"Black and White" directed by Subhash Ghai is about a Muslim terrorist from Afghanistan who aspires to come to India and cause a Hindu massacre. Anurag Sinha, who plays this role, looks as shady and dangerous as the role permits him to, from the moment he first steps out of that train , into Delhi. He lives undercover in a friend's house, changing his identity so that he's not discovered. All the Muslims around seem to know his secret, although they don't know how mean and fanatical he is. This is a man purely acting on revenge, and not reason. Anyways, Anil Kapoor plays a kind-hearted professor that has a lot of tolerance. You can imagine when he is Hindu and has the Quran memorized. Now, the regular Indian clichéd plot of this movie would be that Anil Kapoor influences the terrorist so much with his compassion and love, that the terrorist doesn't end up bombing the Hindu temple and killing all those people. Although the movie works towards this ending, the terrorist doesn't. Sinha's face is pretty much that of a terrorist: his expression is dead serious. I can't imagine him hugging anyone or even smiling. It looks so ridiculous when Aditi Sharma (a Muslim girl who loves him) imagines them running around on a train, hugging and laughing at each other. The general fantasy and dreamy spirit that wells up inside of me when listening to such songs, wasn't there…it didn't work as well as I wanted it to.
Subhash Ghai gets full marks for coming out with a clean and thought provoking tale than his usual glamorous subjects. His narration was excellent and the presentation was good enough. The background score was gripping and the cinematography deserves a special mention for getting the intense moments correctly. The script could have been a bit shorter to infuse more momentum and the screenplay faltered at few instances but then a well made film technically and otherwise. Anil Kapoor has proved that he is the best war horse in the field with an elegant portrayal of a professor, Shefali was excellent, Aditi had the charm and sweet look, the rest were good enough to add to the voltage.
A very intriguing subject, it passes beyond the realm of religious barriers and also tries to look into the psyche of a human being willing to blow himself up. The first half goes in a racy manner with different links being provided to the audience, the second half sets the links clearly and provides enough tension and power to make the viewer think beyond the film. Though there were loose ends like a weak romance angle and the situations leading to the transformation of a terrorist which was not convincing. Overall, the film has made up for any drawbacks and came out as a well delivered and matured product.
Go and watch this film for a change because this is definitely not like Subash Ghai’s earlier works…
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