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At first, when I saw Black, I was really impressed with the movie and the way Sanjay Leela Bhansali made it. The slick camera movements, the camera angles, the snow... everything was impressive. A few months later, I happened to see the same movie at the American International School in Lesotho except that this was not made by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and it was an animated movie. At first I thought the smart boys in Hollywood remade Bhansali's film. Only later did I realize (when I got hold of the DVD cover) that it was made much before Black even started production.

Why did Bhansali make this movie? Its a frame by frame COPY of Helen Keller's story (often shown in International primary schools to growing kids). Sanjay Leela Bhansali or anyone associated with the script of Black should feel ashamed claiming credit for Black's script. They haven't even thanked the original screen writers of the original movie in the opening/closing credits of Black.

This review cannot contain a spoiler as there is not much in the movie to "spoil" for you. It could spoil your mood however.

For starters, this is a remake of a 1960s film based on Helen Keller's life. Bhansali and his team decided not to acknowledge that fact (there is no mention anywhere in the credits).

Amitabh Bachchan had said that this was to be an important film, he was thrilled that Bhansali had chosen him for the tutor's role. Did he not realize (or was he not told) that it was Annie Sullivan in the original role in Miracle Worker? Wow, its amazing that Bhansali took Bachhan for a ride , of all people. In the process, he has also insulted Indian and non-Indian movie-going audiences by shamelessly copying, and not even acknowledging that it was inspired by another film on the same subject.

The film treats the subject matter really insensitively and manages to make a mockery of the DP and editor's work, as well as lay to waste the fine acting skills of AB and Rani Mukherjee. Instead of trying to make the ultimate cinematographic masterpiece (it is far from that), if they had just focused on how to craft a good story, at least modify original version to where it became enjoyable, esp. as an Indian remake.

The makers of such films seem to be smug and arrogant in their beliefs that simply throwing gobs of money results in good work. When will they learn anything? By now, it should be as clear as Black and White?

Are these comments about the "movie" Black meant as a joke? I am not sure. I walked out of the theater after half of the movie because it was painfully awful. Was the movie filmed as a joke? It looks like no one who made it, including any of the actors, took it seriously. All of the performances were melodramatic, campy, and completely unrealistic. I do not mean any disrespect. What was with that John Wayne swagger of the main "doctor" character? Why are terrible movies like this the only "Indian" movies I can see in my area? It seems like someone is trying to make Indian people look like fools. This was the worst "film" I have ever seen, along with 'Daredevil'.

What does BLACK need to really deserve the attention it got?

1. A child actress not inspired by "The Exorcist" 2. Amitabh in restraints 3. An original story, without the obligatory melodrama 4. A sensible director 5. Much, much less gloss, more realistic cinematography 6. More accurate depiction of medical/ psychiatric conditions (I'm not referring to the manic teacher character)

So, is BLACK any good? It is. The dark tones, lights and shadows help tremendously to set the color and brightness settings on your new plasma TV. You could do it in 15min max; don't have to waste 2 hours of your life watching this movie. And Ms Mukherjee/ Mr Bhansali, did Helen Keller have a waddling gait?

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a unique director. In his previous film Khamoshi, he took Nana Patekar (who is known for his voice and dialogue delivery) and turned him into a mute. Sanjay has gone and done this once again - Rani Mukherji's eyes are the most expressive part of her personality. So what does the director do?? He gives her a role of a blind girl. On the plus side, the photography is very good. Amitabh and the little girl Ayesha Kapoor perform very well. Shernaz Patel is impressive as the mother. And music....what music(??) - you can't take 16 bars of a theme and play it over and over again throughout the length of the movie. The sets look more apt for theatre than for cinema. Go for it if you only look for depressing moments when you go to a cinema and not entertainment.

Before commenting on the movie let me give my scores for the actors' performances. Baby Michelle: 6/10, Michelle: 7.5/10, Teacher: 6.5/10, Father: 7.5/10, Mother: 8/10, Michelle's sister: 7.5/10. Screenplay: 7/10, Art Direction: 8.5/10, Cinematography: 9/10, Music: 9/10. Direction: 7/10.

Well, that's the summary of the whole movie BLACK. Good try, from Leela Banshali. But if you ask me about ingenuity, I would rather go for RAINCOAT, by the contemporary film-maker Rituporno Ghosh. Black's weakest character I think was baby Michelle, I was mid-way confused whether I was watching a scary-movie or Hellraiser kind. There was no need to make faces like that (ghost movies) for young Michelle, that was not a blind girl's acting. Till date the best child actress from India was the one who acted in Anjali (my rating-wise).

The strongest part of the movie was cinematography and music score, simply brilliant, and even the art direction too along with few acting performances.

In fact the cameo role by Sen and parents role was superb. Rani's role was very nice, but not a 9/10 role! Amitabh was nice too, but the main fault of the movie, I think was the haphazard screenplay, which effected the overall quality as well as direction of the movie. Despite all its hype in India (may be because it's one of the first times a movie is without songs and all of sentimental flicks here and there), I can't rate this movie at par with Italian, French or Spanish classics. Even not with THE AWAKENING, stellar roles by DeNiro and Williams. This year too Hollywood came up with Finding Neverland, Sideways, Closer; Black doesn't even comes closer to them.

But still, I will rate this movie good, because it is of one of the first and boldest attempts to revolutionize the trash-can Bollywood stories and movies.

For Bansali, "..Still Miles to go before you Sleep..."! Don't work for getting awards, make a nice movie, just 15 steps ahead lies the success (the line taken from your movie)...GRAB IT! In fact, the most intelligent Bollywood movie I have ever seen (not copying from any Hollywood or European movies) is : MOKSHA...though it went flat amidst Indian audiences.

Still I feel, Rituporno's movies are better than Bansali's.

i have problems with this film: why does Michelle need to be beaten up for her to learn something? why does she have be thrown into water, something she's known to be afraid of? what kind of 'mentalite' is this, in which violence leads to education and understanding and ability to express oneself? also, just imagine a change in the gender of the two main characters. make Michelle into a boy, and make the teacher into an aging woman, and see if the same scenes would work out.

so while its good that such a film has been made, and has been received very well, the film itself needs some very serious examination.

i do not mean to trash the film, it's a big wallop of very intense emotion (and one can take it or leave it), most people were crying almost throughout the film, and so on. so obviously, it has succeeded. however, we do need to ask what that success itself means, surely?

i am stuck with the two questions: why beat up Michelle (why write a script that requires her to be beaten up), and why is the teacher a male?

also, while helen keller is acknowledged, the fact that she was a leftist, if not a Marxist does not seem to have registered anywhere. i agree that the film is not really a life of helen keller, but still, the question does arise.