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Nishabd**
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Nishabd
is Ram Gopal Varma's conscious effort to break away from the stereotypical
reputation he has developed with films like Satya, Company, James
and Sarkar. But after watching this film, you simply want Varma to
go back to the crime/suspense genre he excels at. Nishabd, despite
its bold story line is a bundle of cliches with a lackluster screenplay
to boot.
Nishabd is not a novel concept. Older man/younger woman and vice versa
has been done many times before. In fact, its been done in Indian
films quite a few times. Hence, the only way this film could've been
interesting if Varma had played with the idea and had spun the story
in a different dimension. Unfortunately, he does no such thing. |
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Amitabh
Bachchan plays Vijay, a photographer, who lives in a picturesque hill
station with an equally perfect family. Amrita, played to perfection
by Revati is his simple housewife. Life is great until daughter, Ritu
(Shraddha Arya) returns from school with her friend, Jiah (Jiah Khan).
Jiah is the fruit of a broken home, an outspoken, aggressive 18-year-old
who finds Vijay charming. All hell breaks loose as the 60-year-old
man and 18-year-old girl fall in love...
The good thing about Nishabd is Jiah Khan. Her accent works for her,
as she's a foreign return in the film. She's sexy, confident and with
time she just might be the next Bipasha Basu or even a Priyanka Chopra.
But other than Jiah, the entire film is half-baked.
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To a certain
extent, Amitabh Bachchan's character is interesting. He is a
photographer, whose pictures are like a painting. At a boring
hill station with absolutely nothing to do, it is understandable
that Jiah develops a crush. At 18, a crush feels like love.
But why does she roam around the house in skimpy outfits with
her legs being the prime focus of every other frame? If the
director is trying to prove she's sexy, it's clear. There was
no need to throw it in one's face every few seconds. Furthermore,
it's unclear if Jiah is physically attracted to Vijay or not?
Is it this reason that she shows off her skin throughout the
film?
Secondly, for such
an intelligent man, one doesn't understand Vijay at all. Is
he lusting after Jiah? Is it because his wife is boring? If
she's a monotonous dull woman, did he not know it before? Old
age is scary and a youngster makes one feel young. This is the
philosophy behind the film. Then why is Vijay so indecisive?
There are too many whys in this film. And why is the wife boring?
It would've been far more interesting if she hadn't been. It's
the classic cliche that one recently saw in that over-the-top
Salaam-e-Ishq where Anil Kapoor is bored with his simply wife
Juhi. Why are all the housewives so boring? Can anyone please
go and see Desperate Housewives for inspiration?
Then there is the classic background score that makes you think
that what's happening is wrong. When the initial relationship
develops between the two, why is the Bhoot-meets-Satya music
playing in the background? One gets the feeling that the director
makes the film with the preconceived notion that it is wrong
for an 18-year-old to fall for a 60-year-old man All this aside,
it's the ending that makes one feel irritated beyond belief.
It's predictable, pointless and sadly, abrupt. Amitabh acts
well but he acts well in 99.9 per cent of his films. But to
say that he has beaten his own acting in Black is an overstatement.
The Kevin Spacey starrer American Beauty had a similar premise
as Nishabd but it worked. And that's because the characters
were etched out superbly. One understood it. Joggers Park is
another example. One awful film with a similar plot was Ek Choti
Si Love Story. The biggest example in the modern Hindi cinema
is Dil Chahta Hai, where Akshaye Khanna falls for Dimple Kapadia.
It was romantic, understandable and added flavour to the film
and that's how it should be.
Ram Gopal Varma, who seems to have serious issues with Karan
Johar movies should learn something from the young director.
Karan may be a corny director who loves to appear on tv and
market himself but the fact is Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna had far
more grit and substance than Nishabd ever could. That in itself
is a testament that gloating and over-confidence will only take
you so far.
The only reason this film has caught this much attention is
because Amitabh Bachchan is a part of it. But just because he's
a part of it, it doesn't make it any good. Watch this film just
to see Jiah. Otherwise, skip it. It's a total waste of time.
--Maheen Sabeeh
*YUCK
**WHATEVER
***GOOD
****SUPER
*****AWESOME
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