Khamoshi: The Musical

Sanjay Leela Bhansali, previously associate director to the talented Vinod Chopra, makes his directorial debut with a sensationaly complex piece of work. The film faired moderately at the box office and one wonders why?? This is undoubtedly one of the finest examples of commercial entertainment merging with what is referred to in India as "Art Cinema." Yes, the film is an out and out musical, but never do the songs hamper the narrative even once. Bhansali's ability to weave the songs in order to progress the narrative was also wonderfully displayed in his film "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam."

One would wonder how it is possible to leave two characters who are both deaf and unable to speak, to develop themselves on their own. But Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas (Bandit Queen) have given their most impressive and sincere performances yet. Manisha as the girl stuck between her love for music and her love for her parents portrays the multiple complexities of the character very effectively. Salman Khan does his usual satisfactory job as the lover boy. However, the real winner of the film is the script also written by Bhansali himself.

The story is simply wonderful, and as is characteristic of Bhansali, instead of making the story complex, he makes his characters complex. To watch Patekar and Biswas play their roles is simply a lesson in acting. The cinematography by Anil Mehta is simply brilliant, effectively creating the carnival like atmosphere of GOA along with a noir-ish feel that compliments the dark complexity of the characters.

And alas - the music. Jatin and Lalit who have tended to focus on very Indian sounds in their previous works have somehow managed to fuse in the feel of Portuguese folk sounds into their very Indian tunes - characteristic of the entire feel of Goa. The lyrics are well thought out and simple to progress the narrative. Bhansali's grip over his subject is impeccable and he displays his mastery in the art of mainstream Indian filmmaking to the fullest. This is a man to watch out for in the future.

Overall, this movie is simply not to be missed. Sure, it has its minor flaws here and there but when one looks at the wonderful feel it creates for the viewer, all flaws can be overlooked. What sets this film apart from the usual churns is that the film actually has a STORY. It actually has CHARACTERS rather than just STARS and celebrities in it. It packs in a lot of meat. This is how entertainment and art should be blended. It is good to see yet another filmmaker joining the band of contemporary directors like Mani Ratnam, Shekar Kapur, Ramgopal Varma and Mahesh Bhatt who have succeeded in their quest to erase that line separating commerical and "Art" cinema.

Khamoshi: The Musical (1996) : Movie Review -

Silences more than half of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's filmography. SLB's career will always be divided into two categories: content-driven cinema and larger-than-life spectacles. The content category will have Khamoshi, Black, and Guzaarish, while the likes of HDDCS, Devdas, Bajirao Mastani, and Padmaavat will lie in the second category. Khamoshi has to be his most close-to-tragedy conflict coming from a human angle because I feel that situations like Black, and Guzaarish are quite rare to find (that's what makes them better, actually). The metaphor in Khamoshi is pretty clear to everyone who's watching it, but SLB didn't present it verbally. "Beyond Silence" too suffered from the same problem, I guess. Having a normal child is the happiest thing for deaf and mute parents, but that can be the saddest thing too, because it separates her/him from their problematic world. So, sometimes it is better to have a disabled child because he/she can at least be with you forever, and they can carry on with life with the same problems. Khamoshi uses music and love/marriage to highlight the same issue, just like Beyond Silence; otherwise, it's a totally different and much more diverse movie than the OG German film. Indian films should always be superior because the use of songs gives them an edge. For instance, Hollywood and Bollywood can both make visual grandeurs. Let's say Hollywood has Ben-Hur (1959) and we have "Mughal-e-Azam" (1960). Both are huge, but MEA has evergreen music and video songs that Ben-Hur didn't have. That's one thing where we are ahead. With the right use of it, we can overtake any original film with a remake. Beyond Silence could use nudity, and Khamoshi couldn't. That's not my issue, anyway. The problem is that a film like Khamoshi, a story, which is set in a small village/beach/house, shouldn't go big with its scale. Now, that vision of SLB spoils the generalism and reliability of Khamoshi. The best scenes in the film don't have any big scales or sets. The musical touch boosts the metaphor further because it's a very sensitive human conflict perfectly matched with parental issues. The daughter wants to make a career in music because she is normal, but sadly, her parents can never hear her music. The idea of romance is quite different in Khamoshi than what we saw in Beyond Silence. This one's pure and slightly misjudged romance, and that too because we have such dramatic situations. Whatever flaws it has are covered by the emotional segments in the film-there are four major emotionally engaging scenes in this film, and that Nana's speech in the church in the climax surpasses them all. It's a genius idea to have the speech verbally delivered by another man. It can never create the same emotional impact when the character himself narrates it. What's overdone is the pregnancy routine of the girl, which has been too dated for Hindi movies. "Mujhse galti ho gayi.. Bachcha gira do." I mean, that stuff has been pushed even before Bhansali was born. Nana Patekar gives another striking performance. Nothing much challenging was left for him after the kind of films and roles he had done before Khamoshi, but still, he discovered a new soft side of him as an actor. Koirala is superb in those emotionally challenging scenes, while Seema Biswas did make me believe that she was deaf and mute. Salman looked young and handsome in a typical chocolate boy role, but somehow he got that one of the most important emotional scenes at the end of the film. SLB should work with talents like Nana, Seema, and Raghubir again instead of working with today's mediocre bunch of supporting actors, and he should also go back into that content-cinema zone again, even though his last three such films didn't do well at the box office. That's sheer bad luck, man. Let him earn money with big-scale movies with mediocre content so that he can save money to spend them on such high quality projects. I am always there, silently waiting for him to come back.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Kahmoshi The Musical, is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's first directorial venture - a sensitive, introspective film about a deaf mute Catholic couple living in Goa. The world of Joseph (Nana Patekar) and Flavy (Seema Biswas) is a silent one and into this world in born their first child Annie (Manisha) who can speak and hear & loves music. She is trained in music by her grandmother Maria (Helen) but the family is so poor they have to sell many cherished belongings including their piano. Annie's younger brother dies tragically leaving the family stunned and music is banished from their lives. Into Annie's world walks in the dashing Raj (Salman Khan) a budding musician. Raj falls for Annie and wants her to sing his songs. Annie's father hates Raj - the usual confrontations, despair follow. Annie's meeting up with Raj is followed by a catastrophe and we wait for the outcome while the story is told to us in flashback.

The musical is naturally full of music - some of it is hauntingly beautiful - songs like Bahon ke Darmiyan, Jaana suno hum tumpe marte hain, Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai and extremely touching in the film. But there is just too much music. After about an hour I was cowering at the thought of yet another number as the hero and heroine would run up and down the steps of the lighthouse. Some songs are just fillers and do not add to or move the story forward in any way. With some crisp editing, and a few fewer songs, Khamoshi would have clocked at 2 hours and been a perfect film. The marriage of music and the serious content of the material also jarred at times.

The acting: Manisha steals the show utterly and absolutely. Is there anything she cannot do? Her break down when her father throws her out of the house is a virtuoso performance. Salman is the best he will ever be, handsome, no overt gimmicky moves or gestures, just plain and simple acting - after seeing Khamoshi I can see what people saw in Salman. But even Mr. Bhansali could not keep his restrained for ever and we got Samir in HDDCS! Nana Patekar was okay - actually he was the biggest disappointment - his acting was sort of repetitive and he did not age at all in the span of 20 years showed in the film. Seema Biswas was awesome - seeing her I felt all the anguish and pain a mute person would feel at their inability to communicate. She blew me away as the film opened and she put her ear to the big speaker and "felt" the music. Helen was excellent - a great role for her too - one of her better ones where she was required to act. The little girl who played the young Annie was amazing.

The story is simple yet very effective, the direction is deft but Bhansali shows his self indulgence even in this minimal film. There is a monologue by Nana Patekar (being 'translated' by Salman) that tell us the whole story all over again - is it necessary? But overall this is an excellent directorial debut and a movie worth watching. Be warned that this is serious fare and will require patience.

This film is a true masterpiece. Though it may seem slow-paced at first, especially for our fast-paced times, it profoundly touched my heart. It goes beyond just entertainment; the performances of these remarkable actors speak directly to the soul.

Nana Patekar's portrayal is extraordinary, immersing himself so completely in the role that his expressions alone convey deep emotion. Manisha Koirala is equally impressive, bringing her character to life with grace and emotional depth. While I may not rewatch this film often due to my selective taste, its one-time magic and lasting impact make it a genuine work of art.

Definitely Sanjay Leela Bhansali's first and finest, Khamoshi relates the story of a deaf couple and their relationship with their caring and loving daughter, Annie who is not deaf and whose greatest love is music. The film involves many conflicts resulting from this difference between Annie and her parents and her relationship with a young musician. The film's strength lies in the marvelous script, the exceptional performances, and the paradox of deaf parents whose daughter aspires to become a singer. Bhansali's direction is outstanding and evidently perfectionist; he pays attention to the smallest of details, he knows how and when to excite. This is one of the greatest first-time works by a director.

The dialogues are brilliant, the proceedings are unexpected and serious, the depiction is simple and realistic, and the narrative style is very good as well. Bhansali's way of portraying relationships is very impressive, whether it's Annie's relationship with her parents or her beloved Raj, whether it's her dad Joseph's relationship with her mom Flavy, or her family's relationships with close friends and neighbours like Marry and Willie. The film is filled with many great moments, many heart-breaking and many heart-warming sequences. It has romance, drama and even comedy, and most importantly, it has music. And what a music it is. Every song is pure magic and is effectively pictured on-screen. "Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai" is beautiful and touching, "Aaj Main Upar" is energetic and is wonderfully sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy, and other songs, including the melancholic "Bahon Ke Darmiyan", are equally memorable. The background score is another integral aspect of the film's mood.

Bhansali extracts some of the best performances from each and every actor of the unit. The film belongs to Manisha who is astonishing and intense in one of the finest performances we've seen in mainstream Hindi cinema. She carries every scene brilliantly and acts with great conviction. Striking a balance between restraint and temperamental emotion, she delicately lets us sense the struggle, the confusion, the pain and the suffering of a girl who is torn between her love for her parents and her love for music. One must note her breakdown when she is thrown off home by her father and starts a long monologue behind the door, screaming and using sign language, while her father can neither see nor hear her. I could really feel her pain and anger. It was sincere, heart-breaking and powerful.

Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas offer a credible chemistry. They really look like a loving married couple who go through the bad and the good just as it comes. Patekar is, once again, simply astounding as the proud, decisive, happy, kind-hearted and loving Joseph. Damn what a performance, so natural and real, and so well infused with sensibility, honesty and humour. Biswas is nothing short of spectacular in this role. Her acting is superb, and she gives an excellently balanced, compelling and moving portrayal of a woman who suffers from her handicaps but still loves life. Salman Khan plays his relatively small yet significant part with sincerity and spontaneity and lends some comic relief with his feel-good character and strong screen presence. Helen is splendid as the lovely and frank Marry, admirably managing to make a remarkable impact with only a few brief scenes. Raghuvir Yadav provides great support as Willie. The girl who plays the young Annie is adorable, and boy does she resemble Manisha (another proof to Bhansali's exemplary craft).

All in all, Khamoshi: The Musical is a must-watch. Made with simplicity, graciousness and artistry, it does not go overboard and does not try to overdo or misuse its sensitive subject, and that's the reason it is so touching, powerful and poignant. The film flows very well though it may not appeal to everyone as it's a bit dark and too cruel in some portions, but it will definitely be appreciated for its brilliance and remarkable emotions even by those who perceive it to be overly serious. I personally find it beautiful, crafted, optimistic, entertaining and unforgettable. A real gem.