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Black

  • 2005
  • Not Rated
  • 2h 2m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
37K
YOUR RATING
Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji in Black (2005)
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:05
2 Videos
64 Photos
Drama

Michelle, a disabled girl who can't see, hear, or speak, suffering in a world that has given up on her. But when the teacher Debraj enters her life, he becomes a ray of hope that she might p... Read allMichelle, a disabled girl who can't see, hear, or speak, suffering in a world that has given up on her. But when the teacher Debraj enters her life, he becomes a ray of hope that she might pursue her passions and have a normal life.Michelle, a disabled girl who can't see, hear, or speak, suffering in a world that has given up on her. But when the teacher Debraj enters her life, he becomes a ray of hope that she might pursue her passions and have a normal life.

  • Director
    • Sanjay Leela Bhansali
  • Writers
    • Sanjay Leela Bhansali
    • Bhavani Iyer
    • Prakash Kapadia
  • Stars
    • Amitabh Bachchan
    • Rani Mukerji
    • Shernaz Patel
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.1/10
    37K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Sanjay Leela Bhansali
    • Writers
      • Sanjay Leela Bhansali
      • Bhavani Iyer
      • Prakash Kapadia
    • Stars
      • Amitabh Bachchan
      • Rani Mukerji
      • Shernaz Patel
    • 187User reviews
    • 30Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 57 wins & 9 nominations total

    Videos2

    Black
    Trailer 2:05
    Black
    Black Trailer
    Trailer 2:05
    Black Trailer
    Black Trailer
    Trailer 2:05
    Black Trailer

    Photos64

    View Poster
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    + 59
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    Top cast26

    Edit
    Amitabh Bachchan
    Amitabh Bachchan
    • Debraj Sahai
    Rani Mukerji
    Rani Mukerji
    • Michelle McNally
    Shernaz Patel
    Shernaz Patel
    • Catherine 'Cathy' McNally
    Ayesha Kapur
    Ayesha Kapur
    • Young Michelle McNally
    Dhritiman Chatterjee
    Dhritiman Chatterjee
    • Paul McNally
    • (as Dhritiman Chaterji)
    Sillo Mahava
    • Mrs. Gomes
    • (as Silloo Mahava)
    Chippy Gangjee
    • Principal Fernandes
    • (as Chippy Ganjee)
    Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal
    • Ms. Nair
    Salome
    • Martha
    • (as Salomi Roy Kapoor)
    Kenneth Desai
    Kenneth Desai
    • Dr. Mehta
    • (as Kenny Desai)
    Arif Shah
    • Marc Brugger
    Bomie E. Dotiwala
    Bomie E. Dotiwala
    • Mr. Brugger
    • (as Bomi Dotiwala)
    Jeroo Shroff
    • Mrs. Brugger
    Bomi Kapadia
    • Trustee 1
    Kamal Adib
    Kamal Adib
    • Trustee 2
    Zul Vellani
    • Trustee 3
    Shehnaz Anand
    Shehnaz Anand
    • Teacher
    Polly Shroff
    • Nun
    • Director
      • Sanjay Leela Bhansali
    • Writers
      • Sanjay Leela Bhansali
      • Bhavani Iyer
      • Prakash Kapadia
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews187

    8.137.1K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    8kairanga

    I changed my views about Hindi movies too...

    For a long time I would watch Hindi / Tamil movies only when ironing. You don't care if you miss some parts - there is always gratuitous mandatory dances, fights and incidental humor.

    Black stands out among the Hindi movies. The brilliant acting, dramatic tension, breathtaking views of the mansions in Simla and the story-telling technique blended to create a great experience. Agreed Amitab is a great actor. But Rani Mukerjee mounts a respectable challenge to him. Supporting actors were great too.

    If Hindi movies are half as good as this, I would watch more.

    I had a bonanza holiday break watching Black, Paheli and Mangal Pande. Looks like there is some real light at the end of the tunnel, after all! I am now a declared fan of Rani Mukerjee.
    10ex967

    Black can restore one's faith in life and love

    First things first. On Easter Sunday I pondered whether I should go see the film "Black" -- a film about which I had heard nothing in the popular press, until I saw its title on the cinema's Marquee. Not surprising really, since the film appears at this point to have only been released in the specialty Hindi-language Bollywood film circuit in Canada. Which is a real pity because if I had not made an accidental point of presenting myself at a movie-house that was actually screening the picture, as a Euro-heritage native-born Canadian I would likely still be walking around in a typically North American ethno-centric film fog about this excellent picture.

    When I initially asked the theatre's ticket clerk what "Black" was about, his description hardly got me excited. It's the story of a teacher who helps a disabled woman. It didn't sound terribly engaging to me. But boy, was I wrong! While I am not a complete stranger to a number of Bollywood-type films, I'm lucky if I see one or two in a year, and at that, it's usually been because someone else has suggested it. While few of these "B" class movies "deserve" screen time in mainstream North American theatres, this is hardly the case for "Black". It is not a "B" class flic.

    If only because the film's Director Sanjay Bhansali co-wrote the script, this obviously allowed him to imagine how he might want to capture the story with beautiful emotionally-charged cinematography. And what a sophisticated symbolically packed feast it was at that! Yet backing up the impeccable imagery was an equally top-drawer story. One dimension tells the story of a once well-regarded teacher who has come to the end of his financial, if not his existentially-justified rope, a man whose talents are neither fully recognized or completely appreciated. Then during this 11th hour turmoil, he receives a letter asking for help from the parents of a young deaf and blind girl. Her story is of course equally gripping, a girl effectively trapped in an internal prison in which language, a vital connector within herself as well as to the outside world, is missing. In this sense, both characters need one another, for both are on the common and all too true brink of being "disposable people" - people ripe relegated to become out-of-sight out-of-mind statistics in a faceless institution.

    This feature of the story speaks to a possibility few of us care to contemplate, namely: "Who would care for me if everything fell to pieces?". It is a possibility reminiscent of and anchored in a time when as children we depended entirely on our parents for nurturance and love. This I think is what gives this story its privileged access to the inner-recesses of our deep emotional need for interconnection. And because it is a story told as much with emotionally poignant visuals as it is with emotionally gripping dialogue, these have a way of by-passing the usual intellectual filters we erect to both define and "protect" ourselves from one another. This film will have none of that. And the emotionally-forceful performances offered by the male and female leads simply seal our fates, leading us to co-journey with them in their heroic quest to find the light that will illumine us as much as them.

    Few are the number of viewers who could experience this film and not leave better people, if only because it succeeds in allowing us to recognize the value of caring for one another as the greatest triumph, if not the most important ingredient in all of our other successes as a species. In short, this film strives to restore one's faith in the value of life and love, and does very well in that task. And what more can anyone ask from any motion picture? It is a work of genius, well executed, and a triumph of film-making, regardless the culture. Which is why I believe it deserves a lofty 10.
    8vrnq

    Good movie and good acting!

    Excellent performance of the two main actors: Rani Mukherjee is unrecognizable and believable in her role of a blind person & Amitabh Bachchan, well, wonderful as usual! It is a sad and dark movie though. I do not think that this movie is about love nor God... but about hope for sure! It is a good movie, well played. For people looking for a Hindi movie without the Bollywood songs and dances, this one will make them happy; there is nothing of that sort here in this film that is a bit long (124 minutes!).

    For those who admire Amitiji(I am one of them), I guess you must watch this movie because he really is incredible!
    10mamamia123098

    Why don't people like it?

    Who cares if it's like Miracle Worker....it's still such a beautiful movie. And believe me, it's different and if you stupid, idiotic people can't remember, the movie was made in Helen Keller's honor and they spent a whole day at her institution. And the only it has in common to Miracle Worker is a Deaf and blind girl. The description of the blackness she sees and how in the end she helps Amitabh learn to remember is original.

    Black Shows darkness in a frightening, confusing, frustrating place, a whirlwind of emotion and anger. Michelle lives in a time where little can be done for her. Anger rots inside her for the frustration she feels for not seeing her sister's face or hear her mother's voice. She's a prisoner. She feels excluded. For hours upon hours she tries to scream but nothing comes out...just distorted noises that she can't even hear. Black is a living hell...until she meets Amitabh bachan's character....her brings light into Michelle's terrifying world.

    Rani Mukerji is fantastic and she is NOT annoying because you dumb haters just don't see the depth. And she was't just acting like she thought a deaf, mute,and blind person would. They actually spent a day at the institution. Though it strays from the typical musical/love story/gangster-beats-up-hero-but-he-doesn't-care-hes-bloody and/or is dying Indian movie( i think those movies are bull crap), its beautiful! Give it a chance! You'll really learn something!
    10Andrew_P

    I never comment on IMDb, but in this case, I'll make an exception

    When the credits started rolling on this movie, my wife and I looked at each other and both spontaneously said "That was one of the best movies I have ever seen". Sure, it was inspired by "The Miracle Worker", with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, bit visually it knocks it for six.

    Awesome awesome cinematography. Let me say that again. Awesome awesome cinematography. Nearly EVERY shot is a wonder!

    Amitabh Bhachchan's acting is his best ever (at least for western audiences), and beats most recent performances from Hollywood.

    I don't consider this film a remake, but even if you do, you still need to see it.

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Unusually for a work by Bhansali, there are no songs featured in this film. So the background score became of paramount importance to the composer, Monty. To create more of an uplifting aura for the deaf-blind-mute character of Michelle McNally, he used pianos and strings, but kept the voices in the chorus at a low octave. For Debraj Sehai's character, a fighting spirit needed to be vocalized, so Monty used a little-known Middle Eastern instrument called a duduk.
    • Quotes

      Debraj Sahai: Life is an ice-cream. Enjoy it before it melts.

    • Connections
      Referenced in Koffee with Karan: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol & Rani (2007)
    • Soundtracks
      50 Steps
      Composed by Monty Sharma

      Courtesy of Yash Raj Music

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    FAQ19

    • How long is Black?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 4, 2005 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • India
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • Hindi
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Zulmat
    • Filming locations
      • Afghan Church, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
    • Production companies
      • Applause Bhansali Productions
      • Applause Entertainment Ltd.
      • SLB Films Pvt. Ltd.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • ₹180,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $754,819
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $125,343
      • Feb 6, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,266,341
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 2h 2m(122 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • Dolby SR
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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