The eighties saw Naseeruddin Shahs career scale a new height,when two of his films,Saeed Mirzas Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai and Sai Paranjpes Sparsh released within months of each other. In both the films,Shah played the protagonist belonging to a minority community. In Mirzas film,as the name suggests,he plays the character of an angry young man. Anirudh Parmar in Sparsh however loses his cool only when he is reminded of his physical handicap. Fiercely independent in his stance,Anirudh is very sensitive about his disability,resenting pity of any kind. What makes Sai Paranjpes Sparsh such a special film is Anirudhs stubborn refusal to be slotted as a victim. In his attempt to appear normal and a part of mainstream society,Anirudh in a reverse kind of disability-oriented isolation,subtly tells the people around him to treat him as normal and not as an object of pity. Anirudhs predicament is never romanticised. Except for a male assistant to help him in the blind school of which he is the principal ,and a young assistant at home to carry out sundry chores,he is very independent. He meets a widow,Kavita (Shabana Azmi) who becomes a recluse after her husbands death. Both Anirudh and Kavita are cut off from the world by their individual predicament. Sparsh is about two people living on the fringes of society,tentatively reaching out to one another. Actually its Kavita who encroaches into Anirudhs voluntary isolation,while he fears losing his independence. When a blind colleague (Om Puri)s wife dies leaving the colleague helpless,Anirudh decides to call off his enagagement with Kavita. She accepts the snub without complaint. In an attempt to guard his inependence,he asks Kavita to stop her association with the school because according to him,her normalness sans any disability, makes the students uncomfortable. This is when Kavitas only friend (played by the feisty Sudha Chopra) intervenes and helps Anirudh accept his love for Kavita. Between the two of you I wonder whos really blind? Its not you who need her. She needs you, explains the friend. In his own league Naseeruddin Shahs effortless performance of a blind man touched a chord in many a heart. The journey of a blind man,who battles his disability with courage won him The National Award for best actor. It is arguably the best portrayal of a blind person and his inner-world ever in world cinema. And I include such universally acknowledged portrayals as Audrey Hepburns portrayal of a blind person in Wait Until Dark, Rani Mukherjee in Black, Kimura Tatsuya in Love & Honor and Joren Seldeslachts in Blind. Naseer surpasses all these timeless portrayals of the sightless. His performance is far superior to the film. Sais film seems to have suffered from a lack of budget. But it makes up for the rough edges with its message on treating all humans equally. Some of the scenes with the children at the blind school are truly heartwarming When Shabana Azmi buys a candle from a blind boy who is being teased by his friend for his unsold creation and the boys response to her kindness,Didi,your saree is lovely, touches the heart. There is a quaint sub-plot about the rivalry between two boys at the blind school,one blind,the other with normal vision,who fall out when Shabana Azmi seems to favour the blind boy. The scene delves into human psychology, when the boy with the sight wishes he was blind,so that he could be treated on par with the blind friend! Sometimes the guilt of being normal,can be a very tough burden to bear. Shabanas struggle is a common occurrence in the lives of those who have to live with people with special physical or emotional disabilities. The constant balancing act,the care not to hurt the disabled persons feelings ultimately puts a strain on the relationship. Its about feeling what cant be seen. This sets Sparsh apart from other films dealing with this subject. The effortless performance by Naseeruddin Shah,gave the film a humane touch,providing a peek into the minds of the differently abled,who are fiercely sensitive to how the world treats them. Shabana Azmi on playing Kavita Sai Paranjpe has a delightfully observant eye as a writer. Her dialogue is quirky,comic,colloquial without losing out on depth. Sparsh is a beautifully written film about two social outcastes,one a physically challenged man and the other a widow who come together,bound by the most delicate bonds of love. The widow Kavita,is a far cry from the standard long-suffering Hindi film widows both in the way she behaves and what she wears. And yet,years of tradition and convention get in her way. The relationship between Naseer and his assistant is so endearing. It was amazing to work with the blind children,disconcerting at first but then it dawns on you that the handicap is in our heads. Theyve come to terms with their condition and make the most of life. They play cricket in their own ingenious way. They would say , Didi,we saw your film .I would be taken aback. But then I would see them sitting in front of the TV and hear the film with all the joie de vivre at their disposal. Sparsh was the first film that made a plea for story books in Braille. Today its a reality. I didnt particularly work on characterisation and went along instinctively with Sais directions. It was fascinating to watch Naseer transform himself. He was so convincing as a blind man that off-camera I would subconsciously give him my hand when he was walking downstairs! I had predicted he would win the National Award,and he did. Sparsh is special to me for personal reasons also. Javed Akhtar loved the film and I was introduced to him because of Sparsh. Naseeruddin Shah on Sparsh Does anyone remember Sparsh? I am very proud of that performance. It came just before Aakrosh. Two completely different worlds. After playing the blind man,I had to guard against blinking my eyes on the sets of Aakrosh. I cant think of too many blind characters in our films that have been done with finesse. The credit for carving Anirudhs character goes to Sai Paranjpe. The scenes she created for him were so realistic. It was very easy for me to play Anirudh. What I had to get right was the blind mans body language. And that was something I was working on even before Sparsh. The body language of blind people always fascinated me. I had two classmates in college who were blind. I used to observe them a lot. I needed to only understand why the blind behaved the way they did. The sheer excellence of the writing took care of the rest. Anirudh was a character with a great deal of pride and dignity. Usually the blind in our cinema are portrayed as self-pitying characters. Mr Mittal on whom my character was based was the principal of the school we were shooting in. He had the most beautiful eyes. No one could tell that he was blind. The way he conducts himself,walks,lights a cigarette is how a normal man would do. In fact Mr Mittals proud self-declaration was,Why do you call me disabled? I am just differently abled. That was the first time I heard the term differently abled and so many years ago! Mr Mittal felt he could do anything except drive a car. He hoped some day,there would be a car that the blind can drive. Also,my grandmom was blind. I used to watch her quite closely. I didnt do anything special to prepare for the part except to familiarise myself with the surroundings in the blind school. As for playing a blind man ,it was finally just an acting trick. Did you feel that the trick didnt show? Thats a compliment. I must say it was very kind of Sai Paranjpye to trust me with a central part at that early stage of my career. I believe Sanjeev Kumar was the first choice for Sparsh. For some reason he chose not to play the part and it simply fell into my lap. I was thrilled because it was an author-backed role. Sai had a lot of faith in me. When I read the script I didnt feel there was the need to change a single thing in the script. I rate Masoom and Sparsh as my best performances. Both these films co-starred Shabana Azmi,who has always been a very supportive and a positive influence on my performances. No one writes roles for us any longer,though we did come together for a short film Rice Plate directed by Rohit Roy five years ago. l
