WHAT A DISGRACE IN MOVIE-MAKING. Review on Nishabd

After going through the promos of Nishabd and a few promising TV shows on a mature subject like this, I was hooked on to watch the movie this weekend and I was blown away(not for the right reason though)! It's a pity that there is an inherent lack of understanding of art, creativity and passion of remarkable cinema in India both with the filmmakers and the majority of the audience. Take Nishabd for instance, its a classic example of a movie with a great subject and so much of a promise in the name of art and mature cinema but all that you get in the end is a desperate attempt showcasing an egomaniac director.

I don't feel like narrating the story of Nishabd as it fails horribly in the main plot & in convincing the characterization, that it leaves

very little respect for the film or the protagonist. The mood of the film begins with scenes which are below the barometer of dignity and any sense of aesthetic beauty. The first 40 mins of the movie which were spent on showcasing the chemistry between the old lonely man and the young confused'bitchy' girl are only filled with sleaze, lust and unnecessary skin show. This is totally uncalled for. When you go out to watch for a mature unconventional love story, you expect to see how great minds come together, you expect visual poetry, chemistry that cannot be told but felt, feelings shared with art, mind and music. Those silent scenes of absolute truth where there are no dialogues but yet powerful acting which portray even more powerful emotions. There is a whole set of creative, artistic elements one can imagine with this subject., but ironically you see remotely nothing of this sorts in this movie. Allow me to highlight some scenes in these 40-50 mins of the movie:-

• The girl wears shorterThanShorts in the house.(Who cares if she is from Australia!) Most of the shots are highlighting her bum or legs -

  
  




• There is an extended scene for a full 2 mins with the girl wearing minimal clothing and bathing in the garden with a water pipe. This is the first shot where Amitabh is attracted to her and his is secretly taking pictures of her(wow, is this love?) If you were to capture the essence of a woman's beauty from a photographer's point of view, there are far many scenes once can imagine

  
  




• There are many vaginal shots of the heroine. You read it right, its not a typo but there are at least 15 shots in the movie where the

  
  

camera focuses on that portion of the girl for no rhyme or reason.(See the above pic in the car). Now this is not only cheap but

desparate attempt to induce love, maybe its lust. Somebody completely is lost between love and lust, I guess

• The heroine sucks her thumb rather very sexy so many times, She pouts, bites her lips throughout the movie as if .(basically you will never have grt respect for such a girl, then why a 60 yr old man who lives a life if dignity?)

I fail to understand is the pressing need to show the sexuality of this girl so obviously to a 60 yr old man. Are we dealing with a love story or a seduction story for a sexually deprived old man? There isn't any memorable scene engaging the two in intelligent conversations. The old man was a photographer in this movie but we don't see any of his talent except for taking the young girls pictures which he has in his darkroom. The director has destroyed the beauty of love with this contrived, deranged plot and script that it leaves very little respect for the movie and the protagonist before you leave the cinema.

American Beauty+ Poison Ivy+RGV’s perception(read perversion)= NISHABD

You cant help but relate to this movie as a heavily inspired version of the lonely, desperate, bored, sad man of American Beauty whose life for a moment changes when he sees the seductress of his daughter's friend.The whole crux of Amercian Beauty was how they show the state of a lonely guy and what happens to him when life changes without his conscience. There are several abstract elements in the movie that make the audience think and question, yet there are no morals attached. Not to mention the heartrending dialogues in the movie. When you come out of the cinema, you really feel sorry for Kevin Spacey, you feel his pain, you touch his heart, you feel a convincing portrayal and justification. That is the effect of the character on you!

The problem with Nishabd is that you wont feel for the character, there is barely an mature feelings on connecting two completely different

minds to something as powerful as Love. Instead what we are fed is a series of distasteful lustful scenes, unavoidably sexual in nature and we are to believe that a 60 yr old man is ready to leave the family for this girl! I understand that they wanted to make a movie with "it happened, what now" theme but you should not forget that RGV spend a good 50 mins on "why it happened" which is was totally unconvincing. I think Varma should remake this movie with Konkana Sen, change the backdrop to some sort of art and try to script a movie where two people fall in love because of the love of art! Thats how you make'mature' love stories. And with due respect can anyone ask Amitabh that we got bored with his monotone acting style, the same voice modulation and his ‘criorepati’ French beard?(I hate it when people praise for anything andeverything that stars act these days); Actors need to be truly professionals not just talk of being one.

Watch American Beauty again for the sheer beauty of art and cinema or if you don't like it go watch Poison Ivy. But when you end up making a cheap spoof of Poison Ivy in the verge of making an American Beauty and try to tell the world you're making an artistic, mature cinema, I really have a problem with that, I really do!