Lawbolisted Powerful

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

silvan-desouza In the movie Sanju plays a writer who has a writing block, something which seems to have stuck the writers of the film too. The film is unusual but sadly fails The characters are unique but sadly could've treated better. The scenes between Zayed and Ash are treated very amateurishly, their bonding over Sardar Pjs are terrible. The story starts off well but slowly gets so weird that it makes you cringe. On the plus side, the scenes between Sanju and Aish,their complex love story does have it's good moments but totally due to erratic writing it falters.Direction by Leena Yadav is letdown due to it's writing Music by Vishal Shekhar is good, Sholon Si is the best song, other songs are good too though some wrongly placed.The best asset of the film is Sanjay Dutt, Often known for his Bhai roles, it's nice to see him dare to do out of the box roles In this film though he gets a confusing role, he does a great job as usual and plays the character superbly. Aishwarya Rai too acts well Zayed Khan however is a miscast, the actor with his Srk Hangover hams badly especially in emotional scenes. Kamini Khanna overdoes, Sadia Siddiqui is superb as the servant, rest are okay

r f Shabd: My favorite movies are always Hindi; they have a sense of simple story lines and manage to make a special place in my heart. A few of my favorites is Shabd, which literally means "words", in Hindi. Egotistic, obsessive, paranoid, and self-centered, Shaukat is desperate to write something real. He resolves to borrow from life. he starts building up a character in his head named Tamanna. To breathe life into his Tamanna, he manipulates his beautiful wife and fashion teacher, Antara (encourage her friendship with a lively photography tutor, Yash (Zayed Khan). The manner in which Shaukat maneuvers Antara to 'let go' of her emotions towards Yash is too simple. One never really understands why Antara is okay with risking her marriage, or what is going on in her mind. You are torn between her being either a submissive wife with no qualms about being treated like a puppet, or an adventurous woman who doesn't mind a casual fling with a younger guy who adores her. Once the story -- Shaukat's, not the film's -- gets its tempo, the moody writer realizes the possibility of Antara actually falling in love with Yash. At first, he cries, and then decides to let reality. Too many questions are left unanswered. On paper, the idea of a frustrated husband seeking a story in his wife's uneventful life by prodding her to get closer to a younger colleague sounds more than fascinating. On screen, however, the transition of this concept is vague and confusing. Agreed, subtlety is an art. But leaving the viewer to his own devices for guessing mind-games till the very end is like creating a crossword without clues. Shaukat's internal conflicts are poorly established. For a literary author, the story he is intent on writing is somehow too cheesy. Ditto with Antara and Yash. They become friendly on the basis of some corny Sardar jokes. It's not funny at all. The interaction between Shaukat and Antara is interestingly done; they share a lot of sexual chemistry and undercurrents of tension. Shabd's strongest virtue is Sanjay Dutt. His Shaukat is complicated and controlling in nature. But Dutt lends expression to every complexity and fires up the screen with a superlative performance. He can be Godlike, arrogant, vulnerable, calculating. He rocks! The actor makes a great pair with Aishwarya Rai. She is a writer's muse after all. But enigma doesn't completely work for Antara. Her character comes out as someone incapable of thinking for herself and/or unconditionally/foolishly in love. Shaukat loves to challenge himself with words, but reality intervenes and he is challenged by his love. Antra will gamble anything for her love (husband) but doesn't realize that she is the game. Yash seemingly loved Antra, beyond that he knew nothing else, not about her life, nor about her husband.

Sachin Dole Hmmm... thats the only thing i could say with confidence right after the movie finished. I do not recall many movies in mainstream Hindi cinema of the nature of this one with chartbusting casts. I have seen Ek Doctor Ki Maut, Khamosh, Hatya - all stories of a "different" nature, but most (not all) are made with casts of lesser followings or made with cast who are versatile and are not averse to taking risks in their character profiles. Khamosh had Amol Palekar (he can do any role), Ek Doctor had Pankaj Kapoor (rather less known at that time AND very well delivered).Here though, we had Aishwarya Rai whom you would normally see in a love story or action movie as the loving beau etc etc and Sanju dada who would normally be the worlds top most in whatever he does - they were a lost wife and even lost writer. Very unlikely for a mainstream Hindi movie. To make matters worse, Sanju dada's make up or the lack of it was totally devoid of any signs of insanity. The only early clue to the insanity is the continuous jarring incongruous background music - i think the music diro wanted to portray the complex bipolar interactions within Shaukat's mind.All else considered, Sanju dada's performance is almost flawless. He could have gotten rid of his mafia walk and stance for this movie and he could have had a more dishevelled look and probably some more peculiar behavior to drive home the insanity plea. Aishwarya did a great job. A slightly different makeup and wardrobe could have helped to bring the role out of the mainstream expectations and into the role of the distraught wife she played. I would say that the other guy was the best. Full of life and new ideas, very excited, very energetic and optimistic - a stark contrast to Shaukat. The director has put in a really good mix of environment (Shaukat's home, the art school, publisher's office, servants at home and the outdoors) to portray the characters.All in all, if you are prepared to watch a non mainstream movie with mainstream cast, this movie would be 5 stars when you watch it.

Abhishek Bandekar 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 BandekarRating- ** Poor ** Average *** Good **** Very Good ***** Excellent6th February, 2005