Shabd

Leena Yadav's surprising "Shabd" (2005) is probably the most unfairly overlooked Hindi film in recent times: its box office fate was bleak, the reviews churlish, its theme dubbed too bizarre for India. One might thus be excused for thinking the film merited a pass; one would be wrong: "Shabd" is one of Bollywood's more interesting offerings in recent years, and features fine performances from Sanjay Dutt and Aishwarya Rai to boot. The latter's efforts in particular should lay to rest the fallacy that she cannot act to save her life. Rather, as "Chokher Bali," "Raincoat" and now "Shabd" have shown, Ms. Rai needs the right script and the right director to shine. Indeed the skepticism of movie critics about her abilities says more about our collective unwillingness to appreciate non-dramatic artistes than about Ms. Rai's lack of acting talent. Leena Yadav has done a fantastic job with "Shabd," and viewers willing to lend themselves to the film will find that it holds their attention throughout with a taut script that only flags a bit towards the very end of the film. Boiled down to its essentials, "Shabd" is about a one-time celebrated writer, Shaukat Vasisht (Sanjay Dutt)-- whose most recent novel has failed miserably-- and his wife Antara Vasisht (played by Aishwarya Rai in a nuanced performance), and Shaukat's attempts to redeem himself by means of a new book that he has begun to write. The film is, according to Ms. Yadav, about the thin line separating reality from fiction...

continued at: http://qalandari.blogspot.com/2005/08/shabd.html

Just came back watching the movie and I should say it beautifully portrays the mind of a writer. The way he thinks when writing a novel and things he goes through. It really happens when you're writing some stories and get so deep inside the thoughts that you don't realize what the truth is.

Sanjay Dutt and Aishwarya Rai pair's up really nice. Things would have been much better if Zayed Khan wouldn't have been the part of this story. You surely wanted a more dedicated and good performer like Saif Ali Khan or Hritik Roshan.

Overall, I would rate this film as 7 out of 10 and would encourage an applause from the audience.

Words and misdeeds!

Shabd Dir- Leena Yadav Cast- Sanjay Dutt, Aishwarya Rai, Zayed Khan and Sadia Siddiqui. Written by- Sutapa Sikdar and Leena Yadav. Rating- *

The only thing worse than a brainless mind-numbing movie, is a brainless mind-numbing movie that pretends to be an intellectual and aesthetic one. Debutante writer-director Leena Yadav(she's even edited this tedious fare) must've thought during the filming that she was making something novel and riveting. Sadly, thoughts and intentions don't always translate into shabds and deeds! So what we have is in fact an over-boiled egg that's not only unappetizing but also comes without any salt to taste!

Shaukat Vasisht(Sanjay Dutt) is suffering from a writer's block after his follow-up to his Booker prize winning Mindscape has been ripped apart by the critics. Actually, 'Mr. I type my novel on an antique typewriter wearing an Armani' is so consumed with desperation that he's unable to notice the fire in his Looker prize winning wife Antra(Aishwarya). Tch! Tch! Anyways, our dude looks like a writer finds his inspiration in Tamanna, his creation of a woman that wants to break free and live her life. To make his story as real as possible, he encourages Antra to don the garb of Tamanna and allow the overtures of a besotted cad, Yash(Zayed Khan). He even convinces Antra to hide her marital status from Yash. The problem begins when Tamanna becomes Antra and the lines between fantasy and reality become thinner. Shaukat soon realizes that Antra and Yash are not his creations whom he can control as he wishes. You must be thinking that the premise sounds oh so abstract and imaginative. Don't let it fool you though! This is an imposter posing as a highbrow! The film is full with passages that appear to be poetic but are actually drab monologues packaged in the baritone voice of Sanju baba.

The proceedings get so repetitive and soporific after a while that you feel tempted to doze off. But what stops you though are the beautifully written(Vishal Dadlani and Irshad Kamil) and composed(Vishal-Shekhar) songs that are scattered through the running time. Also, your heart goes out to Sanjay for performing his part with sincerity and input. For him and the composer duo- what a waste! Aishwarya keeps switching from disinterested to overly dramatic, and she does both acts unconvincingly. And somebody please tell Zayed that his Shahrukh act just doesn't come together. This dude needs to go back and learn the basics. And yes, what was the casting department(if there was any) thinking when they narrowed him for a college professor? Sadia Siddiqui is engaging as the housemaid and brings some life to the events.

One can't deny that the intent of the maker was to make something different. But Leena should've probably developed the plot a bit more. The relationship between Shaukat and Antra is left undefined as are the characters themselves. For a story that revolves around three characters, the characters have to be delineated with unambiguous clarity. One cannot be commended just for being bold and different. Being bold is not always beautiful! - Abhishek Bandekar

Rating- *

* Poor ** Average *** Good **** Very Good ***** Excellent

6th February, 2005

I am a total admirer of the director of the movie (Leena Yadav) for making such a true-to-the-heart, wonderful movie ! The movie is very artistically abstract in some sense ! It deals with the illusions of a creative mind, certain aspects of writers block! Quite thought provoking indeed.

The subject matter has never been dealt in Hindi cinema before (I do not consider myself an expert in Hindi cinema, but I can say that to some certainty).

The cinematography is average. There are some interesting colors probably thanks to art director, but overall the production quality is average.

Music ----- Honestly I can write few pages about the music of the movie. Till date, I think its the best out of Vishal-Shekhar's stable!

Each song is a winner!

'Lo shuru ab ..chahaton ka silsila' has two versions in the album, by Kumar Sanu & Udit N. But I couldn't see Udit N's version on the film. And definitely, in entire 2005 this is the only song by Sanu that registers. Thanks to V-S to have made Sanu sing without his usual 'airy' voice! Didn't like opening of 'Sholon si..' - sounded too close to Smooth by Santana! (that's my only complain about the music of the movie). Great voice on the track by Vishal btw. Goes very well with Sanjay Dutt's role/persona in the movie. Similiarly, Sonu Nigam's voice suits very well for Zayed. 'Bolo to' & 'Khoya Khoya' are great ! 'Mat jaa' is a great ballad sung by Sukhwinder! Great music and some soulful guitar played by Warren Mendonsa (of Zero). Whoever played the drums, did a great job! I started listening to the music of this movie long before the movie was released and I was truly hooked to the entire album. Kudos to V-S!

Acting ------ Sanjay Dutt gets 8/10 - considering Sanju's acting ability, this is probably his career best! Zayed is alright (7/10) and AishRai is below avg (4/10).

The movie is a recipe for commercial failure, but I must appreciate PNC (Pritish & Rangita Nandi) to have produced it (for the sake of art, may be), and to have had trust with the débutante director Leena Yadav.

The director Leena Yadav is falsely imprisoned in her aura that she is Stanley Kubrick re-incarnate. Its obvious that Sanju and Ash have signed the dotted line without reading the script and the director should be lauded for making mickey out of them.

The script does not have holes - it has craters. And in terms of execution - it makes you feel that at the end of every shooting schedule the director goes into hibernation and forgets where she left off.

Our writer uses still uses type-writer for drafting his stories, which cleverly signifies the power outages in India. And did I tell you that our writer is suit-fetish? How does it justify the writer being recipient of Booker's prize award when he at loss to delve into the psyche of a woman for his forthcoming novel? Taking too many liberties of Booker's prize eh? (Culprit: Baghbaan!).

It is evident that Ash lacks conviction owing to her Hollywood assignments. Sanju's monologues gets on the nerves. Zayed Khan as a professor. Excuse Me! Bollywood badly needs a dedicated casting dept. Let me re-iterate here that Zayed does not even pretend making wee-bit of effort. It re-enforces my opinion that "star-kids are pampered lot".

And please help me decide which one was worst - chemistry between Sanju and Ash or Zayed and Ash.

Sadiya is only saving grace to the film and does her role with conviction.

Avoid at all costs!