- A bolder movie is a sign of Woman's freedom!! If heroine smooches and has sex, its good for woman's freedom as she has broken the "age old primitive" shackles that women have been bound with in India. If you show a woman as someone who believes in tradition and the traditional division of role between man and woman, it is old fashioned and rubbish.
I can go on and on but the point I am trying to make is that Indian film critics (and other Indian intelligentsia) is getting enamoured by "politically correct" propaganda of the Western media (hollywood, entertainment channels, news channels which are freely available in India today) whereas the common people in the West themselves are highly skeptical of such political correctness and have started raising their voice against this "politically correct liberal views".
Unfortunately, a very below avg movie like Black gets rave reviews in India because of its English dialogues, Christian names and british set up, no songs, a somewhat "hatke" story (doesn't matter if Rani Mukherjee and the child actress's expressions were well...just plain stupid facial contortions.). (To be Contd...)
Dear Indian Film Critics, You are a pretentious and ostentatious bunch who doesn't know the very essence of being a critic. Instead of giving positive criticism, you have been guilty of virtually killing even good Indian movies by harping endlessly on "negatives". The interesting thing is that, more so after globalization has caught steam in India, these "negatives" have less to do with the merits/de-merits of a film's aspects (such as direction, acting, screenplay, etc.) than with the "accepted culture" of the film critics. If a movie doesn't meet the "accepted culture" criterion of these pompous creatures...sorry, I mean these film critics, then a movie is straightaway rejected, so what if scores highly in acting, direction, entertainment and other departments.
A few of the following is part of "accepted culture": - Songless movies are better (so what if indian film industry's main selling point and recognition internationally has been these very songs which has given them an identity). - If there are more English dialogues, then suddenly the quality of movie jumps exponentially. It doesn't matter if the dialogues are trite and utterly boring... (Contd. in Part 2)
I agree Black was made well and the acting was good, but considering it's a remake (almost verbatim)of 'The Miracle Worker' I don't think it warrants an Oscar nomination.
It seems that, like filmfare,SRK,has also started horsetrading in National Awards, as well as the Oscar nomination. What on earth, did the jury thought that Paheli was better than Black.
first of all, this article is annoying and badly written. secondly, when you see black, does it scream Indian tradition? No. It looks like a wastern film with direct scene lifts from The Miracle Worker. The films India submits have to represent the true Indian culture in all of its beauty. Thats what Paheli is. Thats what Black is not. Does it mean Black is bad? Of course not. Its too western and too much of it is in English. It just didnt fit the criteria. Theres no politics involved... Bhansalis Devdas was submitted in 2003, so the jury has no qualms with him. And who doesnt love Amitabh? What it comes down to is which is the better choice considering the criteria. And this film is great, but it's not earth shattering. This article is melodramatic and it sounds like it's written by a 5th grader who just learned 20 new words and was made to use them in an article.
I am a very big fan of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. I also feel he is at a stage in his career where he is getting the most challenging roles, and one of them being Black, will forever be treasured as one of his most memorable performances amongst the other greats such as: Deewar (old one), Agneepath etc.. But, yup there is a but, we cannot forget that this story is not an original, it heavily borrows from the original, The Miracle Worker and its semi-sequel The Miracle Continues; the original had won Acadmeny awards. And that is where Paheli has the winning edge, original story, colorful picturesque background, wonderful use of characters and the use of puppets to guide the story, under the watchful eye of a very under-rated directed, Amol Palekar. Mind you, I am not a fan of Shah Rukh Khan, but then again when a director manages to get such a subtle and honest performance out of an actor known for his histronics, and over-emphasis of emotions, you have to give credit to the director - there can be no bigger honour than to be nominated for the oscars. Well done Mr. Palekar, and good luck!!
Kudos Bhavna! Your article brought back a wave of heart-rending but simultaneously beautiful and unforgettable memories associated with watching Black. Mr. Bachchan's inimitable dialogues, Ayesha Kapur's passion and blinding fury, and Rani Mukherji's phenomenal characterization of a woman going through life surrounded by 'black'ness, are just a fraction of what makes this movie one of the best Indian cinema has ever produced.
Why it wasn't chosen as the official entry to the Oscars is a mystery to one and all except for die-hard Shah Rukh fans, which I am not! As your rightly mentioned, I truly believe that the committee was blinded by the magnificence of this movie. Hope things start to change soon or moviemakers may not have any incentive to produce fantastic cinema such as this anymore.
What a beautiful film Black was. It was a masterpiece. It is a very sad commnetry on the jury that they did not choose black. I will vote for it a thousand times.
