Sanjay Leela Bhansali's BLACK- a timeless classic (Part 1)

Black is one of my most favorite films of all time. I can't tell you its impact on me. The film has some of the most amazingly shot silences, shots of contrasts in colors, the costumes.
The background score of the film deserves a special mention(which will be discussed in depth later in the post) . It makes me teary eyed every time I watch the film.
 In this post I will discuss the characters, the story and its theme. Also I will list down some of the best scenes of the film.

Black is a 2005 Indian drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starred by Rani Mukerji and Amitabh Bachchan. Black revolves around a deafblind girl, and relationship with her teacher who himself later develops Alzheimer's disease. The film draws inspiration from Helen Keller's life and struggle. Black was a commercial success and was the 2nd highest grossing Bollywood film worldwide in 2005. 

Directed by:	Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Produced by:	Sanjay Leela Bhansali Anshuman Swami
Screenplay by:	Sanjay Leela Bhansali Bhavani Iyer Prakash Kapadia
Starring:	Amitabh Bachchan as Debraj Sahai Rani Mukherji as Michelle McNally Shernaz Patel as Catherine McNally Nandana Sen as Sarah McNally Ayesha Kapur as young Mischelle McNally Dhritiman Chaterji as Paul McNally Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal as Mrs. Nair
Music & Background Score:	Monty Sharma
Edited by:	Bela Bhansali
Cinematography by:	Ravi K. Chandran
Narrated by:	Rani Mukherji

Story:

Michelle McNally is "special" in more ways than one. She cannot see - nor hear nor speak - She inhabits a world of infinite black - of a seamless, endless void where nothing reaches her and she reaches nothing. Her world is frightening in its complete remoteness. On the sheer will of her ferocious rage against destiny, Michelle struggles to stay afloat in the impenetrable whirlpool her life has become. into this devastating isolation enters a battle weary teacher, Debraj Sahai, life's wounded but arrogantly insolent warrior. With a single-minded obsessions, Debraj takes up a challenge that is next to impossible - to lead this wild, uncontrollable child into the light of knowledge. Thus beings a journey of two headstrong individuals. They will overcome failures, obstacles, even ridicule as they tread the path less taken. What they seeks is that moment of miracle when the ray of knowledge will penetrate through the dense black of Michelle's life - Black is the cathartic tale of a deaf, mute and blind girl who saw what people with sight fail to see, a vision of her God. Michelle McNally saw what other lesser mortals could not. She saw her God, Heard Him and walked with Him into the light.

Primary Characters:

Amitabh Bachchan as Debraj Sahai

Debraj Sahai is not just a teacher but a magician. Very early on in the film, Paul McNally(Mischelle's father) points out that his daughter needs a magician and not a teacher. This magician came in form of  Debraj Sahai, who enters their lives, as an elderly alcoholic teacher for the deaf and blind, he sees himself as a magician and a disillusioned eccentric man. 
Debraj is knowledge, excellence, courage, strength to Mischelle. Debraj's determination and dedication to make Mischelle not only independent but a college graduate is basic plotline of the film. Debraj turns a wild, anguish girl into a self-dependent, strong woman. Debraj instills the will power in Mischelle to face all the challenges, obstacles without any fear or hesitation. Debraj is the light to Mishcelle's darkness. 

Debraj's introduction is also very captivating.  He is sitting in a dark room with a glowing bulb in his hands which has a very short life. Mrs. Nair comes searching for Debraj into his room and could not find him the darkness, and then he says "Come into the ..light". This symbolizes the fact that the bulb(or light) is him. Like the bulb, Debraj too has a short life.

Mrs. Nair (who is a teacher at Debraj's blind and deaf school), informs him that Mischelle McNally is his next student. She informs him that, Mischelle's parents' only hope is him. Debraj later visions Mischelle; a wild, turbulent child, trying to find herself amidst the darkness.

Also there is an interesting aspect to Debraj. He says his eyes are searching for something. It seems like there is a deep pathos and grief in his eyes, something terrible happened to him and he wants to get out of it by spreading the wings of Knowledge to Michelle. He wants be the magician in this girl's life. Mrs. Nair taunts him that he is just a good teacher and not a magician, he responds by saying that he will give Michelle wings of words. "Main usse shabd ke pankh dunga Mrs.Nair"

If Mischelle wanted to come out of darkness, Debraj wanted to come out of sorrow and pain. 

At one point, Debraj says that Michelle's hands will be her eyes, ears and voice. He says that these hands are symbolic of strength, determination, courage and achievement. He will inculcate these aspects into Michelle.

At many points we see, Debraj wearing black glasses and cap. This could probably his way of hiding his inner grief from the world. When he meets Michelle for the first time, Michelle makes him take off his glasses and puts it on herself. This signifies that Michelle can eliminate pain and sorrow from his life. Also it's the first thing she is attracted to when she meets Debraj. 

The cap symbolizes Alzheimer's disease.

But later, as the film progresses, we see that he stops wearing his glasses in the same way Mischelle starts eliminating darkness from her life and eventually achieving her ambition. Debraj is an extremely moving character and nobody but Amitabh Bachchan could justify the character which was so complex and layered. 

Rani Mukherji as Michelle McNally & Ayesha Kapur as Young Michelle McNally

Rani Mukherji as Michelle McNally is extraordinary. She portrays the role with immense maturity yet with sensitivity.  Michelle is described as 'special girl', but moreover, I felt she was signified as 'god's child'. As a child she was turbulent,wild,clueless and somebody who was fighting with herself to eliminate darkness from her life, until she meets her magician i.e. Debraj Sahai. Michelle has the will-power and strength to face obstacles with fearlessness. 
Mischelle grows up to be a groomed, well-mannered, confident girl whose biggest struggle now is to become a college graduate. Even in that struggle, we see her angst but her confidence level never goes down. For her, Debraj is the light to her darkness, he is knowledge to her mind, he is strength to her disabilities. 

In a striking scene, when she is being interviewed by a panel of trustees regarding her college admission, one trustee asks her as what does she think of Knowledge?
Her answer to this question is simply spectacular. She says knowledge is everything. It symbolizes courage,wisdom,light,sound. Knowledge is her Bible, her 'teacher'.  
This is one of my favorite scenes of Rani in the film.

Knowledge is everything

Knowledge is Spirit

Knowledge is Wisdom

Knowledge is Courage

Knowledge is Light

Knowledge is Sound

Knowledge is my Bible

Ayesha Kapur who plays young Michelle McNally is superb in the film. Her performance was so natural that it actually felt she is going through all of Michelle's emotions. She builds a character narrative for Michelle beautifully. I love the scene she at the dining table for lunch and is eating lunch from other's plates. Debraj stops her and says her that she should learn manners and tries to make her eat lunch with a spoon. And in this series,  Michelle slaps Debraj and Debraj slaps her back. This was the first time where somebody slapped her.  Michelle's reaction was priceless. This is the first time where she faced rejection or disapproval.

Also there is a scene, where Michelle is running away from water(as she is hydrophobic) and in that process, she comes in contact with a cactus which hurts her hands. That's the first day when she feels hurt and pain(physically). Also, after that when Debraj applies cream to her hands, that's when realizes that the teacher is indeed her friend and well-wisher. It seemed as if she was relieved with most of her pain after that incident. 

In other words, Debraj was there to make her get rid of all negative emotions and feelings inside her, and make her realize the beauty of life.

Note the cinematography,lighting and the color used here. Its breath-taking and so aesthetically shot.

My most favorite scene is when Michelle learns the meaning of words and her first word is 'water'. It was symbolic of her purity and divinity as a person. Initially, Michelle was hydrophobic but eventually she overcomes her fear and learns her first word as she says 'water'. 

In Christanity, it is believed that before there was anything; light, sun or moon, earth, plants, living creatures or anything else, there was water. God created the earth out of water, and the sky in the midst of waters, and calling forth living creatures out of water, God continues, From the beginning of the Bible to the end, water flows through the pages of scripture. It is full of passages that link water to Gods creating, blessing and saving work. This alone shows to me the importance of water in spiritual lives.

This scene shows that Michelle has acquired god's blessings. It seemed as if she was born again on that day.

Michelle is an extremely inspiring,motivating and a strong character. Her strength and achievement is the soul of the film. This is Rani's best performance till date. 

Other parts coming soon.

Anila Velidimalla