Scheduled to open in December, and not as a niche art house film but a full commercial venture, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Black" is arguably the most eagerly awaited film of the year."Black" turned out to be neither small nor a bilingual. Budgeted at nearly Rs. 200 million ("This is as small as I can get," laughs the director) and made only in the Hindi ("I dropped the English version because the emotions sounded right only in Hindi"), "Black" is expected to take its director to an altogether new plane of passion and perfection.

Originally designed as an intimate epic depicting the unlikely but passionate relationship between a physically challenged girl, played by Rani Mukherjee, and her volatile teacher, Amitabh Bachchan, "Black" has turned out to be historical on many counts.Bachchan is already pining to work with Bhansali again. But right now the director isn't thinking of his next project. Neck deep in the post-production work of "Black", Bhansali seems uncharacteristically satisfied with the end product. He feels he has made a film that does full justice to Bachchan's presence and also offers Rani Mukherjee a chance to join the ranks of all-time great actresses. The film (of less than two hours running time) is supported by some powerful actors. But it's Rani Mukherjee whose career will zoom into another stratosphere after "Black". Playing a deaf and mute girl she delivers a performance that makes Indian cinema proud. The cinematography (Ravi Chandran) and the sound quality are of an international quality. And the background score by Monty lifts the films beyond words. Not for a second do we miss those incomparable musical pieces from Bhansali's earlier works.

You can get a feel of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black by the end of next week. The promos of the film will hit the small screen on December 12. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Nandana Sen and Shernaz Patel and is in news for the brilliant performances by Big B and Rani. Black is slated to release on January 21, 2005