Shades of grey

Udita Jhunjhunwala

Black & White
Direction: Subhash Ghai
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Habib Tanvir, Anuraag Sinha
Rating: **½

The predominant question when it comes to Subhash Ghai’s latest film, Black & White, is whether the filmmaker has found his lost form and redeemed himself after the debacle of Yaadein and Kisna.

Fortunately, with a story of communalism, cross-border terrorism, tolerance and integration, Ghai does manage to compensate for his last two films, partially by changing directions and moving away from the commercial formula. 

As the title suggests, Black & White is indeed about extremes. At one end of the spectrum is Numer (Anuraag Sinha), a fanatical young man determined to attain jannat by martyring himself as a suicide bomber across the Afghani border, in India.

At the other end of the spectrum is the resolutely liberal Urdu professor Rajan Mathur (Anil Kapoor). Predictably, the film traces the transformation of the heartbroken, angry and brainwashed terrorist to a young man who glimpses compassion and hope as he integrates into the Mathur household in Delhi’s Chandi Chowk.

While Mathur is the secular peace-keeper, his wife Roma (Shefali Shah) plays the activist. The couple is portrayed as being almost singularly responsible for the calm within Chandni Chowk, to the extent that local policemen and politicians invest blind faith in them.

This makes them the perfect smokescreen for Numer’s plans as he ingratiates himself into the Mathur home and diverts attention away from his clandestine project.

Numer is obsessed with his mission, unforgiving of others who do not display the same commitment to Islam, violent and cold. Fifteen days in a neighbourhood where Hindus and Muslims are united by a common nationality and not split apart by religion, contributes to the volte-face at the final hurdle. The audience knows this, but does not feel it.

There is no fluctuation in the character’s graph, as he simply swings from one extreme to another. Similarly, Numer’s change of heart comes all too suddenly. In fact the flat-line graph of the central character, who hardly varies his emotions or expressions (a fall out of the newcomer’s inexperience), is a sticking point in the film.

So too the professor’s righteousness and steadfast commitment to integration, which verges on being unreasonable, even as he faces deep personal loss and discovers his houseguest’s true identity. Certain side-plots also jar: like the thin track of a love story between Numer and a neighbourhood student; a wedding situation; and a musical band supported by the Mathurs.

Scenes with Habib Tanvir as Numer’s aging uncle, the aging poet Gaffar-miyan, and the interaction between Kapoor and Shah are delightful. It is these three actors who up the ante in an otherwise ordinary ensemble.

Black & White suffers from a lack of subtlety and absence of nuances. Every thought, action and emotion is explained in words and the dialogues skirt dangerously close to the preachy. Proficient camerawork is offset by some odd editing. Unarguably the subject of the film is important and the filmmaker’s intent is sincere, however the dated treatment and tenor dilute its impact. Black & White would have benefited from some shades of grey.