Magnum Opus -- Leena Yadav's Shabd

I have not seen a film which is as moving and disturbing as this one in recent times (save Taare Zameen Par). OK! I know it is a leetul late to write a review for movie released EXACTLY 3 years ago, but who cares?? Its my space!! Shabd means words. The film is all about how powerful words can be. This film is completely character-driven and revolves around three very strong protagonists — the writer, his second wife and the professor (played by Sanjay Dutt, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Zayed Khan respectively) and everybody else is incidental as there are no sub-tracks in the film. It’s difficult to put Shabd into a particular genre as it is a love story and yet a dark thriller with human drama. Mrs. B plays Sanju Baba’s second wife. Shabd is all about how a writer feels that he can control the world. The writer (Sanjay Dutt), through his work, wife and environment, tries to control everything. It is the story of Antara (Aishwarya Rai), a reticent, sensitive professor, Shaukat's (Sanjay Dutt) wife. And Shabd is the story of Yash (Zayed Khan), a man with whom it's impossible not to fall in love with. Shaukat and Antara live a quiet life on the outskirts of town. Antara teaches in college not far away and Shaukat writes. An eccentric character, he buries himself in his den and breathes life into characters with his words. Determined to combat his critics who labeled his work as remote and unrealistic, Shaukat is on a mission to assert his grip on reality with his new venture. One fine day, Yash, a spirited young man presents himself in their lives. A new recruit in college, Yash immediately gets drawn to Antara and makes no attempt to hide it. Antara happens to mention this to Shaukat. Intrigued at this development, Shaukat asks Antara to relate to Yash sans any baggage of being married, older or any such social pressures. Friendship blossoms and Antara finds herself attracted to the vivacity of Yash. Shaukat in the meantime continues to write and interrogates her constantly about the progress in their relationship. Gradually, as his novel progresses, Shaukat the writer takes over from Shaukat the husband. And Antara and Yash become characters in his novel. They live it and he writes it. What starts off as harmless banter becomes a risky game, when Shaukat, at one point, breaks this pattern to predict the plot beyond reality. And much to the joy of the writer in him, his predictions come true. Now he writes and they live it. This constant mental conflict between Shaukat the husband and the writer, takes a toll on his relationship with Antara until he reaches a breaking point and asks Antara to confess the truth to Yash. The writer Shaukat now wants Yash out of the novel as much as the husband Shaukat wants him out of their lives. Shabd is a mature, adult, clever, original story stylistically treated and could redefine the parameters of commercial Hindi cinema. It has all the ingredients of commercial cinema and yet is very cerebral. Since the film is about a writer , it is all about the world he creates with his words. It is also about the dynamics of ego, an emotion that is ruling the world today. This character has an intriguing relationship with his wife. It is an unusual equation between three characters caught in circumstantial situations. Its a typically "my-type" of movie (paradoxically, other "my type" of movie was Nishabd ;-) Say what??)