TITLE: Learners with physical disability

Bachelor of Education(Hons) in Special & Inclusive Education

(BEd-5thBatch, Level-3)

Assignment on: Movie review

(Course Code:BES86307)

Submitted To:
Sammi Chowdhury

Submitted by:

Israt Jahan Likha

ID:218920001
submission date :

Proyash Institute of Special Education & Research

Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka-1206.

 CONTENTS

1. Movie’s information
2. cast
3. review
4. critical analysis
5. conclusion
Some information about this movie

In 2003, Bhansali announced the production of his new project, Black. Its idea first came
up when he met several physically-disabled children while shooting Khamoshi: The
Musical in the 1990s. The story was inspired by the activist Helen Keller's life and her
1903 autobiography, The Story of My Life. Principal photography was done by Ravi K.
Chandran in 100 days from mid-January to April 2004, taking place in Shimla and Film
City. Omung Kumar was the production designer, while Sham Kaushal was the action
director. After filming, it was edited by Bela Sehgal. The soundtrack and score were
composed by Monty Sharma and Mychael Danna, respectively.

Black was released on 4 February 2005. With a total gross of ₹409.4 million (US$5.4
million), it was declared as a commercial success and ranked among the highest-grossing
Indian films that year. The film received widespread critical acclaim, with praise for its
story, Bhansali's direction, and the performances (mostly that from Bachchan and
Mukerji). The film won several awards, including eleven Filmfare Awards—the most for
a single film at that time—and three National Film Awards. The latter included trophies
for Best Feature Film in Hindi, and Best Actor for Bachchan. A Turkish remake, Benim
Dünyam, was released in 2013.
Cast
 Amitabh Bachchan (the teacher) as Debraj Sahai
 Rani Mukerji as Michelle McNally
 Ayesha Kapur as Young Michelle McNally
 Shernaz Patel as Catherine McNally, Michelle's mother
 Dhritiman Chaterji as Paul McNally, Michelle's father
 Nandana Sen as Sarah McNally, Michelle's sister
 Sillo Mahava as Mrs. Gomes
 Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal as Mrs. Nair
Review

The film begins with Michelle McNally (Rani Mukerji), a blind and deaf
woman, visiting her former teacher Debraj Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan), who
now has Alzheimer's disease, in a hospital. The film then flashbacks to the
past to her childhood.

Michelle was a girl who lost her eyesight and hearing after recovering from an
illness at the age of two and exists in a black world where she is isolated in the
darkness of her own
existence, trapped by her
inability to see, hear and
express. She grows up
becoming more and more
frustrated by the black and
dark world around her,
making her a violent,
uncontrollable eight-year-
old child. Her parents, Paul
and Catherine, are at their wits' end trying to control her, until one day the
light shines through the end of the tunnel.

Debraj Sahai enters their lives, an elderly alcoholic teacher for the deaf and
blind, Debraj sees himself as a magician and is a disillusioned eccentric man.
He takes it upon himself to bring young Michelle into the light. He uses harsh
methods, although always for Michelle's long-term benefit. Initially, his
methods are met with disapproval by Michelle's father, who asks Debraj to
leave. Although her father thinks he is gone, Debraj stays as the teacher while
her father is away on business for 20 days. Her mother grudgingly approves of
his continuation given her fear of Michelle being sent to an asylum. By the
20th day, Debraj manages to teach Michelle some words and better manners,
but he has difficulty teaching her the meaning of words. When Michelle's
father returns, Debraj packs his bags. At the very last moment, as he is
walking towards the door suitcase in hand, Debraj gets frustrated with
Michelle's continuing insolent behaviour and he throws her into a fountain full
of water. Michelle suddenly takes to Debraj's lessons at that moment and
begins to understand meaning. She is able to recognize her mother and father,
and can vocalize the first syllables of some words small enough for her to
understand. The McNallys decide to keep Debraj as Michelle's teacher.

Many years later, Michelle has learned a great deal, becoming relaxed and
expressive, and she is even able to dance and expertly sign. Debraj convinces
the principal of a university to grant her an interview.in the interview she
asked 3 questions “why she want to study?how many oceans in the world?
which side is america if you are in india? which she answer very cleaverly and
gets admission to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree, the first deaf-blind person
to do so at that university. Michelle moves away from home and lives with
Debraj and one of her servants. Over the next 2 years, she struggles to gain
her Bachelor of Arts degree, failing year after year, but she still maintains her
spirit. One reason is that she must rely on Debraj completely for interpretation
of the material and studying. This problem is overcome by the Principal of the
school preparing the whole first-year Arts course of study in Braille. Another
reason for her continuing failure is that her typing skills are lacking and typing
is her only way to write down what she knows during exams. However, she
also soon overcomes this deficiency through another flash of increased
competence when she almost quits the university and gets into an argument
with Debraj.

At the same time as Michelle suffers through and triumphs over her
challenges, we also witness numerous other changes. Debraj begins to
succumb to Alzheimer's, first forgetting the way out of the Principal's office
and then forgetting Michelle and leaving her stranded during an ice cream
celebration for her improved typing.

We also see Michelle

reconcile with her sister
Sara, who we find out was
jealous of her parents'
affection for Michelle
throughout her life. After
attending Sara's wedding,
Michelle begins to wonder
about love, which she has
not experienced, and she
even asks Debraj to kiss her
on the lips. Debraj reluctantly does so but decides to leave Michelle on her
own because of this demand and the position she has put him in. Twelve years
after enrolment, Michelle does manage to gain her BA, and with her proud
parents looking on her, she even gives a speech to the graduating class.
Wearing no black graduation robe, she thanks her parents and her teacher and
she announces that she will only wear the robe so that her teacher may see her
first.
Debraj is in a mental
hospital due to his almost
complete inability to
remember his past and even
how to speak. Michelle
visits him wearing her robe
and we see glimmers of
memory return as Debraj
realises that she has
graduated and even does a
victory dance. As the
window opens to the rain
outside, we see Debraj's hand in Michelle's reaching into the rain, and we hear
the teacher-student pair say the first syllable of the word "water", with echoes
of the scene in which Michelle first begins understanding the meaning of
words

earlier in the movie. However this time, it is Debraj who is beginning to learn
to speak and understand.

The movie ends with a scene of Michelle amongst a crowd of people all
dressed in black carrying candles walking towards a church. There is a
voiceover of a letter Michelle has written to Debraj's friend Mrs Nair
explaining that today was her teacher's first day of school, and that like hers,
his alphabet began with.
"B L A C K".

Critical analysis
It is amazing how the movie resembles a magnificent canvas, with primarily the use of
only two colours- black and white! Bhansalis direction is top-notch. Watch closely as he
drops a hint on the period of the film. Ill. Moreover, never before has Robert Frosts
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening been put to better use. As we are introduced
to a weary and tired Debraj, watch how Frosts most quoted lines reflect on all the walls
around him. In fact, every frame of the movie is symbolic. Mr. Bhansali, take a bow!
Special mention needs to be made of Bhavani Iyers imaginative English dialogues in her
debut feature. The movie has so many good things to talk about but like every other
movie it has some things that does not make any sence like,in this movie Amitabh
Bachchan is supposed to be teaching a blind/deaf kid to communicate...so WHY DOES
HE YELL AT THE KID?! And, why does he talk so much?! I know he's doing it to
convey information to the viewer, but this is silly--a real teacher of the blind/deaf
wouldn't do this and I think it would have been better if either you could have heard his
character's thoughts OR if there had been subtitles explaining his actions. Simply yelling
and talking non-stop when teaching a child like this make no sense at all. What he would
have done (and it only happens some in this film) is to either draw letters with his fingers
on her skin or do sign language as she felt his fingers. He should NOT talk at the
kid...again and again and again!! Words like 'Ma' and 'teacher' would have been far, far
more difficult to learn than you see here in "Black". How could Michelle learn this so
quickly?!

Conclusion

Now despite these serious problems, I am not saying "Black" is a bad film--just that it is
very, very simplistic and not exactly realistic. I did enjoy it and recommend it--I just
wished the filmmakers had done their homework a bit better. It is enjoyable and lovely to
see and hear. It's also a bit unusual because (appropriately so) there are no song and
dance numbers--something usually seen in Indian romantic dramas. But, most
importantly, I loved the performance of Rani Mukerji as the adult Michelle--very nice
and very inspiring.