Nishabd (English: ''Speechless'') is a 2007 Indian

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Ram Gopal Varma Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Bollywood, Hindi, Kannada cinema, Kannada language ...

, starring

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

and debutant

Jiah Khan Nafisa Rizvi Khan (20 February 1988 – 3 June 2013), better known as Jiah Khan, was an English-American actress and singer who worked in Indian films. She appeared in three Hindi films from 2007 to 2010. Born in New York City to Indian parent ...

. The story of the film took inspiration from the 1999 American film '' American Beauty'', and the 1986 Indian film ''

Anokha Rishta ''Anokha Rishta'' is a 1986 Hindi film, directed by prominent Malayalam director I.V. Sasi, written by Rahi Masoom Raza, and starring Rajesh Khanna in the lead, supported by Smita Patil, Sabeeha, Tanuja, Shafi Inamdar, Satish Shah and Karan Sh ...

''.

Plot

The film opens with young Ritu (

Shradha Arya Shraddha Arya Nagal (born 17 August 1987) is an Indian actress. She made her film debut as a lead role in SJ Suryah's Tamil film '' Kalvanin Kadhali'' along with Nayantara in 2006, in Hindi film '' Nishabd'' and in Telugu film '' Godava'' with ...

) bringing her friend Jia (

) to spend the holidays with her at her home in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. Ritu's parents Vijay Anand (

) and Amrita (

Revathi Asha Kelunni Nair (born 8 July 1966), better known by her stage name Revathi, is an Indian actress and director, known for her works predominantly in Tamil & Malayalam cinema - in addition to Telugu, Hindi & Kannada films. She has won several ...

) have a beautiful home surrounded by picturesque surroundings. Vijay is a photographer and Amrita is a homemaker. Jia's mother lives alone in Australia (Jia's parents are divorced), and she studies in India. She is a free-spirited teenager with no attachments and no worries. She professes some affinity to Vijay, but it doesn't go much further than that. But Vijay's world is turned upside down when he takes pictures of Jia watering herself down with the garden hose. Something innocent grows into something bigger, and something bigger grows into something beyond control. Jia's world collides with Vijay's causing three casualties. Ritu witnesses Vijay and Jia kissing and tries to get Jia out of the house without revealing the truth to her mother but fails. Around this time, Amrita's brother Shridhar (

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

) visits them. Through a sequence of events, he uncovers the disturbing truth about Jia and Vijay. Shridhar questions Vijay and realises that things are serious between Jia and him. Vijay confesses his love for Jia to Amrita, leaving her shattered. Shridhar makes Vijay realise about Jia's vulnerable and naïve age where even a small helping gesture can seem like love. Vijay understands and orders Jia to leave the house. Both Ritu and Amrita lose their faith in Vijay. Ritu moves to America and Vijay meets Shridhar again, the latter realising that Vijay is completely broken inside after his daughter and wife, both lose trust in him. Vijay concludes that even though he often tries to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

and is not scared of dying, but doesn't wants to do so, as he wants to live a bit more in memories of Jia.

Cast

as Vijay Anand *

as Jia *

Aftab Shivdasani Aftab Shivdasani (born 25 June 1978) is an Indian actor, producer and model known for his works in Bollywood and also working for Tamil and Kannada film industry. Shivdasani was selected as the Farex baby at the age of 14 months and eventually ...

as Rishi Khanna *

as Amritha Anand, Vijay's wife *

as Shridhar, Amritha’s brother *

Shraddha Arya Shraddha Arya Nagal (born 17 August 1987) is an Indian actress. She made her film debut as a lead role in SJ Suryah's Tamil film '' Kalvanin Kadhali'' along with Nayantara in 2006, in Hindi film '' Nishabd'' and in Telugu film ''Godava'' with ...

as Ritu Anand, Vijay's daughter

Production

The film was shot in 20 days in

Munnar Munnar () is a town and hill station in the Idukki district of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. Munnar is also called the "Kashmir of South Indi ...

. The claim that it was inspired by

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...

's ''

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...

'' was denied by Amitabh Bachchan in the

CNN IBN CNN-News18 (originally CNN-IBN) is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides internationa ...

TV show ''Unspoken relationships - Nishabd special'' (3 March 2007).

Reception

The film has received mixed reviews from critics. Praise has been given to the performances of the lead actors, however the plot and script have been subject to criticism.

Awards and nominations

Khan was nominated for the

Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut The Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut (previously known as Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year) is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films to recognise a performance by a female actor in their deb ...

in 2007 for her performance in Nishabd.

Soundtrack

References

External links

* {{Ram Gopal Varma 2007 films 2000s Hindi-language films Films directed by Ram Gopal Varma Films scored by Vishal Bhardwaj Films shot in Munnar Sexuality and age in fiction