Sparsh Movie Review: It Touches the Heart

It is an undisputable fact that Naseeruddin Shah (born July 20, 1950), is a great actor. He is among the first trained actors to have made it so big in Indian films. He came into films at a time when the Hindi film industry was going through the art cinema phase. Naseer was a boon for this kind of cinema. He, along with contemporaries like Om Puri, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, were probably the main props for the art cinema that flourished in the late Seventies and Eighties. Not equipped with the conventional hero-like looks or temperament, Naseer fitted very well into the art as well as the middle-of-the-road cinema of those times. The period saw him making his mark in the films of Shyam Benegal (Nishant, Manthan, Bhumika, Junoon, Kalyug, Mandi), Govind Nihalani (Aakrosh, Ardh Satya), Saeed Mirza (Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai), Mrinal Sen (Khandahar), Goutam Ghosh (Paar), Ketan Mehta (Bhavni Bhavai, Mirch Masala) and Sai Paranjape (Sparsh, Katha), among many others.

But being the brilliant actor that he is, Naseer also had the ability to transform himself. It was not just the art films of that era which were his playing ground. He soon set his sights on mainstream Bollywood and gradually became a part of films like Bezubaan, Bazaar, Woh Saat Din, Ghulaami, Trikaal, Karma, Tridev, Vishwatma, Mohra, Lootere, Sir, China Gate, Omkara and the recent blockbuster Krrish. But it was Karma in 1986 and Jalwa the following year which paved the way for Naseer's entry into commercial films. With Jalwa, he even went in for a totally new look and was all beefed up and macho in the movie. All the way, Naseer has had his magical moments with films like Masoom, a Mirza Ghalib for TV, Pestonjee, an Umrao Jaan, a Parzania, Maqbool, Ijaazat, Sarfarosh, Such A Long Journey, Monsoon Wedding, Being Cyrus and Iqbal.

It has been a journey very well traveled so far by Naseer. He has had the privilege of working alongside some of the best actors and directors of this decade and the one before. His repertoire is vast and it spans mediums like films, television and theatre. He has probably received all the possible awards that are there in this country. For the record, he has three Filmfare awards, two National Awards, besides being honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2003 by the Indian government. He made his directorial debut in films with Yun Hota To Kya Hota in 2006.

Going back to the early days of his career, Naseer had already burst on to the screen with Benegal's Nishant. That he was a dynamite of talent became obvious in 1980 when he won the National Award for Best Actor for his spectacular portrayal of a blind man in Sai Paranjape's Sparsh. Set against the backdrop of a blind school, the film deals with the blind, their perception of themselves and how they are perceived by other so-called normal people. Woven around this is the delicate love story of a widow Kavita (Shabana Azmi) and Anirudh (Naseer), the principal of the school. What is remarkable about the film is Sai's touching portrayal of the blind. It is a honest, humane portrayal unstained by pity. The children in this blind institution are actual blind children and Naseer fits in as one of them.

Naseer plays a blind man, without taking recourse to dark glasses or behaving like the proverbial blind person in Hindi films, walking with one hand holding a stick and another stretched out. Naseer's Anirudh is a proud man and he does not allow his disability to become a liability for him. He conducts himself with courage and pride. A self-sufficient man, Anirudh meets Kavita at a party and invites her to come over to his institution and offer her services. Kavita, still wallowing in the death of her husband three years ago, is loath to come out of her shell. But a visit to the blind school and an encounter with the children changes her mind. Like she says later in the film, it was a sparsh (touch) which changed her mind.

The arrangement works wonders for both Kavita and the blind children. Her arid life is suddenly drenched with the love of these blind children and visa versa. Kavita also comes as this ray of light in Anirudh's life as well. She soon becomes an indispensable part of his life and the life of the institution. Love blossoms between them. But the path is never smooth as Anirudh's pride finds it difficult to differentiate between love and pity. Kavita too learns not to give in to her natural instinct of extending a helping hand when confronted with a blind person. The duo gets engaged but plagued by his complexes, Anirudh cannot totally buy the fact that Kavita actually loves him. He calls off the engagement and then even tries to get her to stop coming to the institution. But when he fails in that attempt, he seeks a transfer out of Delhi. Kavita caves in and writes him a letter in Braille, saying that she would stay away from the school. The film ends happily enough with the lovers united. But before that, there is a lot of churning that Anirudh goes through. His belief, that no matter what, so-called normal people can never understand the world of the blind takes a beating. Kavita proves him wrong everytime. She even learns Braille and starts translating books for the children.

Looking at the film from the point of view of the blind, it is a very honest, 'insider' view. We see how the blind learn to cope and live in the world, carrying on with their daily activities like normal people. They are normal people, and need to be treated as such, the film seems to be saying. There is a touching episode in the film, when the only normal boy in that school gets into a fight with his blind friend. He shuts his eyes so that he doesn't have an unfair advantage. The film is full of such small moments. It gives us a different view altogether into the world of the blind. Sparsh was made way before Sanjay Leela Bhansali made his Black. While both films deal with the blind, their treatment and intent is quite different. Paranjape's film scores with its affectionate and humane portrayal of the blind. Despite dealing with actual blind children, the film never leaves you feeling sad or depressed. It delights in its portrayal of the triumph of the human spirit. Those children are a living expression of that spirit.

Where it comes to performances, we cannot say that this is Naseer's best so far, but it definitely comes close enough. Naseer strikes the perfect note as he essays the role of Anirudh. The actor captures Aniruddh's prickly, rough exterior behind which hides his inner vulnerability, his male ego, his passion for getting a better deal for his children and his passion to be independent at all times. Naseer is as only he can be. And that is close to being brilliant. He has all the nuances right. The walk, the talk, the mannerisms are all what one would accept from Anirudh. Shabana Azmi, his ally and co-star in many films, is equally perfect in her portrayal of Kavita. Her nuanced performance is a perfect foil for Naseer's fiery show. Actors like Om Puri in a small cameo, the late Mohan Gokhale and Sudha Chopra, also do their bit to make Sparsh a most credible story about the world of the blind.

Lastly, the director Sai Paranjape, whose humane vison is what gave birth to Sparsh. There are no hugely dramatic moments here. But sensitive feelings. And she had the actors who could bring her vison alive.