Nishabd’ cannot be judged by sounds around the film. It can just be felt. And, for this, one has to belong to the breed who care for good cinema and not just a good entertainer. Please note. ‘Nishabd’ is not an entertainer, but it is for sure a good film. More if you are a creative person because this specie is tending to fall in love with the younger breed more than often. Shekhar Kapur, Salman Rushdie and many others have shown it.
‘Nishabd’ dares tread on this path though not socially; it shows some tender moment, it comes like a breeze, makes some froth and then settles down. Nothing more, nothing less. It doesn’t raise any question on the relationship; neither does it try to justify this kind of attraction, infatuation or lust (whatever one may name it). Raj Kapoor did it decades ago in ‘Mera Naam Joker’. Others tried it in ‘Lamhe’, ‘Ek Choti Si Love Story’ and ‘Ek Nayi Paheli’ many times. But, if the directors of these films tried to put their perceptions of these relationships, Ramu defies the norm and leaves the question to the audience as to how they take Vijay’s love to them.
Yes, Vijay of Hindi Cinema has relieved many of pains; sometimes as a police inspector, sometimes a ‘Don’, and as a spoiled brat. But, now he wants you to share his pain. He has turned photographer. Vijay (Amitabh) is a rich person owning a tea estate; photography is just a passion for him. He has a well natured wife (Revathy) and bubbly daughter. During the vacation with his daughter, arrives her daughter’s close friend Jiah or J as she loves to be called. While Revathy gets busy polishing her nails, her mother watches ‘Saas Bahu’ serial.
Meanwhile Jiah takes interest in lonely Vijay. They discuss photography, life, happiness and pain. They fall in love in spite of more that 40 years of age difference between the two. The intensity deepens and relations start cracking. But, Vijay takes a firm decision and admits before his wife that he loves a girl who is actually his daughter’s best friend. The family is shattered. To unite it again, Vijay kills his feelings and sends Jiah back to her home. Now, Vijay is shattered. However, this isn’t unusual as many don’t get what they wish just like Vijay’s short voyage with a teenager girl! She comes in his life, gives him some moments to cherish and leaves with some memories for ever.
Vijay too wishes to live the rest of his life with those tender moments he spent with Jiah. The film reaches its pinnacle because of its presentation. Even if it did not have Amitabh Bachchan the impact would have been the same, because it is not the character but the narration that makes ‘Nishabd’ reach this status. Amitabh has in the past done better roles than this. How can we forget ‘Silsila’, before praising him for this role in ‘Nishabd’? He may not have earlier played with his image like this time since he seems to be desperate now to earn maximum before the retirement. As an actor Amitabh Bachchan’s best was noticed in ‘Sarkar’.
If he does something better as Gabbar, it is okay, else ‘Eklavya’ has been the last over of his last innings. Those who have seen Amitabh’s films like ‘Chupke Chupke’, ‘Saudagar’, ‘Muqaddar Ka Sikandar’, ‘Sharabi’ and ‘Kala Patthar’ know how variable he was in his acting those days. Now, every director wants him to cry on the screen. They make him a sufferer and these roles don’t suit him. No doubt, he works very hard to play his part, but he gets tense, too. The tenderness of his eyes is missing . When he cries in pain in close up, we know it is because of glycerin. In ‘Nishabd’ too, he does this in the climax; in another scene he tries to do that but fails as he hadn’t used glycerin.
Director Ram Gopal Varma may have added some intimate scenes in the film from his own experiences, that he has shared with his heroines (Urmila, Antara, Isha, Katrina and now Jiah), and they have filled the ambience with some real charm. His color tone in the whole film has given the film a feeling of intrigue. The camera angles are low when Vijay does right things, otherwise it goes high. The locations of Munnar in Kerala are just perfect for these kinds of stories. The only disappointment for those who go in search of Lolita will be that Jiah exposes nothing more than her legs.
She looks confident on camera but the depth of her acting will be tested when she does something that she is not in real life. Revathy and Nasser provide ample support to the film. As I said earlier ‘Nishabd’ will be liked by the loners but it will be a flop of the year because no one will wish to take his girlfriend for a movie that shows how to fall in love with an uncle living nearby. Ramu has delivered a flop in ‘Shiva’, a slow one in ‘Nishabd’ and now all eyes are on his take on ‘Sholay’, even today he is shooting for it. Everyone knows what a hat trick of flops means in film industry. And, Mr Bachchan knows it better.