Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut as a director Khamoshi: The Musical was a triumph of artistry. But a boxoffice disaster .Looking back at this sleeper classic one can see it was flawless in its storytelling almost to the end , when suddenly the tragic end was changed into a happy one.
Some say SLB’s first film about the beautiful vulnerable Annie(Manisha Koirala) trying to cope with the possessive demands of her deaf and mute parents(Nana Patekar , Seema Biswas) is still his most honest work.
The truth is Khamoshi fell prey to dishonesty when the original tragic ending of Annie’s death had to be changed on distributors’ demand. The dark passionate redemptive tale was rejected on the day it was released. Manisha immortalized herself with her porcelain looks and delicately nuanced performance. Salman sportingly slipped into a supporting role, just to give his friend a boost up in his directorial debut.
At 10 am on 9 August 1996 producer Sibte Hassan Rizvi Saab called debutant director Sanjay Leela Bhansali to inform him that his debut film Khamoshi:The Musical had flopped.Sanjay had no idea what this meant. Sanjay’s sister filmmaker- film editor Bela Sehgal , cinematographer Anil Mehta and Sanjay trudged down to Liberty cinema to see what was happening.
What he saw broke his heart. The scattered meager audiences at Liberty cinema(Mumbai) were restless. Some were even breaking their seats in frustration. The projectionist joined in Sanjay’s distress and even showed one reel upside down . Sanjay rushed to the projection room to fix it. His dream had turned into a nightmare. The film was a boxoffice disaster . Sanjay Bhansali got great reviews for Khamoshi: The Musical. Everyone he met loved the film. But the audience hated it.
“I was shattered. I thought my journey as a filmmaker had ended even before it began,” recalls Sanjay with a shudder.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut film Khamoshi: The Musical celebrated its twenty seventh year on August 9. It effortlessly joins Guru Dutt’s Kagaz Ke Phool and Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker as the trio of most honourable flops in the history of Indian cinema.
The story of a beautiful Catholic girl Annie, played by the ethereal Manisha Koirala, who must choose between looking after her deaf-and-mute parents(played brilliantly by Seema Biswas and Nana Patekar) and her career as a singer.A heartbreaking tale of obligation and passion, Khamoshi: The Musical was marred by a false manufactured ending where Manisha’s Annie lives. In the original script the film ends tragically with her death.
Rues Sanjay, “To this day I regret changing the end because of external pressures. I was new and I was scared that if I didn’t comply I would be sacked. So yes, I would like to re-do Khamoshi with the correct ending.”
Over the years Khamoshi: The Musical has acquired a cult following,like Kagaz Ke Phool and Mera Naam Joker.