It’s said beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, so its upon every moviegeor to dechiper Ram Gopal Verma’s latest outing - Nishabd. Ironically, Nishabd means wordless but the movie is verbose enough. Loosely inspired from Lolita, an unusual intimate relationship between a 60 year old man and a 18 year old girl is definitely going to be the talk of the town in coming days.
Bad or Good ?
Well, its totally upon ones mind, his/her understanding and interpretation.

In an attempt to create something different using powerhouse of talent, RGV, tries to tackle something which people don’t even talk in public. In the name of art, RGV this time pushed the envelope too far, using photography and poetry as props. He tries to present a movie, based on a moment. After watching this two hour caper, even you will be confused; what was RGV trying to highlight ?

Love, Pedophilia or was just RGV’s baby steps towards Porn ?

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Jiah Kahn, Revati
Rating:

Vijay is a wildlife photographer living with his family in a hill station. His daughter’s friend, Jiah comes over to spend her holidays with the family. The lens man’s artistic vision is triggered off when he sees Jiah’s youthful activities and starts capturing them in his camera. But the rather harmless photo session take a unpredictable turn when Amitabh sees Jiah playing in water all drenched up. Instantly his feelings towards her changes. He begins to love her…

Don’t the above sounds like some dirty book story or part of some Barely Legal Porn?

But, once you replace Vijay as Mr. Bachchan, then things do change to some extent. RGV tried to bank upon some very complicated and sensitive taboo story using Mr. Bachchan’s credibility. For creating lot less shock value, he even used Big B’s most popular film name of 70s and 80s - Vijay. But angry man on 70s had grown into love craving old man (or lusting Pedophile), depends how you interpret ?

Had he wanted to create an intricate love story, then he should not have highlighted Jaih with so much skimpy outfits. There is no justification whatsoever, why an old family man gets so much obsessed with his Daughter’s friend?
Are we trying to get into infidelity culture?

I hope public will accept the movie, as it’s part of our society we live in

- Dr. Amitabh Bachchan

The logic that Mr. Bachchan put forward is not at all convincing. If it happens in some part of society, that doesn’t need to be highlighted in such a glossy manner. If you want to bring into public knowledge, then bring it as a realistic cinema not with loads of glam shots.

Straying away from logical debate of right & wrong too, the movie doesn’t entertain at all. Its lethargic pace and flawed screenplay foils all the efforts Big B made to make Nishad at least sustainable. The movie completely crawls during the second half, after an indecent affair gets unveiled to Viajy’s daughter.

The movie might though carter to small segment of moviegoer, who tends to understand an one year old kids pencil scribbling as a modern art. RGV himself quotes in movie - ‘Some love stories are never meant to be understood’. Maybe once again, he made a movie for himself, not aam janta.

Page 3 Coverage of Nishabd

Performance wise Big B as always stays on top. His close-ups, and emoting through the eyes still continues. During penultimate reels, his haplessness and gazing into the sky expressions were pretty well captured. Newcomer Jaih Khan, looks promising and fits the bill of the role. With sexy bode and vulnerable facial expressions, she was a perfect discovery. Revati (playing Amitabh’s wife) once again surprises with her reserved talent. Shraddha Arya as Ritu (Amitabh’s daughter) and Aftab (as guest appearance) are just adequate.

One man’s art is another man’s porn. So, Nishabd is not everyone’s cup of tea, at least not mine.