The movie, Black, was the main winner at 2005 Indian Filmfare Awards winning eleven awards in total, breaking a record as a result. It then went on to win 10 awards in the 2006 IIFA Awards ceremony. Time Magazine (Europe) selected the film as one of the 10 Best Movies of the Year 2005 from across the globe. The movie was positioned at number five. It was also listed on the "25 Must See Bollywood Movies" by Filmfare Magazine.
Story:
Black is the story of blind and deaf girl (acted by Rani Mukherjee) who has been in darkness since she was born. No one, not even her parents, are able to help her in any way until an old alcoholic teacher, Debraj Sahai (acted by Amitabh Bachan), enters her life and takes on a mammoth of a task of bringing the young girl into light and ensuring her graduation from a normal college. The film is similar to the story of Helen Keller.
Screenplay:
Superb acting is produced by well-renowned veteran Amitabh Bachan and multiple award winning actress Rani Mukherjee. Probably this is the finest ever performance of Rani Mukherjee. Her turning point in acting came from the movie, Hey Ram whereby she claimed that Kamal Hassan changed the actress within her and indeed it was a very successful change. One is able to feel the pain and sufferings experienced by the girl and admire the determination and patience given by her teacher.
Cinematography:
Cinematography is very well done by providing the appropriate lighting to create the suitable mood and atmosphere such as the scene of the young girl.
Video Editing:
Not much video editing can be expected from this movie since the focus is on the story and the deep portrayal of the characters. However, few scenes like the one where Rani Mukherjee enjoys the snow are well edited.
Bollywood Movie Review - Dhoom 2
Dhoom 2, which came out in November 24, 2006, was such a big hit that it had a very successful opening in India and overseas. In the US alone, it had earned US$2,642,290 by early 2007. Dhoom 2 is a hugely commercialised film which does not have a proper story line, if it has any. Rather, the movie has spent much time and effort on all aspects of commercialisms in terms of the cast, entertainment, glamour, songs etc.
Bollywood Movie Review - Lage Raho Munnabhai
Okay fingers up, how many of you have seen this movie? May not be a blockbuster or a box office hit hindi movie but it is definitely worth a watch. Perhaps more than once. Why? Just imagine, Sanjay Dutt tackling his enemy by following the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. For the uninitiated, he is a beefcaked bollywood actor with a really mean mafia look who looks like a former Brisbane Lions regular player. I was referring to the former of course.
Shinto Ryu - general background
Shinto ryu is a street defence strategy encompassing the “hard” (forceful self-defence) and “soft” (acceptance and deflection) elements of various martial arts styles. It has developed into a unique self-defence system suitable for all, irrespective of age, fitness or gender. Shinto ryu teaches practitioners skills they can adapt to any situation: hard techniques might be required in response to aggression or physical violence, yet Shinto ryu’s softer techniques might be more appropriate in an unsolicited or threatening situation.
