Nishabd
Film Review
At long legs… oops, long last Ram Gopal Verma’s supposedly controversial film gets released. The film has been long in legs… aargh, I mean long in news, mostly for all wrong reasons.
The story goes thus: a family man Vijay (Amitabh Bachhan uses his erstwhile screen name after ages) lives in a picturesque house with his homely wife Amruta (Revathi) and his young daughter (Shradha Arya). On one holiday the daughter brings home her friend, a reckless young girl Jiah (Jiah Khan), who has long long legs, and who comes from a broken family. The long legs moves about in the house, and though initially Vijay finds it disconcerting, gradually he starts thawing towards them. So, he takes her on long legs… oops, long drives to show her the tea estate. They have long legs… err, long conversations about life and love and marriage. In not so long legs… aargh, I mean not-so-long-time they get attracted to each other, so much so in the long legs… oho, I mean in the long run Vijay confesses about his attraction to his wife.
In the long legs… ok ok ok, I give up and that’s where the entire problem lies! Verma was so obsessed in showing the long legs of Jiah in every conceivable shot, from every conceivable angle, roaming in the tiniest conceivable shorts that he totally forgot that there has to be a story and screenplay in a film as well! By the time the film finishes, it looks as if we have seen a brilliant advertisement on legs, but a pathetic film on emotions.
The one line story was over the moment Amitabh Bachchan starts to narrate it. And stretching it over the next two hours was, well, stretching it unnecessarily! The filler moments are dull, boring and unimaginative. Vermasaab, I know you hate Barjatya’s movies, but I seriously suggest you buy a DVD of Hum Aapke Hain Koun and learn how Sooraj Barjatya padded his non-story with some brilliant moments that make the film worth viewing every time it is shown on any channel s umpteenth re-run!
Worse, the film doesn’t even tackle the issue sensitively or at length (except for showing the legs…uh, there I go again!) An old man-young girl romance required a lot of working on, rather than just showing off Jiah’s body and her bathing in the garden! Even though it seems the film didn’t want to portray it as lust, that’s exactly what it comes across. It’s understandable from Jiah’s point of view that she would fall for the first intelligent father figure she comes across (after all, her own father had left her when young, and she feels that void in her life). But Vijay’s emotional churning needed much more justification. Since the entire film is set in just a few days, the lust factor seems all the more relevant.
The direction is kiddish, as if an amateur director has made his first film. And had it not carried the names of Verma, AB and Revathi, it would have ended as one of those seedy morning show films! Strange that a director who is so vocal about realism chooses to dress up Jiah in teeny weeny shorts when his hero is covered in thick jackets!
The dialogues are listless. And, though the cinematography shows enough shots of a lush green Munnar (Kerala) still I couldn’t fathom why the entire look was overall gloomy and dull! The background score is the only exciting factor, which uplifts some lethargic scenes.
Performances are all good, but then both Revathi and Amitabh Bachchan are seasoned actors. Debutante Jiah Khan has - sigh, I can’t help mention it once again - long and beautiful legs, and is quite attractive. But to survive in the industry, she would require much more, and certainly these days Verma’s protege tag is hardly going to help!
In short, a wasted effort!
Overall - All legs, no soul!
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March 15th, 2007 at 9:52 am
So the reviews of Nishabd.
But yet to see so will read it later on
March 15th, 2007 at 10:14 am
Juneli - Not worth watching it even!
March 15th, 2007 at 10:23 am
I never had the intention of watching this one too…. basically because i am not much of an AB fan, and we get an overdose of him everywhere we look, newspapers, magazines, TV….
and that stupid UP campaign that he is doing…. Tell me, as a resident of UP, do you agree with all the claims made in that campaign?
March 15th, 2007 at 10:42 am
Anks - Well, I am more a ‘guest’ of UP than a ‘resident’ of it
But still, that advt is nothing but stupid hype, and it saddens me to see AB playing in the hands of some politicians !
As an actor, I hv no problems with AB at all. I really liked him Eklavya, and even in this one i wudnt find faults with AB’s performance at all.
The problem is with the film, which simply doesnt hold either interest or forces you to think much. Frankly, RGV should retire now, else he is going Dev Anand way, introducing bimbos by the dozen, and making stupid films!
March 15th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
hmm..is it in shah?or anjana?i still somehow wanna watch it.
March 15th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Taarika - *gasp* u from Agra ?!! Didnt know that
Anyways, it’s on at Fun Republic (Pacific Mall)
March 15th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Thanx..though finding that out wasnt a prob..u know.twas jus about another clue..hehey!!!
March 15th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Taarika - Hmm, seems like a jigsaw puzzle where all clues are adding up…wonder where it will end LOL …
The gasp was also coz i had written a few not so flattering things about Agra in the recent past on this blog, and when i posted it , i wasnt really expecting someone from the city to read it … hope u wont mind all that
March 15th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Hi DJ, Funny review LOL!. I had read that the movie was not so good. Will definitely miss it now.
March 16th, 2007 at 8:47 am
long legs… um hmm… so far i think there hasn’t been really good movie for long time… infact looks like there is a big competition for making bad movies!
March 16th, 2007 at 8:52 am
No plans of watching this one…But your review is the BEST I’ve read for this movie..:)
aur iss weekend kaunse movie dheekne ka plan hai?? ‘Just Married’ ya ‘Hattrick’??
March 16th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Vidya - Thanks
Yeah, u can easily skip this one.
Abhishek - LOL, yeah the legs are good. Wish the story was similar
U r bang on - none of the movies this year has had that zing which makes you watch it again!
Mehak - Thanks
Iss weekend in all probabilities its gonna be Just Married - hope i get the tickets today!
March 16th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Lucky you…..review likhna jaldi….
Yaar bangalore jaa ke sub movies bandh…Chennai mein its been its been like one movie every weekend….bangalore mein tkts milna..aur upar se…traffic mein nikalna…so we’ll again prefer getting DVDs….
btw, I have read nice reviews of 1971.
March 16th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Mehak - Same thing when I m in Delhi … it’s while i m out of home, i get to see so many movies in the hall.
BTW, i hv got the e-ticket booked for Just Married, for the evening show. Toh aaj ka plan pucca hi hai
Yep, hv been seeing its trailer for a while, it looked good.
March 16th, 2007 at 10:50 am
ohh kewl..chalo phir by sunday i expect its review here
have a nice time.
March 17th, 2007 at 5:01 am
DJ
Unlike the long legs, your short but sweet review is extremely mature.
Thanks for saving the time, energy and money since I would skip the watching this movie.
Regards.
-Harshad Jangla
Atlanta, USA
March 16 2007
March 17th, 2007 at 8:25 am
totally agree with u DJ. It was one boring movie and we were cursing ourselves for making a trip 30 miles away to watch it…..
March 17th, 2007 at 9:49 am
Harshad -
Prakash - Yeah, that would hv been so much time waste…but there’s Just Married released this week, loved the movie, so u can make up for the Nishabd fiasco