Shabd

My initial impression about this movie was that it would be yet another love story( which i hate so much i can't tell you ), but still decided to watch it as i didn't get the tickets for 'Black'. But i'll say that this movie is different and that was the precise reason, i liked it. The movie is all about an author Shaukat ( Sanjay Dutt ), a very complicated character played brilliantly by Sanju. He is a booker-prize winner author whose last book was discarded by all for being very 'unreal'. So after a gap of 2 years, he decides to write a 'real' story.... I won't go into much details of his adventure...he asks her wife(aishwarya) to have a romantic relationship with a younger guy(Zayed), and he writes on the events taking place in their lives ... he tries to dictate the scenarios....tries to predict everything that will happen in their lives just as he predicts the fate of the characters in his book... Sanjay Dutt has given a great performance...aish is looking beautiful..and zayed is as always average... One thing that i didn't like about this movie is that the actors were crying a lot more that was expected/necessary in the situations....anyway, a good movie by a debutant director...

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

I said that I was going to re-post after I watched the movie and restate if my feelings still remains. I watched the movie today and it was okay. My expectations weren't too high for this movie, and the movie wasn't as bad as I read it would be. The main thing that took me off is Zayed Khan as Yash. I think his acting did not fit well and there was no connection or chemistry between him and Aishwarya (he also doesn't look well on screen with Aishwarya). He was just wrongly casted for the part or maybe he just didn't do justice. Even after Tamara told Yash she was married, I didn't have any type of affection or remorse towards Yash or Tamara and Yash's relationship (I think I was more happy that she told him to just Yash out of the picture)--it was just blend. The humor was confusing (yash humor especially) and not funny. I know when I re-watch this movie, I would forward through it.

Another thing is the intro of the movie and the actors. I don't think it captured the audience as much as it should have. Again, when Yash was introduced I found him rather annoying. Aishwarya and Sanjay's acting abilities did not fall short especially towards the ending. Sanjay played well as a confused writer who got fiction and reality confused and Aishwarya as the victim in Shaukat's fiction and reality.

The art in this film is also very good and beautiful. Overall, this movie has the potential to be a really good film with some changes; unfortunately, it fell short with the blend acting, chemistry, lack to carry out the concept story, and lack to get the audience interested with the characters.

7.5 out of 10 mainly for some direction and art concept of the movie. I appreciate Aishwarya more in films such as Raincoat, Chokher Bali, HDDCS, and Devdas.

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

Trying hard to like Leena Yadav's debut film 'Shabd', you sit thru the entire feature in eager anticipation of a/the/any magic moment. But ...

Although the premise was novel, the buildup was not. One sex scene does not compensate for the lack of sexual chemistry between the leading pair. The Booker-prize winning author is trying so hard to come up with an authentic story for his next novel that he goes and casts his own wife as her rebellious alter-ego, easily falling for the 'forbidden fruit'. Shaukat Vashist requests, goads, almost forces his wife Antara to initiate an illicit relationship to help him craft a leading character in his next novel. When the 'truth' becomes stranger than his bookish 'fiction', and Antara meets and eventually falls for a dashing (yea, no less) young colleague, Mr Novelist is quite unable to handle it. But he saves the best, a one-page ending, for last.

We are not led to believe that the entire thing is the writer's fertile imagination gone awry. Evidently Yash's character is real (witness the college peon asking Shaukat if he had any message for Yash, etc) and so is the romance that ensues between Yash and the writer's wife Antra. In the end, it appears the writer of "Shabd" was herself so confused about the interactions between her characters (there were only 3!) that she couldn't figure out how to end the characters or the movie!! The performance by Sanjay Dutt was the saving grace of this film. Zayed Khan is miscast as the college professor and lacks acting skills. Aish tries hard but her dialogs are so mushy; could have used some zing.

The writer of this review believes that the writer of this movie should have worked harder on the writer in her movie.