Khamoshi: The Musical (1996)

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

An Exercise In Nonsense

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

In this award-winning drama, Annie (Manisha Koirala) is the hearing daughter of a deaf couple, and finds herself divided between two worlds. When Raj (Salman Khan) arrives bringing romance and music, her life takes a new direction, and she is torn between her new love for Raj and her duty towards her parents.This is poignant and heartwarming film, with a strong message of faith and family. Some of the songs are particularly lovely. While both Koirala and Khan were good in their roles, the supporting cast of Helen, Nana Patekar, and Seema Biswas were fantastic. I highly recommend this lovely movie

90s was the time when most filmmakers made loud commercial films with song and dance, at that time Sanjay Leela Bhansali debutted with Khamoshi The Musical in 1996 when the film in the next theatre was perhaps Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi or some other masala film. The film starred Salman Khan,Manisha Koirala,Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas The film was based on SLB's visit to Helen Keller Institute similar to his later BLACK(2005). Khamoshi's songs became popular but the film didn't work. The film starts well though some scenes are far fetched like Sam's death, he falls while ringing the bell in a church(very unrealistic) but yet the emotions are well captured, even the romance isn't too larger then life and very simple, again certain scenes do tend to look weird like the confession scene in the church but then films rarely protect catholics or Goa in a true manner, though thankfully in this film we don't have goan stereotypes, no drunkards, no partying.etc The emotional scenes are simply awesome, the best part being it's simplicity, especially the scene when Manisha breaks down after Nana throws her out of the house, even the scene when Salman's parents visit Manisha's family, it's really superb Nana's scene in the church which was repeated in Black(2005) too is fab Direction by SLB is fantastic, and he showed his capabilities Music by Jatin Lalit is awesome, many songs became popular The best song is Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai, it's marvellous, sung by Kavita K, Jaana Suno is also fab though a copy, Aaj Main Upar is again fantastic while Baho Ke Dharmiyan is another wonderful song, one problem is the placement of the songs though One background music in the film is perhaps the original source of Pyaar Koi Khel Nahin title song. The film is shot in Goa and the locales are superb Amongst performances Nana Patekar is simply terrific, he conveys a lot through his gestures, expressions and though he is known for his dialogue delivery in the film he has no dialogues yet he is brilliant Seema Biswas gives him great support, she is terrific Salman Khan is likable, rarely known as a great actor yet he helds his own, those days Salman Khan was very energetic and seemed natural Manisha Koirala is simply fab, proving why she was the best then she is simply outstanding In the same year she and Nana played husband and wife in Agnisakshi Amongst rest, Raghuvir Yadav is fab, while rest are okay Helen has a small role

Kahmoshi The Musical, is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's first directorial venture - a sensitive, introspective film about a deaf mute Catholic couple living in Goa. The world of Joseph (Nana Patekar) and Flavy (Seema Biswas) is a silent one and into this world in born their first child Annie (Manisha) who can speak and hear & loves music. She is trained in music by her grandmother Maria (Helen) but the family is so poor they have to sell many cherished belongings including their piano. Annie's younger brother dies tragically leaving the family stunned and music is banished from their lives. Into Annie's world walks in the dashing Raj (Salman Khan) a budding musician. Raj falls for Annie and wants her to sing his songs. Annie's father hates Raj - the usual confrontations, despair follow. Annie's meeting up with Raj is followed by a catastrophe and we wait for the outcome while the story is told to us in flashback.The musical is naturally full of music - some of it is hauntingly beautiful - songs like Bahon ke Darmiyan, Jaana suno hum tumpe marte hain, Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai and extremely touching in the film. But there is just too much music. After about an hour I was cowering at the thought of yet another number as the hero and heroine would run up and down the steps of the lighthouse. Some songs are just fillers and do not add to or move the story forward in any way. With some crisp editing, and a few fewer songs, Khamoshi would have clocked at 2 hours and been a perfect film. The marriage of music and the serious content of the material also jarred at times.The acting: Manisha steals the show utterly and absolutely. Is there anything she cannot do? Her break down when her father throws her out of the house is a virtuoso performance. Salman is the best he will ever be, handsome, no overt gimmicky moves or gestures, just plain and simple acting - after seeing Khamoshi I can see what people saw in Salman. But even Mr. Bhansali could not keep his restrained for ever and we got Samir in HDDCS! Nana Patekar was okay - actually he was the biggest disappointment - his acting was sort of repetitive and he did not age at all in the span of 20 years showed in the film. Seema Biswas was awesome - seeing her I felt all the anguish and pain a mute person would feel at their inability to communicate. She blew me away as the film opened and she put her ear to the big speaker and "felt" the music. Helen was excellent - a great role for her too - one of her better ones where she was required to act. The little girl who played the young Annie was amazing.The story is simple yet very effective, the direction is deft but Bhansali shows his self indulgence even in this minimal film. There is a monologue by Nana Patekar (being 'translated' by Salman) that tell us the whole story all over again - is it necessary? But overall this is an excellent directorial debut and a movie worth watching. Be warned that this is serious fare and will require patience.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali, previously associate director to the talented Vinod Chopra, makes his directorial debut with a sensationaly complex piece of work. The film faired moderately at the box office and one wonders why?? This is undoubtedly one of the finest examples of commercial entertainment merging with what is referred to in India as "Art Cinema." Yes, the film is an out and out musical, but never do the songs hamper the narrative even once. Bhansali's ability to weave the songs in order to progress the narrative was also wonderfully displayed in his film "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam."One would wonder how it is possible to leave two characters who are both deaf and unable to speak, to develop themselves on their own. But Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas (Bandit Queen) have given their most impressive and sincere performances yet. Manisha as the girl stuck between her love for music and her love for her parents portrays the multiple complexities of the character very effectively. Salman Khan does his usual satisfactory job as the lover boy. However, the real winner of the film is the script also written by Bhansali himself.The story is simply wonderful, and as is characteristic of Bhansali, instead of making the story complex, he makes his characters complex. To watch Patekar and Biswas play their roles is simply a lesson in acting. The cinematography by Anil Mehta is simply brilliant, effectively creating the carnival like atmosphere of GOA along with a noir-ish feel that compliments the dark complexity of the characters.And alas - the music. Jatin and Lalit who have tended to focus on very Indian sounds in their previous works have somehow managed to fuse in the feel of Portuguese folk sounds into their very Indian tunes - characteristic of the entire feel of Goa. The lyrics are well thought out and simple to progress the narrative. Bhansali's grip over his subject is impeccable and he displays his mastery in the art of mainstream Indian filmmaking to the fullest. This is a man to watch out for in the future.Overall, this movie is simply not to be missed. Sure, it has its minor flaws here and there but when one looks at the wonderful feel it creates for the viewer, all flaws can be overlooked. What sets this film apart from the usual churns is that the film actually has a STORY. It actually has CHARACTERS rather than just STARS and celebrities in it. It packs in a lot of meat. This is how entertainment and art should be blended. It is good to see yet another filmmaker joining the band of contemporary directors like Mani Ratnam, Shekar Kapur, Ramgopal Varma and Mahesh Bhatt who have succeeded in their quest to erase that line separating commerical and "Art" cinema.