Nishabd

While early word on this film was "Bollywood's Lolita", it's actually more like a subdued "Indian Beauty". Only, in this case the protagonist is not a loser, but a rather dignified old gent, well-respected and loved by his wife and daughter. The director claims that some of the inspiration for the story came from the real- life entanglement of Ayn Rand and Netthil Brandon, her young male disciple (both parties were married to other people at the time). Could be, but the shadow of American Beauty nonetheless looms over this film.

Amitabh Bachhan has developed a penchant for playing his roles a bit too stoically in his 'second innings' at the cinema (that and his stupid goatee make it look like he's always playing just another side to the same character), but conveys the feelings and emotions of his character reasonably well. Jiah Khan, the newcomer, does better in a difficult role that is deceptively shrill and tacky, but is actually quite insightfully written if you can see beyond the attitude. What is poorly written is the way the relationship develops between the old man and the sassy nymphet, and the roles of the wife and daughter are also under- written. That is especially a shame in the case of Revathy, as she is such a good actress. There is also an over-reliance on blue filters and panoramic shots of nature, and a general tendency to skirt the seamier or more base aspects of the relationship. In other words, "no sex please, we're Indian". Which is odd, since the director is clearly interested in exploiting (to some degree) the physical attributes of our young heroine, judging from the way he shoots her (to be fair, that dilemma has plagued Indian cinema for ages). He just doesn't seem to have the nerve to go all the way with his desires, which makes for an uneven tone for the film's basic story.

On the plus side, the film is devoid of stupid song and dance numbers (a couple of gentle tunes aside), and does pose some intriguing questions (even if the resolutions provided to some of the problems raised, are a wee bit too pat). An interesting experiment, but with not with enough conviction to follow through to the end, it is only partially successful. From a filmmaker like Ram Gopal Verma, more was expected than is delivered here.

I tried to watch this movie keeping "Lolita" and "poison ivy" out of mind. After all, the 'old man falling for a young girl' is not new in Hollywood by any stretch of imagination. This movie is purely for Indian audiences, many of whom may have never seen "Lolita", and therefore its purpose is to introduce an 'alien' subject to bollywood. So far, so good!!

Nishabd starts well. A young girl Jiah captures her friend's father's heart by being unusually carefree and unbelievably audacious. While her 'take light' attitude is conveniently attributed to her Australian upbringing and a troubled childhood, the scenes showing Amitabh's growing attraction towards her are well presented. Here, i must mention the young actress Jiah Khan. She fits the part completely- physically and phonetically. Using her extra-provocative body language and always-uncrossed legs, she brings to life a manipulative and headstrong young girl with a selfish motive of enticing an old man. Amitabh is reliable, though monotonous, and speaks volumes through his eyes.

Jiah's and amitabh's growing infatuation for each other is pasted against picturesque backdrops of Munnar (kerala) and up to the interval, the movie is very much watchable ( sometimes, entertaining). As traces of sexual tension are clearly visible and the affair being still a secret form the household, you anticipate a path breaking second-half.

This is where things go wrong. By the time jiah and amitabh confront each other with their feelings, the bollywood's morality fever has returned. Nishabd makes the elementary and hackneyed mistake of grouping love and lust in the same bracket. The way the first half is shown, the only conclusion you can draw is that both the protagonists are sexually attracted to each other. Yet, the director identifies these lustful feelings as love and leaves you confused. This is, undoubtedly, done because it would have been difficult to convince the Indian people that the base of an unconventional relationship is lust, not love. Since 'love conquers all' and is much 'purer' and acceptable than lust, people must respect it. For, however important age difference is, love is love and it is OK if it happens to anyone, isn't it? As a reviewer rightly put: "This movie fits the moral envelope, but it never tries to push it." THe movie makes a brilliant point about how an old man's impending death can lead him to unexperienced joys in the world like young bodies, yet it fails to recognize the relationship as raw infatuation. I can understand how important it is for the movie's commercial success to call lust as love, but i expected RGV to be bolder and give us a more radical story.

Nishabd is still not a total disappointment. The photography is beautiful and you can't help but want to visit munnar after watching. The acting is top-notch and Jiah khan is certainly a find. But, above all, nishabd is the latest in the series of bollywood films this year that have gradually taken us toward more relevant and intelligent cinema. Nishabd deserves credit for addressing a bold issue and on the whole, for being a part of bollywood revolution towards better films, though we haven't reached there yet.

There is nothing wrong with showing an old man falling in love with a young girl. Lolita did it. American Beauty did it.

But. They did it subtly. They did not make it so apparent from the start that the director is gearing them up to make them fall in love with each other. Not as naturally as two people would (Age no bar) but forcing them to be around each other as if they were SUPPOSED to fall in love.

All in all, there should have been chemistry. It would have solved the biggest problem. People with reservations against the subject would also have been engrossed and perhaps convinced. It would have become the perfect love story, no matter the impracticality.

I found it difficult to believe Jia's character at times. What I found more difficult to understand, is why Vijay - a photographer and an artist, who seems serious - would have had an interest in a girl so frivolous. Unless he himself has some frivolousness hidden in himself, which did not come out at all.

There is a lot of use of Dutch angles or angles in which the frame is tilted. It is generally used to show something unnatural or something that might lead to something that is not right. So RGV is himself calling the relationship unnatural.

The camera angles, background score, editing, and even the juxtaposition of shots and symbology emphasises and overemphasises their relationship. Is the Indian audience so dumb that we need to be told something in 10 different ways for us to understand? Especially when the two of them were dancing together... it was apparent what was happening. What was the need of slowing the scene down with dramatic background music? I feel the subject was very well chosen. But Verma should not have made the film with the fact in mind constantly that this is a controversial subject. If it is, then handle it delicately, why don't you?

In my opinion, Nishabd is a fairly well-made film. RGV tackles an unconventional theme - I won't call it bold, at least not bold enough - with remarkable ease. The director uses his signature style of very tight close-ups to great effect. Of course, the camera cannot enter the minds of the characters, but it comes very close. Through every minute expression, every twitch of the facial muscles, it shows you what the characters are thinking and feeling. And if you have an actor like Amitabh Bachchan, that only heightens the impact.

The absence of a plot actually works to the film's advantage. The film moves forth in a languorous fashion, which can be irritating to some viewers, but for me it worked well. It gave me all the time to witness and reflect upon the events as they lazily unfolded themselves. It gave me the time to savour the subtle directorial touches.

Yes, it also gave me enough opportunity to think about what could have been done differently. But that's precisely what I expect from a fulfilling movie-going experience - an opportunity to watch a movie at an emotional as well as a rational level: from the heart as well as the head.

The director opts for blue as the predominant color in the palette he uses to paint his vision of a May-November romance between his lead characters Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) and Jiah (Jiah Khan). Each and every scene, even when it captures the breathtakingly beautiful and lush locales of Munnar, is bathed in a blue hue. Now that's an interesting color for a tale like this.

At the most obvious level, blue stands for romance and in that respect seems completely harmonious with the theme. If we really get into various kinds of symbolisms, blue also stands for virtues like truth, honesty and fidelity. And that's a delightful contrast from what we see in the relationship between Vijay and Amrita (Revathy). I can't say what RGV's real idea behind using this colour was, maybe I'm seeing too much into a device used merely to present a pretty picture, but to me it opens up a number of interesting possibilities.

Interestingly, elements of incongruity crop up in other areas as well - whether it's the quirky camera movement or the very out-of-character background music. While the story itself moves at a leisurely pace, the camera moves all over the place almost in an intrusive fashion. Ditto for the brilliant background music by Amar Mohile - the hammering, thriller-like background score is in perpetual conflict with the sensitivity of romance on the screen.

I don't take these incongruities as faults, though I must admit they were quite distracting at times. I thought that the very fact that they were in stark contrast with the film itself was an interesting way to depict the inner conflict of the characters. Rules of conventional film-making would say that the camera movements and music should be in tune with what's being depicted on film, but when has RGV followed rules or conventions? Now for the compromises - RGV clearly shies away from including any sexual angle to this unusual love story. Given the way the unashamedly voyeuristic camera (and to an extent the writing) has a field day presenting Jiah Khan as a sex object - the extra-short dresses, the wet scene (ah, this predilection of Hindi commercial filmmakers for showing heroines getting wet in a white saree!! Only, the white saree gets replace by a white shirt worn over an almost non existent pair of shorts), over-emphasis on showing her naked legs, and Jiah Khan's defiantly sexual demeanour - it is certain that the director had all the intentions of showing lust as the trigger for the relationship, but probably had to compromise on that aspect because of the demigod status of his lead actor.

This is one area where the disconnect between the technique and the content works to the film's detriment. The story would have been much more interesting and realistic if this aspect had been adequately explored. Much as I am in absolute awe of Amitabh Bachchan and think that his performance in Nishabd is one of his finest, I can't help admitting that his presence in the film dilutes the impact of the film. RGV clearly develops cold feet and refrains from adding any dirty thoughts into his male protagonist's mind; yet his camera is not quite convinced and continues to explore the baser emotions.

The other big compromise that RGV had to make also stems from trying to show Vijay in a more favorable light. There was no reason to add that monologue justifying/ rationalizing the attraction between a 60 year old man and an 18 year old kid - "an old man gets attracted to a young girl because he wants to hold on to his youth" - Phew!. I strongly believe that love, even when it is triggered by lust, does not always have a straight-forward reason, but is in fact a very complex psychological thing that cannot always be rationalized.

It is here that you just can't help thinking that the film definitely needed to take its title seriously: some things are better left unsaid - Nishabd.

This movie is art in its pure form. Right from the very beginning when the protagonist is shown you will sit and watch throughout if you are an actual film-lover because it contains all aspects of film-making in its true sense: whether you take its background-score or its photography or its dialogues, everything is set to perfection. The movie does progresses a bit slow but it couldn't have been faster as well. Ram Gopal Verma has proved how he can bring the best out of his actors by never making us feel an inch about Jiah Khan's debut in the same movie. This movie did create controversies as being the wrong trend-setter for the coming generations when the people should have noticed the strong flavor of reality of life shown in the movie with very supported justifying dialogues for every portrayal of so called 'against culture'. This is film-making at its best.