In a selection that has raised several eyebrows, and
being considered a blunder Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Black'
starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee in lead roles
has been selected as one of the 10 best movies of 2005 from
across the world by Time magazine.
Black, described by the magazine as the "ultimate Bollywood
love story", is about a deaf-blind girl played by Mukherjee
and her teacher enacted by Bachchan who introduces her to
the world of words.
"This is an unusual film for India: no songs, a running
time under two hours, and most of the dialogues in English,
yet it became a box office hit. It could also be a test for
Western audiences unused to the fever pitch of Indian melodrama;
they may need a warning label - Caution: Extreme Sentiment
(May be Contagious)," the magazine said about the movie.
Other films that made it to the Time list are Thailand's 'Citizen
Dog' at number six, followed by 'The Constant Gardner' of
UK-US-Brazil-Kenya, 'Once You're Born' of Italy, 'Wallace
And Gromit In The Curese Of The Were-Rabbit' of UK and 'Memoirs
of Geisha' of US.
International magazines have often erred while depicting
Bollywood because of the misinformation touted to them by
vested but influential interests. Parveen Babi, a heroine
with a lesser stature (commercially as well as talent-wise)
once made it to the cover of the same Time magazine.
Bhansali’s black, though marketed well and appreciated
by the critics, is not an original film. It is a remake of
`The Miracle Worker`, produced in 1962. It is because of these
limitations that it was not nominated for Oscars and a Shah
Rukh Khan starrer `Paheli` has become the official Indian
entry.
