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Adequate without being really good

‘No jingoism’: Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah in ‘Black and White’

Black and White (Hindi)

Cast: Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Habib Tanvir

Director: Subhash Ghai

For all those armed men who traffic in pain, Subhash Ghai’s new 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 the head.

Also in these days of post anti-fidayeen dictates from Deoband, the film speaks a politically correct language too.

There are Arabic verses from the Koran against killing the innocent even in retaliation which would find favour with the Muslims; there are translations that would remove a few cobwebs from the minds of others. Not likely to be a box-office winner, the film, despite its flaws, has much to recommend.

First is the intent. Ghai steps beyond his larger than life image and pieces together a film that is distinctly multiplex-oriented. The cinema these days is speaking the urban language, and Ghai, even when he talks of angst, knows that a single multiplex ticket is equivalent of about 10 ordinary stall tickets in the single-screen theatres. So he targets an educated audience that does not openly root for “Choli ke peechhe …” kind of cinema. Then the film, despite its preachy overtones, scores reasonably with the content.

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, or is it hero in these days of flexible terminology?, 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. And victims of domestic strife are the easiest preys. Therein is 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 film-makers 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 Koran 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, but also reminding us that, yes, once he did give his Eeshwar.

Given a good hand by his biggest supporter in the industry, he delivers. As does vintage Habib Tanvir, who brings all the years of experience into his portrayal of a seasoned poet, who still lives by the mantra of secularism. He is simply brilliant. And young Anurag Sinha, without ever threatening to set the screen ablaze with his intensity, is adequate too.

That brings us to the film. Yes, Black and White is adequate without being really good. The pace slackens every now and then.

The editing is not sharp enough with a little monotony creeping into the film unannounced. Some of the dialogue could have been more subtle, and a more focused narration would have imparted a greater punch.

The music is not much to write home about: a bit unusual for a Ghai film right from the time he gave us Hero.

ZIYA US SALAM

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