Have you caught it yet? If you havent then what are you waiting for? 

'Black' directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a film that might not set the cash registers ringing but for those who will brave critics reviews and popular reviews and see the movie, it will be an experience unlike anything else you would have seen in recent times in mainstream Hindi cinema. A movie made by a master artist with a cast that delivers performances that are spell binding and compelling 'Black' is a movie that is for those who have scoured the movie halls for long searching for good mainstream cinema.

'Black' is a story of two individuals, one a girl who is blind and deaf and her teacher a man who refuses to let the world deny her anything and more importantly does not let her deny herself anything. 'Black' opens with Debraj Sahai who is in a mental institution, since he suffers from Alzheimer's disease, being taught by his student Michelle McNeally about the world. Michelle McNeally (Rani Mukherjee) was a girl born deaf and blind which leaves little in her world besides the blackness that surrounds her. To be sent to a mental institution she is left to her own devices, until the day she gets a new teacher, Debraj Sahai. A man who is a magician with the blind and yet fighting his own demons, he decides to take up the case of Michelle McNeally as a challenge. From there on it is a story of how the teacher and student work together and achieve their dreams and desires. The meeting between the teacher and student and the disciplining of the student are entertaining and they are balanced by moments of poignancy like when Sahai begins to realize that his memory has begun to fade or the jealousy of Michelle's sister towards Michelle. The movie abstains from preaching to the audience about handicapped persons rights and merely shows how they too want nothing but to have their place in the sun. There is a scene when Sahai is asked to send Michelle to a special school and he retorts that all they would teach her is to make baskets and not to be equal with the world. The interactions between Sahai and Michelle are done beautifully and sensitively and reflect their dependence on each other. The world the characters live in fantastical and all characters are shown as being inherently good and generous in spirit but then they are minor arguments against an overall good movie. The script is held together by good dialogues and the musical score is also very good and blends beautifully with the images of the movie.

Ayesha Kapur as the 10 year old Michelle is very convincing and does a wonderful job. Rani Mukherjee as the older Michelle brings life to the character and gives a performance that is superb, heartfelt and sensitive and confirms her space as one of Hindi cinema's finest actresses. Shernaz Patel as Michelle McNeally's mother deserves a mention for a sensitive performance. Sanjay Leela Bhansali throws away the palette of colours he used for 'Devdas' and sticks to a moody black throughout the film. An artist, Bhansali using the canvas of cinema and the paints of light, shade and the colour black has made a movie in which each frame is as beautiful as a fine painting. This movie is truly the work of an artist and is evident from the very first frame till the last. The final accolades have been reserved for the greatest actor of this generation Amitabh Bachchan who gives a performance that is easily among the best in his career if not the best. Debraj Sahai comes to life thanks to him and as he dances, sings, rages, weeps, commands and guides his student you are held enthralled by a performance that is simply exceptional.
A must watch for those who like to watch good cinema and for those who think that Indian cinema is all about songs and dances and musicals. Kudos to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, for a daring to make a movie as unconventional as this, more so at a time when most seem to be concerned more with the appearance of the movie and not the content.