Nishabd happens to be one of the very few movies that I have watched in a theatre alone. Probably thats why I liked it more. The movie uses loneliness quite effectively by using an almost desolate Munnar tea estate as its setting. With just 5 characters, Ramgopal Varma shows glimpses on why he cannot be written off as a film-maker yet.
He uses simple techniques like interspersing long shots with extreme close-ups, a baritone flashback tone and long silent sequences to draw you into the world of Vijay (Amitabh Bachhan), his wife Amrita ( Revathy), their daughter Ritu and her friend Jiah. Vijay like most Indians of that age has nothing special to look forward to either in his life or his partner. His wife in a seemingly monotonous fashion manages day to day activities and the estate. Vijay is a photographer but his family members dont seem to share his passion to that extent. His daughter almost thinks he is a bore.
Enter Jiah for a vacation with her friend. A whiff of fresh air, abandon and sauciness. Did I forget sexy? Yes those long legs and small shorts are attractive but travels in Singapore's MRTs satiate better. The buildup to the romance is excellent with a good screenplay and smart dialogues. Although there are scenes in the movie which indicate a certain lust in Amitabh's eyes, but the director also infuses conflicting emotions like a desire for change and in some cases a bond for another artist (Jiah happens to write decent poetry). Further, Jiah is not a normal kid. Her parents are divorced, she shares a fractous relationship with her mother. So her indiscretion is justifiable from a characterization standpoint.
But hey arent these two supposed to sleep together? Yes I would agree if it was Hollywood. But I think Varma uses their first kiss(but it was a pappi in my opinion) to signal that more could be possible but the situations hinder it. Vijay's daughter sees them in the act and wants Jiah to leave. His wife gets all emotional about it. The baggage is too much and he has to ask her to leave. Yes , he says he loves her , agrees that he is a hypocrite but manages to sour all the relationships. His wife no longer trusts him, the daughter leaves for the US in shame and he has sent Jiah out. He contemplates suicide but returns to savour the memories of Jiah.
If an old man of 60 saying he loves a 18 year old sounds difficult to digest, I would think just a sexual relationship would also be especially in the Indian context. Now I think a lot of viewers would be disappointed with the movie because there was no sex, seeming to suggest that such a relationship can only be explained by lust. I am not too sure of that and hence would still call a movie a good effort although many sequences in the second half are forced and abrupt. The romance could have been allowed to smoulder for a while and the additional character of Nasser as his brother in law was too convenient from a scripting standpoint.
Cinematography of the lush Munnar locales is excellent. Background score is also suitable. Although it is getting difficult to rate Amitabh Bachchan's acting nowadays, I liked the scene where he sings Jiya jale to Jiah showing how underutilized his comic timing is yet. Revathy is excellent and Jiah Khan makes a good debut.
Its a vastly improved effort from Ramgopal Varma but its his obsession to be different is going to be severely tested at the box office.
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