Date:08/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/08/stories/2008030857710200.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Ghai goes beyond formula with Black and White

Engrossing fare: Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah in ‘Black and White’.

Film: Black and White

Cast: Anil Kapoor, Anuraag Sinha, Shefali Shah

Direction: Subhash Ghai

For all those armed men who traffic in pain, Subhash Ghai’s film is an eye-opener. For all those who believe that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, it could not have come a day too soon. And for all cinemagoers, ready to accept an emerging Hindi film industry stepping beyond the formula, “Black and White” gladdens the heart, and provides food for head. Despite its preachy overtones, the film scores reasonably with the cont ent. The director does away with mandatory romantic ditties, even making half an effort to get rid of the traditional heroine in what is essentially his take on the root of terrorism.

Ghai’s anti-hero sets out to right the Gujarat wrongs. He has had his parents burnt alive in the genocide. Now alone and jobless, he drifts to Delhi to do what comes immediately to the one so deeply and personally affected: attack the first man he comes across. But it is not so simple. The man is a suicide bomber who wants to kill hundreds, and is just a pawn in the hands of those who want to foment trouble in our motherland.

Therein lies the strength as well as the weakness of Ghai’s film. For one, it gives the film a greater identifiable feel. But it also means that Ghai is essentially walking the lane populated by other filmmakers earlier. Where he scores a point is in the handling of the script. His anti-hero comes in touch with the hero – Anil Kapoor as a Hindu professor of Urdu, who quotes from the Quran, and in his own innocent ways is not bereft of hope yet. With a gently flowing performance, he is not just a good foil for the nicely dramatic Shefali Shah. The pace slackens every now and then. The editing is not sharp enough. The music is not much to write home about.

The film scores because of the director’s eye to detail. Largely based in Old Delhi, almost all the characters speak the Urdu/Hindi typical of that part of the city. A lot of symbolism is used with glimpses of Jama Masjid, Lal Quila, Gurdwara Sis Ganj and the like.

ZIYA US SALAM