world of darkness penetrated neither by sound nor light, sees light when she learns the power to express herself through the language of touch. The film, said to have been inspired by Helen Keller’s life, explores relationships at various levels including student-teacher, parent-daughter. Rani Mukherjee’s comfortable onscreen chemistry with Amitabh makes for some interesting teacher-student moments. Amitabh and Rani have gone on record to say that Black has been their most challenging film to date. "There is not a single scene in Black that I have done before", Amitabh has said. "It was an extremely uplifting experience. It took me six months of training to prepare for the movie". The performance of nine-year-old Ayesha Kapur, who plays little Michelle, is also laudable. The story of Michelle and Debraj is an inspiration not only to the physically challenged but also to those leading a normal life. It is an optimistic film. The film sensitises viewers towards the people with disabilities. The film also takes us to another level of communication: the language of touch as the characters inscribe alphabets on their palms. With
hardly a song or dance sequence, it holds ones attention and touches
the emotional chord. |
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