Black (2005)

Director:

Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Writers:

Sanjay Leela Bhansali (screenplay)
Prakash Kapadia (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

4 February 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

An unending darkness... A world of shadows... A ray of light that found its way... A teacher's dream... A student's miracle... A valiant journey... From ignorance to knowledge... From darkness to light... An extraordinary story of an ordinary life

Plot:

The cathartic tale of a deaf, mute and blind girl, and her teacher who brings a ray of light into her world of BLACK.

Plot Keywords:

Teacher | Mute | Alcoholic | Disability | Graduation

Awards:

19 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Amitabh Bachchan	...	Debraj Sahai
Rani Mukerji	...	Michelle McNally
Shernaz Patel	...	Catherine 'Cathy' McNally
Ayesha Kapoor	...	Young Michelle McNally (as Ayesha Kapur)
Dhritiman Chatterjee	...	Paul McNally (as Dhritiman Chaterji)
Sillo Mahava	...	Mrs. Gomes (as Silloo Mahava)
Chippy Gangjee	...	Principal Fernandes (as Chippy Ganjee)
Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal	...	Mrs. Nair
Nandana Sen	...	Sara McNally
Kenny Desai	...	Dr. Mehta
Arif Shah	...	Marc Brugger
Bomie E. Dotiwala	...	Mr. Brugger (as Bomi Dotiwala)
Jeroo Shroff	...	Mrs. Brugger
Bomi Kapadia	...	Trustee 1
Kamal Adib	...	Trustee 2
Zul Vellani	...	Trustee 3
Shehnaz Anand	...	Teacher
Polly Shroff	...	Nun
Marriane D'Cruz	...	Singer at the party (as Marianne D'Cruz)
Richard Lane Smith	...	Priest
Tiara Gandhi	...	Baby Sara McNally
Trish Xavier	...	Baby Michelle McNally
Salomi Roy Kapur	...	Martha

Directed by
Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sanjay Leela Bhansali		screenplay
Bhavani Iyer		English dialogue
Bhavani Iyer		screenplay
Prakash Kapadia		screenplay and dialogue

Produced by
Sanjay Leela Bhansali	....	producer
Gautami Bhatt	....	executive producer
Aman Gill	....	executive producer
Kuldeep Rathore	....	line producer (as Kuldeep Singh)
Anshuman Swami	....	producer (as Anshumaan Swami)

Original Music by
Monty Sharma		(as Monty)

Cinematography by
Ravi K. Chandran

Film Editing by
Bela Segal

Casting by
Amita Sehgal

Production Design by
Sabyasachi Mukherji

Art Direction by
Omung Kumar

Costume Design by
Sabyasachi Mukherji

Makeup Department
Beena Banerjee	....	hair stylist: Nandana Sen (as Beena)
Joshua Clement	....	assistant in execution of prosthetic makeup: Amitabh Bachchan
Pradeep Doiphode	....	assistant makeup artist
Dayanand Gowda	....	assistant in execution of prosthetic makeup: Shernaz Patel
Hamid Khan	....	makeup artist
Loretta	....	hairdresser: Rani Mukherjee
Nahush Namdev Pise	....	design and execution of prosthetic makeup: Shernaz Patel
Prashant	....	makeup artist: Rani Mukherjee
Ruby Sape	....	assistant hair stylist
Deepak Sawant	....	hairdresser: Amitabh Bachchan
Deepak Sawant	....	makeup artist: Amitabh Bachchan
Chang Su Chan Shiu	....	hair stylist
Chang Su Chan Shiu	....	hairdresser: Rani Mukherjee
Amber Sibley	....	prosthetic makeup effects artist: Amitabh Bachchan
Subhash	....	makeup artist: Nandana Sen
Christopher Tucker	....	prosthetic makeup designer: Amitabh Bachchan

Production Management
Gajendra Mishra	....	production manager
Meraj Shaikh	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Saurash Agarwal	....	assistant director
Dheeraj Akolkar	....	chief assistant director
Hansraj Bhaktawala	....	assistant director
Pradeep Choudhary	....	chief assistant director
Sangeeta Gala	....	assistant director
Ranbir Kapoor	....	assistant director
Sonam Kapoor	....	assistant director
Shyam Kaushal	....	action director (as Sham Kaushal)
Shabina Khan	....	assistant director
Amber Lall	....	associate director
Amar Sagar	....	assistant director
Shailey Sharma	....	chief assistant director

Art Department
Farida Hussain Ali	....	props and furniture
Vivek Bhalerao	....	assistant art director
Deepal Dass	....	graphics: Prime Focus Team
Deen Dayal	....	art department (as Deendayal)
Aditya Desai	....	graphics: Prime Focus Team
Tushar Desai	....	graphics: Prime Focus team
Dinesh	....	art department
Mehernosh Fanibanda	....	graphics: Prime Focus Team
Jagdish	....	assistant art director
Jairaj	....	art department
Ketan Kale	....	graphics: Prime Focus Team
Rahul Kurup	....	assistant art director
Somnath Lohar	....	assistant art director
Manoj	....	art department
Vishrut Manseta	....	graphics: Prime Focus Team
Ram More	....	assistant art director
Jignesh Patel	....	graphics: Prime Focus Team
Jimmy Philip	....	graphics: Prime Focus team
Tushar Shah	....	graphics: Prime Focus Team
Machhindra Shinde	....	assistant art director
Sudhakar	....	art department
Uttam	....	art department
Vinod	....	art department
Santosh Waikar	....	assistant art director
Wasim	....	art department

Sound Department
Vikram Biswas	....	sync effect assistant
Cherag Cama	....	sync sound mixing
Sajjan Choudhary	....	foley artist
Subir Kumar Das	....	re-recording assistant
Anup Dev	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jayesh Dhakan	....	adr recordist
Amrit Pritam Dutta	....	foley editor
Tanay Gajjar	....	background mixing engineer
Rajendra Gupta	....	foley artist
Boby John	....	ProTools engineer (as Bobby John)
Boby John	....	dialogue editor (as Bobby John)
Sanjay Kurian K.	....	associate sound recordist (as Sanjay Kurian)
Mohamed Husein Kalsikar	....	boom operator (as Mehmood Kalsekar)
Sasi Kasaria	....	boom operator (as Shashi Kasare)
Shajith Koyeri	....	sound editor
Vijay Kumar	....	foley artist
Manik Mukherjee	....	foley editor
Namdes Patekar	....	sync effect assistant
Resul Pookutty	....	sound designer
Resul Pookutty	....	sync sound mixing
Resul Pookutty	....	trade mixes
Bhaskar Roy	....	re-recording assistant
Kunal Sharma	....	ProTools engineer
Jahangeer Sheik	....	boom operator (as Jahangir Sheikh)
Karnail Singh	....	foley artist
Jayant Vajpayee	....	adr recordist (as Jayant Bajpeyi)

Visual Effects by
Paresh Acharya	....	digital grading co-ordinator: Prime Focus Team
Mahesh Baria	....	digital compositor: Prime Focus Team
Arup Chakravarty	....	digital recording technician: Prime Focus Team
Tony Cole	....	visual effects compsitor: Intercolour Team, Sydney
Rohan Desai	....	digital color grading: Prime Focus Team
Rohan Desai	....	visual effects supervisor: Prime Focus Team
Nirmal Gala	....	digital grading co-ordinator: Prime Focus Team
Sohail Gandhi	....	data management: Prime Focus Team
Lucky Honda	....	digital scanning technician: Prime Focus Team
Ketan Kale	....	digital compositor
Prakash Kurup	....	title designer: Prime Focus Team
Tony Leach	....	visual effects coordinator: Intercolour Team, Sydney
Warren Lynch	....	digital colourist: Intercolour Team, Sydney
Susheel Peris	....	digital compositor: Prime Focus Team
Santosh Prajapati	....	digital compositor: Prime Focus Team
Ritesh Shetty	....	digital recording technician: Prime Focus Team
Smanoj C.P.K. Verma	....	digital colorist: Prime Focus Team

Stunts
Parmajeet	....	action assistant
Heera Singh	....	action assistant (as Heera)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ayananka Bose	....	camera operator
Dharuman	....	dolly grip
V. Hariprasad	....	assistant camera
Ganesh Hegde	....	dolly grip
Irfan	....	spot boy (as Irfaan)
Dinesh Jangam	....	best boy electric
Kumar Shiv Kumar	....	spot boy
Chhabinath Mishra	....	company electrician
Mukesh	....	spot boy
Nagesh	....	camera attendant (as Nageesh)
Narayan	....	spot boy
Vikash Nowlakha	....	assistant camera
Guna Palan	....	gaffer
Rakesh Pandey	....	spot boy
Prasad	....	camera attendant
Rafiq	....	spot boy
Digamber Rajapurkar	....	spot boy (as Digambar)
Ram	....	spot boy
Nitin Rao	....	Steadicam operator
Prakash Shetty	....	gaffer
Shiva	....	assistant grip
Priyanka Sood	....	assistant camera
Sreenu	....	camera attendant
R. Sudhakaran	....	focus puller
Vasu	....	spot boy
Hari Vendantam	....	second assistant camera

Casting Department
Purnamrith Singh	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rajesh Ayyar	....	dressman (as Rajesh Iyer)
Mohammed Aziz	....	tailor
Dilip Chauhan	....	dressman
Yashpal Concessao	....	costume assistant
Dattaram	....	dressman
Nagraj Gaddam	....	dressman
Ramkrishna Gaddam	....	dressman (as Krishna Gaddam)
Vishnu Kaheri	....	dressman
Amol Kelshikar	....	costume assistant
Sher Khan	....	dressman
Mohsen Nathani	....	costumes: junior artistes
Anand Naverakar	....	dressman
Simit Sandhu	....	costume assistant
Maqbool Shaikh	....	dressman
Hyder Sheikh	....	dressman
Rajkumar Yadav	....	dressman

Editorial Department
K.N. Nayak	....	color grader: Adlabs
Tirupathi Reddy	....	associate editor (as B.R. Tirupathi Reddy)
Amit Shetty	....	negative handler

Music Department
Ashton Colaco	....	musician: saxophone
Lavine D'Costa	....	musician: double bass
Gayatri Iyer	....	playback singer (as Gyatri Ganjawala)
Zohaib Khan	....	music assistant
Pritesh Mehta	....	music programmer
Roger Menezes	....	musician: drums
Ameya Nare	....	music assistant
Taufiq Qureshi	....	musician: rhythm
Cliffton Rodricks	....	musician: piano
Nitin Shankar	....	musician: rhythm

Other crew
Vikas Bahl	....	production team: Simla
Vishal Bahl	....	caterer
Vishal Bahl	....	production coordinator: Simla
Manu Bhatia	....	production team: Simla
Manmeet Bhatti	....	publicity stills
Anil Chinrania	....	legal consultant
J.P. Choksi	....	media and strategy consultant
Joe D'Souza	....	publicity stills
Chetan Deolekar	....	production accountant
Hetal Desai	....	model coordinator
Sangeeta Gala	....	consultant: sign language
Vijendra Gupta	....	provider: vintage car
Om Prakash Jagodia	....	accounts team
Adil Jain	....	publicity stills
Pravin Jain	....	personal boy: Amitabh Bachchan
Zankhana Joshi	....	office staff
Anil Kavshik	....	applause team
Sachin Khaitan	....	production accountant
Samar Khan	....	applause team
Krishna	....	company lightman
Amber Lall	....	associate director
Frankie Malhotra	....	production assistant
Ranjit Malik	....	provider: vintage car (as Ranjeet Malik)
Peter Martis	....	public relations officer
Rajesh Mishra	....	production assistant
Vishal Modi	....	production accountant
Himanshu Nanda	....	publicity designer
Rahul Nanda	....	publicity designer
Rahul Nanda	....	web site designer
Narayan	....	personal boy: Nandana Sen
Kalidas Naryan	....	office boy
Neeraj Parashar	....	model coordinator
Rajesh	....	company lightman
K.S. Ramaiya	....	accounts team
Sachin	....	production team: Simla
Sanjeev	....	company lightman
Sanju	....	production team: Simla
Manoj Sharma	....	accounts team
Abhay Singh	....	publicity stills
Chandrakant Surekha	....	chief production accountant
Manish Temkar	....	accounts team
Upendra	....	personal boy: Rani Mukherjee
Rajnath Yadav	....	production assistant

Thanks
Navin Bhansali	....	dedicatee
Usha Bumbawala	....	special thanks (as Dr. Usha Bumbawala)
Rohan D'Souza	....	special thanks (as Dr. Rohan D'Souza and the Newman Choir)
Shripad Desai	....	special thanks: Novartis
Dinoo Gandhi	....	special thanks: National Association for the Blind
Kumar Gaurav	....	sincere thanks
Nasli Ichhaporia	....	special thanks (as Dr. Nasli Ichhaporia)
Helen Keller	....	dedicatee
Virbhadra Singh	....	sincere thanks: Hon. Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh (as V.S. Singh)
Beroz Vacha	....	sincere thanks (as Ms. Beroz Vacha)

Production Companies

• Applause Bhansali Productions
• Applause Entertainment Ltd.
• SLB Films Pvt. Ltd.

Distributors

• Bodega Films (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Al!ve AG (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Yash Raj Films (2005) (worldwide) (all media)

Special Effects

• Mr. India (special effects)
• Prime Focus (avid and telecine services)
• Prime Focus (digital grading)

Other Companies

• A. Karim & Sons (Just a Glance)  props
• A.N.N. Films  model co-ordinators (as Geetanjali and Kumeil [A.N.N. Films])
• Aashish Enterprises  water trucks
• Ace Security  security (as Ace Security System)
• Aman Enterprises  crane
• Anshutech Air Conditioning  air conditioning
• Applause Entertainment Ltd.  presents
• Aradhana Sound Services  foley (as Aradhana Studio)
• Art House  props
• Asgar & Sons  props
• Audeus  telecine
• Aum Communications  media and strategy consultants
• Ava Music Studio, Andheri West  music recording (as Ava Studio)
• Baba Digital  publicity printers
• Chauhan Travels  transports
• Chimes Image Collaborators  media and strategy consultants
• Chotu Bhai Dresswala  dresses (as Chottubhai Dresswala)
• Cine Musicians Association  strings
• Cirrus Travels  travel agency
• Debonair Car Travels  transports
• EMI Music Publishing  music publishers (as EMI - Music Publishing for L-O-V-E {B. Kaempfert - M.Gabler} published by Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc/Edition Donna Bert Kaempfert)
• Evergreen Decorators  set decoration
• Feista Sound  optical transfer
• Filmistan Canteen  catering
• Firefly's Post Sound  post-production sound (as Fireflys Post Sound Studio)
• G.G. Planks  
• Get A Grip  panther services provided by
• Great Star Films  rostrum
• H.J. Dresswala  dresses
• HDFC Bank  banker
• Helen Keller Institute for Deaf and Deafblind  acknowledgement
• Indian Timber  
• Indiatimes  media partners (as Indiatimes.com)
• Jay Mata Di Caterers  catering
• Kailesh Wigs  wigs
• Kamalistan Studios  catering (as Kamalistan Canteen)
• Kavita Water Suppliers  water trucks
• Khimji Kunverji & Company  auditors
• Lakdawala's Sound City  mixing
• M P Canteen  catering
• M.A. Planks  
• Modern Furniture  props
• Movie Grips  jimmy jib equipment
• Mukesh Cine Service  glass supplier
• Nanji B. Dosa PVT Ltd.  vintage cars
• Natural Hair  wigs
• Nishith Desai Associates  legal consultants
• P.R. Gandhi & Associates  auditors
• Paras (On Screen)  model co-ordinators
• Pragati Art Printers  publicity printers (as Pragati Offset Printers)
• Prudential Services  make-up van
• Ravi Disco Lights  lighting
• Ravi Prasad Unit  equipment and camera
• S.M. Film Power  generator
• Sagar Travels  travel agency
• Sandhu Transport Services  transports (as Sandhu Transport)
• Santosh Gupta Hardware & General Store  hardware supplies
• Say It With Flowers  flowers decoration
• Scuba Location Sound  post-production sound
• Shree Ganesh Movie Lights  lighting
• Siddhivinayak Vanity Van  make-up van
• Standard Chartered Bank  banker
• Star Gold  media partners
• Studio One  dubbing
• Trimurti Hardware & General Store  hardware supplies
• Trinity Security System  security
• V.R. Vision  panther services provided by
• Veena Enterprises  equipment hire: sync sound
• Vicky Travels  catering (transport)
• Xcelency  make-up van

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | Dolby SR

Certification:

Malaysia:U | South Korea:All | Australia:M | France:U | India:U | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

Afghan Church, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company:

Applause Bhansali Productions

Trivia:

A fire broke out on the sets at Mumbai's Film City and four fire brigades were required to put out the fire.

Quotes:

Debraj Sahai:That after spending thirty years in this school, I'm just an unseen unheard entity. When I saw the school for the last time, my students were waving to me in the wrong direction.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Golmaal Returns (2008)

Soundtrack:

L.I.G.H.T.

Black can restore one's faith in life and love

First things first. On Easter Sunday I pondered whether I should go see the film "Black" -- a film about which I had heard nothing in the popular press, until I saw its title on the cinema's Marquee. Not surprising really, since the film appears at this point to have only been released in the specialty Hindi-language Bollywood film circuit in Canada. Which is a real pity because if I had not made an accidental point of presenting myself at a movie-house that was actually screening the picture, as a Euro-heritage native-born Canadian I would likely still be walking around in a typically North American ethno-centric film fog about this excellent picture.

When I initially asked the theatre's ticket clerk what "Black" was about, his description hardly got me excited. It's the story of a teacher who helps a disabled woman. It didn't sound terribly engaging to me. But boy, was I wrong! While I am not a complete stranger to a number of Bollywood-type films, I'm lucky if I see one or two in a year, and at that, it's usually been because someone else has suggested it. While few of these "B" class movies "deserve" screen time in mainstream North American theatres, this is hardly the case for "Black". It is not a "B" class flic.

If only because the film's Director Sanjay Bhansali co-wrote the script, this obviously allowed him to imagine how he might want to capture the story with beautiful emotionally-charged cinematography. And what a sophisticated symbolically packed feast it was at that! Yet backing up the impeccable imagery was an equally top-drawer story. One dimension tells the story of a once well-regarded teacher who has come to the end of his financial, if not his existentially-justified rope, a man whose talents are neither fully recognized or completely appreciated. Then during this 11th hour turmoil, he receives a letter asking for help from the parents of a young deaf and blind girl. Her story is of course equally gripping, a girl effectively trapped in an internal prison in which language, a vital connector within herself as well as to the outside world, is missing. In this sense, both characters need one another, for both are on the common and all too true brink of being "disposable people" - people ripe relegated to become out-of-sight out-of-mind statistics in a faceless institution.

This feature of the story speaks to a possibility few of us care to contemplate, namely: "Who would care for me if everything fell to pieces?". It is a possibility reminiscent of and anchored in a time when as children we depended entirely on our parents for nurturance and love. This I think is what gives this story its privileged access to the inner-recesses of our deep emotional need for interconnection. And because it is a story told as much with emotionally poignant visuals as it is with emotionally gripping dialogue, these have a way of by-passing the usual intellectual filters we erect to both define and "protect" ourselves from one another. This film will have none of that. And the emotionally-forceful performances offered by the male and female leads simply seal our fates, leading us to co-journey with them in their heroic quest to find the light that will illumine us as much as them.

Few are the number of viewers who could experience this film and not leave better people, if only because it succeeds in allowing us to recognize the value of caring for one another as the greatest triumph, if not the most important ingredient in all of our other successes as a species. In short, this film strives to restore one's faith in the value of life and love, and does very well in that task. And what more can anyone ask from any motion picture? It is a work of genius, well executed, and a triumph of film-making, regardless the culture. Which is why I believe it deserves a lofty 10.