Nishabd : Never say Never
It was the summer of ‘99. I lived in Australia along with my divorced mom. The school I went to had many students from India, students - who’s parents had sent them to Australia to study, since I was told there is a dearth of good schools in India. I soon became fast friends with PimpleTop and then one day when he suggested that I come with him to see his hometown in India during our summer vacations… I readily agreed.
But that is not the reason, I, Jioz… am standing here on my toilet seat ready to dive into it and commit suicide. The reasons are much intense, one that shook my life and as it will yours O dear viewer, reader or watching me on pirated DVD or downloading my live streaming video because some idiot pedophile may have installed a hidden camera in my bathroom… Teesri Ankh - the third eye?
We reached Ram Bharose hills and arrived at this palatial bungalow where I met PimpleTop’s Father, Mother, Grandma and a deaf servant. As I was pulling out my suitcase from the bail-gaadi (Hinglish : Bullock-cart)… I noticed everyone in the family was looking… at my ass. I don’t blame them, for I am not a pant or a shorts guy. I don’t like wearing them. I’m only comfortable wearing a langot (Hinglish: Desi form of a male g-string)… and my Bikram yoga shaped ass cheeks were desperately peeking out… I smiled. I get a lot of ass-attention in Australia because of my lovely ass and my langot dress sense. The same was now true in Ram Bharose Hills.
That night I sat on the family sofa watching some weird TV drama called “Kyonki Chaach Bhi Kabhi Dahi Tha” and I can’t understand one bit of it or understand the reason why the entire family was hooked on to it. PimpleTop’s dad is in the next room doing some painting or some shit like that. PimpleTop and his Mom are watching the drama while his eighty two year old grandma has a stainless steel plate in her lap in which she’s cleaning the rice grains.
As I sit there on the sofa licking some whipped cream (don’t ask why), I look at grandma… who seems to be a bit high from an extra dose of Glycodin(Hinglish: Indian version of Vicodin). She looks at me through her 60 inch thick glasses… our eyes meet… the ISI stamped stainless steel plate in grandma’s lap starts shaking… I lick some more whipped cream… the shaking of the plate gets intense… seeing grandma, thick glasses, stainless steel plate and her jet white hair… sends a tingling sensation through my body…
I’m in love with PimpleTop’s Grandmother.
Then the next day the following happened not necessarily in the same sequence. Father gets joolab (Hinglish: A stomach problem that makes you sit on the toilet seat for 24 hours at a stretch), Mother had headache (too much Chach Dahi serials) and PimpleTop has a fresh set of pimples landing on his face (so he’s covered with Clearisil or some yellowy pinkish colored cream on his face).
Sine the bathrooms are all “occupied” I go to relieve my self in the garden. For lack of toilet paper I pick up the garden hose pipe and start bathing in the water - for no rhyme or reason. Grandma looks at me from the window… licking her lips. She wants me… but this Samaj (Hinglish: Society) will not let her “do it”. I’m heart broken… I have to think of some other way to have her break the shackles of Ram Bharose Hills Samaj Chit Funds Pvt. Ltd.
Since the entire family is suffering from one sickness or the other… it leaves just Grandma… to show me around the town of Ram Bharose Hills. Grandma starts driving the polished black color open top Baiel Gadi while I sit next to her exposing my langoti covered ass for her view. Grandma’s hands are shaking with her lusty nervousness, as she reins the bullocks… the intense shaking of her nervous hands makes the bullocks move forward in this shapely form -
Sitting on a hilltop I ask Grandma - “When was the last time you had sex?”
Grandma is vibrating like hell. Her white colored wig blows off in the air… she’s nervous as hell.
I take her hand and look in her eyes…
The scene is just perfect - the lust/love/whatever in my eyes as I look at her, her wanting me but fearful look, the wig stuck on a tree branch being pushed around by the winds of Ram Bharose Hills, the beautiful lush greenery, the pure virgin air gently brushing my langot covered ass…
It was perfect… it was… things would be all rosey dosey, lovey dovey from here…
BUT…
it couldn’t… cause
We walked out of Nishabd a mere 30 minutes after the opening titles.
They say you hate those the most you love the most… so do pardon my hair tearing heart breaking frustration.
RGV no doubt has had a hand shaping the way films are made in India today, bringing forth numerous smart cine-professionals, the techniques and all that…
Shiva 1 was violent yet it brought forth his sharp smack you in the face style, Rangeela felt a bit hollow - but it was honest, genuine and full of lip smacking fun, Satya was right on the dot, Kaun? was one helluva an experiment, Company was sharp with jagged edges…
The common factor was Varma’s knack of providing the perfect blend of realism with entertainment. And whenever he has gone off track, he has failed to impress. Nishabd is one of those mind boggling - how the hell could this be a RGV product? - ones.
And a big question for those who are praising the film in the media…
Did you watch some odd version of Nishabd that is different from what is released in the theaters? Are you impressed with the age old - it’s really getting tiring - techniques where things like camera angles, legs splashed all over the screen and ear drum shattering background music to evoke emotions in the viewer are being used to carry the story forward?
Is this what impressed the media? What movies are they feeding on each day of their lives? This is the fucking reason why were stuck with driving Ambassador and Fiat cars for more than 30 years in India because we were made to believe we don’t need anything better than them.
From the very first frame the objective of legs, love, longing is thrown right at our face magnified a million times over. Why? The purpose is lost then are there. Why was there such a rush to show the story of love between two people of different age groups? Insecurity? Rush to get it over with? Fear of a negative reaction?
Why is more frame space given to Jiah’s legs than the faces of the actors? And someone please explain the constant use of background music who’s sole intention was to invoke emotions in the audience? Did we need that?
What road is RGV walking on? This isn’t where he started and has enthralled us with for the last two decades… not withstanding odd stupidities like Shiva 2, James or even to some extent Sarkar among a few others.
Experimenting is one thing (Kaun? is a fine example)… but the fear of another rejection is blatantly out there on the screen to see in this work of Varma. Where the hell is the fearlessness of a film maker who’s defied all formulas and traditional Bollywood moves, to create a mark for himself in the Indian film industry. Where is that blow your brains out story ideas, the sharp story telling sense, the I-care-a-damn if it hasn’t been done before - attitude?
I never expected to walk out of a RGV movie in 30 minutes. Sadly that day has arrived.
Coming to the actors, there’s nothing much to say about Amitabh Bachchan, as we get to see him more than seeing our own faces in the mirror these days. Bachchan in the truest sense has become a school of acting and cinema, having a firm air-tight grip on the medium.
Jiah Khan came out as being quite natural though I didn’t get to see much of her talent besides the legs that Varma splashed over and over and over and over again on the screen. We get the point! Could we damn move on!
The cinematography of Amit Roy leaves no complaints but Varma’s vision does.
C Minus. Varma making a Nishabd signals the fact… that Doomsday has arrived.
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Funny, I am someone who watches movies even after reading commercial movies. It would suffice to say that I trust laymen like me more than paid journos (barring a few). I read Raja Sen and he went overboard with praise. Baradwaj Rangan on the other hand is much more muted, though it damns RGV’s vision in making this movie. If I did not know Baradwaj’s reviews better, I’d be very confused. This was not the movie for an image conscious leading man and Amitabh is every bit of that. And sadly there is no actor of his age who could carry a movie without making it seem like a B-movie. Bah, if only where Amitabh bold enough to push the limits!
[Edited by Admin: Rockstar this is another warning from PFC - please refrain from using PFC to personally attacking and verbally abusing people... we will have no choice but to ban you from PFC if this is repeated]
just read an article on nishabd by subhash k jha
http://indiafm.com/features/2007/03/03/2330/index.html
its hilarious…
is this guy sleeping with RGV ????
i know he is bachchan’s chamcha…but may
be he’s also sleeping ard with RGV
i also read an article by him in bombay times
and how he dislikes mallika sherawat because she doesnt take her calls
and how these actresses get big in the head and
how his job is to clear out the dirty job of stars
and how he expects them to be honest to him before he takes the necessary actions to over up their sins..that was another
hilarious article by the same man and
trust me he was very seriosuly
saying all these things
But the worst is he is called a film
journalist
why our cinema is in such a bad state..
why we never grow up ?…its sad really sad…
if i could i would shoot this bastard point blank
p.s.
i have never hated an RGV film
i liked his experiments
but ths one is flawed …it was directed like an 80’s film
if someone told me it was directed by vipul shsh(of waqt fame)..i would have believed it
Anantha,
I think it is a good concept with respect to Indian cinema and Indian sensibilities. I dont think “pushing limit” either happens in our society or can be digested by our audience. It does happen in US and obviously lot of such people who have watched such kind of movies would want RGV/Bachchan to go all out. As a director/actor, they have already initiated a “different” genre with this movie and hopefully in future lot of filmmakers would depict more openness but for that our society toohas to evolve.
“This was not the movie for an image conscious
leading man and Amitabh is every bit of that. And
sadly there is no actor of his age who could
carry a movie without making it seem like a
B-movie. Bah, if only where Amitabh bold enough
to push the limits!”
Anantha, I so agree with what you’ve said above.
With the image AB has, doing such a movie is a
risk and taking it any further would be way toooo risky…….and I doubt any top star would agree
this role leave alone showing a physical
relationship between a 60 year old man and an 18
year old woman…BUT…..speaking for myself (i
havent watched the movie yet) I would think that
focussing some attention on the physical aspect
of such a relation is absolutely important, it
will give a better ‘understanding’ of the
relationship.
Anyway, i am hoping to watch the movie in about 2
weeks….AB has been given awesome
reviews……thats good enough for me…
Hmmmm
I would still watch it. Even he makes shit, it would be some special shit..
Also,
How can you judge a film if you walked out after 30 mins? May be the first 30 mins is bad and the film is phentastik after that!?
I would watch Nishabd, with that thought.
I hated James, Shiva II, Naach, but still its hard to forget Satya, Company and Rangeela.
I might give it a go - for Zurya’s Sc. 55+56
As a viewer paying $8 to watch a movie, I need to be entertained or enlightened throughout the duration of the movie. My time is also valuable so if you as a filmmaker are going to bore me for the first 30 minutes and insult my intelligence, there is nothing wrong with walking out.
The dialogs were absolutely cheesy. From the very first scene, everything was FORCED to the maximum. There just seemed no natural attraction in RGV’s scenes, which is why he repeatedly had to cut back to Amitabh sitting in a chair explaining what was happening. We’re not fools.
And why is it so necessary to have the score playing right through every frame of the film? That’s because the scenes are devoid of emotion and so the director has to resort to music to cheat his audience into a particular feeling.
If it was the young girl’s spirit that the old man was attracted to, which is what is harped on, why keep focusing on her legs and ass and pouty lips? Why not focus on her spirit? And what kind of pathetic excuse for a spirit was that anyway? Brainless and annoying are now treated as qualities of an attractive girl?
An innovative concept for an Indian audience yes. But concept alone does not a movie make. Be true to it, don’t insult the audience’s intelligence. If you’re going to continuously focus the camera on the woman’s ass and legs, then honestly say that your story is about an old man sexually attracted to a young girl. Don’t tell me he loves her spirit.
Hyderabad’s post-preview gossip is that Poison Ivy was the inspiration behind Ramu’s silence. And all the thurkee gult movie makers are already in the process of making up stories that figure characters tailor-made (no pun intended, aayi shapath) for Jiah.
My two cents after the $8 expense…
Yes, RGV played it safe a bit. But he succeeded in humanising Amitaabh. You have never seen him play such an ordinary role, post his superstardom. The love was unconvincing and the script had its loopholes, but Amitaabh’s role and its dilemma were worth going to the movie for.
Cinematography was great, background score was pedestrian and Jiah was confident though found wanting many times.
I was a bit shocked to see such reviews on PFC after praise on Rediff.com. I believe that movies that are lauded to the skies by some and ripped apart by others ultimately do have something interesting in them and hence went for Nishabd. Vijay and Oz had indicated what to expect; but after the 30 minutes, I did find a lot of good stuff.
And oz, your imagination ran wild and was a hilarious read!
Bachchan
Oz…Ha ha ha….As usual, an ozview! N those of u who think its bold acrdng 2 indian sensiblts n audinc choice n all that….Go n check out somnath sen’s leela. Old woman n young guy, gr8 music n wht prfrmnc by dimple kapadia.
I’ve also gave my tribute to RGVs’ Love, Labour and Lost (of Ideas) Nishabd on mohitmishra.wordpress.com. have a look
I hate RGV. So no comments! [-(
very true oz… but these kinda movies will not stop coming until and unless
they don’t do good business… but unfortunately.. this kind of films recover the cost with a week or two…
like KANK etc.,… plus overseas business… so, we’ll have to suffer…..
Ahum…. Firstly Oz man ur reviews rock.That was(humor was typical Oz) a passionate display of what all RGV fans feel right now
I have to start by excepting I belong to this species(soon getting extinct) of film fanatics who absolutely are mad of the kinda cinema RGV produces (or shall i say used to). The types that would watch a Ksera-sera movie without any second thoughts.
But watching Nishbadh made me wonder what the fuck has gone wrong with guy.
It would have hurt less if there were no expectation with Nishbadh but he screwed up and he screwed up big time. I never thought i would say this but i think even K3G was better than this crap.
Mr. Verma, you need to pull up your socks man cos at this rate the tribe will be extinct in a movie or 2
Phoenixnu, I too was reminded of Leela when I was thinking of the movie. Still, it was made by an Indian-American and set in the USA.
Wait every year for a Black Friday coz nothing else will ever impress any one of you… Nishabd is a reality of the human mind given a visceral language by RGV. The legs will pull you in, then the tickle will make you laugh and then the face will flash every time the eyes close. Love finds its own way, may originate from lust and end up as a longing. Nishabd’s visual style is no different from Rangeela which most of you still rave about… And you are talking about Ramu playing safe? Well, Vijay lived in Jiah’s memories even as his wife cooked meals for him everyday. Isn’t that an envelope pushed enough. Don’t tear it apart friends. Don’t set benchmarks that don’t exist. If Anurag can’t accept his Oscar from Kunal Kohli, you don’t have to dump a Razzie on Ramu. He deserves better and no, I am not sleeping with him.
Nice one Pratim… ive jut left my vies on the post Surya began.
Oh, and for those who think Raja Sen from Rediff was paid….well he is very critical of films and ‘Omkara’ and i think ‘Dor’ were the only films he approved of last year, so please lets not do that whole ‘He was paid’ nonsense.
Thankyou…
Sorry about the spelling mistakes!!
I meant to say, ”i’ve just left my views on the Surya post”, and not ”jut my vies.”
Sorry guys!!
[Pratim]“He deserves better and no, I am not sleeping with him.”
:d:d:d:d
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=30&contentid=200703050349499531646fb34
Pliss be reading AB’s quotes on Nishabd especially how everyone was moved to tears after watching N. It’s hilarious
Amitabh Bachchan can’t be shown like a typical
old man. That’s just not cool. Its like Ramu
is asking society to accept this relationship
using Bachhcan as frontcover. That is just so not
cool. You can’t have Amitabh weak and confused
and crying. He’s crying all the time ridiculous.
What we needed was Sean Connery-Catherine Zeta
Jones type flirting, what we got was a cryfest of
guilt and lecturebazi. Ugh such a major screwup!
Hope Cheeni Kum gets it!
I love the dialog in the trailer of Cheeni Kum - “Shaadi woh keemat joh aadmi sex ke liye chukaata hai, sex woh keemat hai jo aurat shaadi ke liye chukaati hai”
^^Yeah that’s why Cheeni Kum looks more promising. Pity though. Nishabd could have been great also, only if Ramu didn’t turn amitabh into another man!
Nishabd: A sincere love story of an old man.
Nishabd is a paradoxical love story of an introvert, helpless old man and an extrovert girl from a broken family.
RGV
Thanks Farouq.. not that i made the film, but i really enjoyed reading ur views.
Sadly, not many saw what u or I did regarding ‘Nishabd’ but i didnt expect people to.
Ur post is very well written.
The ‘nishabd’ gang is building up… very slowly, lol!
cheers, Steve!
Thank you Steve….
Lets keep the fire alive…the source of cinematic passion…
M sure there are many of us out there…just need to connect….keep the faith, thats what u say to each other at times like this…
Cheers
Farauq
AB,RGV,Steve,Tushar,Farauq - CHEERS
me too Jwalant!
Whoa!
Pleasant surprise!
Thanks to you guys too!!
Jwalant, Farouq, RGV and ofcourse Surya and Tushar bhai!!
Just hope RGV’s reading, lol!!
By the way, has Honhaar any plans of contributing as it is a RGV film????
Lol!!
Yes you too Pratim!
So many of us.. losing count, ha!!:d/
Steve,Nishabd dubaara dekh lee kya?
Arre kahan yaar!!
Im currently overwhelmed by real life, so ‘reel’ life had to take a back seat!
Sadly, and not-so-shockingly, my local has pulled ‘Nishabd’ off due to the very poor response!
Oh man.. really wanted to go back again!
Meri phooti kismet! (ok, no more Nirupa Roy films for me, lol!!)
oh mie gaawd…things ‘they’ do huh…
btw, i saw Pursuit of Happyness today, really loved it, esp the second half, no time to review it but it deserves one.
Tushar, i also saw ‘Pursuit…’ and totaly loved it!
I feel that Will Smith has come a long way in terms of character enactment.
He is highly impressive in this film.
The film too is a very enjoyable one.
I only caught it recently, and the most amazing thing was, you are actually on this graph of highs and lows with the character.
I found it very real..touching and actually hilarious in certain scenes.
I will add this to my dvd collection when it releases.
I was thinking of abbreviating ‘Tushar Bhai’ to just T.B!
But that just makes you sound like a ‘khatarnaakh beemari’! =))
talking of “real” cinema, i just saw totally “unreal” movie. It’s called “300″.
It’s about a army of 300 greek warriors called “Spartans” taking on a army of thousands of persian soldiers.
The movie has stunning look through out. It was “original” in the sense of how “unreal” it is. But most part of the movie reminds me of other movies like Lord of the rings, Hero and Gladiator. It could have been the best movie ever if at all it did’nt have similarities to the other movies i’ve mentioned above, in terms of the way certain scenes were shot.
The movie as a whole was a good experience as it tells the story of Spartan empire and their bravery. Watch it just for the “look” of it.
Here’s the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhi5×7V3WXE
// Shiva
That’s the first review I have read of ‘300′!
It only just released in the U.K yesterday and I am going to watch it.
Thanks for that Shiva. (cool name by the way!)
The entire movie has been filmed inside the studio. All the props, locations alongwith the other effects have been rendered digitally. 300 has also been released in the HD format.
i saw 300 and rocky balboa the same week, and rocky balboa was as much of a surprise as 300 was a disappointment.
but 300 first. i did not know that there was a battle of thermopylae in real history. i thought it was something frank miller thought up, the racial undercurrents were so strong. wiki rectified this understanding soon enough, though.
when i entered the theatre, i was expecting the movie to be faithful either to history or to frank miller’s novel. historical fidelity was out of the window when i realised that the beginning of the movie was literally lifted from frak miller’s graphic novel. even the dialogues.
This is madness!
This is Sparta!!!
– spoiler alert –
The weird sub-plot of the queen and the senator was incredibly vexing, not to mention, missing from the graphic novel.
i mean, a queen that breathed spartan values betraying them in a moment of weakness to a creature as vile as the senator, only to regain it later and redeem herself? towards what end? i mean, it was not like there was any doubt that leonidas was going to live, was there?
and what the hell was the idea with potraying xerxes as a 7 foot transvestite?
— spoiler alert over —
in other words, watch the movie if you don’t know what happened historically, or have not read frank miller’s graphic novel. otherwise, you are slated for grand disappointment.
i mean, i was actually relieved when leonidas died. phew, it’s over, i think i said.
now, to rocky balboa.
i do not like boxing. i think it is a brutal sport. wait, i do not think a stadium full of people drinking coke and cheering while two grown men beat each other to a pulp qualifies as a sport. there is a reason why WWE [earlier, WWF] wrestling does not appear in the Olympics.
but the movie, and especially stallone, really got the audience involved. i had walked into the theatre just wanting to sit and watch some mindless drama and poorly delivered dialogue, but stallone really did a good job in the movie, and what made the movie a great investment was the storyline, the script, and a resounding social message. ‘it does not matter how hard you can hit; what matters is how hard you can get hit and still keep hitting.’
woa, power. there were at least three pearls of wisdom in that movie, and that sat very well with stallone’s characterisation as a man who had seen a lot of life.
all in all. if you must burn 10 dollars for a movie ticket, pick rocky balboa.
Onkar:
i mean, a queen that breathed spartan values betraying them in a moment of weakness to a creature as vile as the senator, only to regain it later and redeem herself? towards what end?
She was sacrificing her “virtues” to save her husband and ergo Sparta! I don’t know how you could term it as a betrayal of Spartan values! In fact I would call it just the opposite.
i mean, it was not like there was any doubt that leonidas was going to live, was there?
Errr, she was trying to get the senate agree to send the whole of Sparta’s army out to back up the 300, wasn’t she? And with that kind of backup, leonides could have been alive too.
I loved nishabd and i totally agree with Farouk’s review….. watched the movie twice in 3 days..
Oh yeah…i made sure I got to see Surya’s name come up on screen….:d