Nishabd, BB's PAR and Rand

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Nishabd

Directed by Ram Gopal Verma, this is an upcoming Bollywood film that has been branded by the critics as a remake of Lolita. But Verma revealed the true source of his inspiration, The Passion of Ayn Rand by Barbara Branden.

Here is an article at Screen India:

I have portrayed dormant desires like a voyeur

Bhawana Somaaya

March 02, 2007

Here are a few excerpts from the article (and the spelling of NB's name some details at this distance can be forgiven):

"Being in a relationship is like being on a bridge of trust. The bridge collapses when doubt creeps in and after that the relationship can never be the same…" Ram Gopal Varma takes off on a philosophical note without any reference to context.

There is a long pause while he stares into space and restlessly plays with the paperweight on the table. "I've not admitted this to anybody," he says lowering his voice "but Nishabd is somewhere inspired from the biography of renowned author Ayn Rand. All of us who are well versed with the author know that her books open with a dedication line: 'Nethhil Brandon is no longer associated with my philosophy of objectives.' I have read so many of her books but never understood this until I read her biography Passion of Ayn Rand by Barbara Brandon, wife of Nethhil Brandon. Suddenly the name rang a bell and the mystery resolved. I learnt that Ayn Rand (50) was attracted to her ardent disciple, Nethhil (28), a married man and so the four of them, Ayn Rand, her husband, her disciple Nethhil and his wife sat across and discussed the issue…

"It sounds unreal but the respective partners accepted the third relationship. This could be a result of Ayn Rand's power and charisma but her husband and Nethhil’s wife mutely reconciled to her decision. Logic tells us that their future relationships would have been scarred. For both of them more than the sexual betrayal was a rejection of identity."

. . .

"... You always imagine something like this to happen to somebody else, not to you. From outside it may seem immoral but for those involved it is very intense and real. The sad thing about age is that only the body ages not the feelings…Because of this, there is no control over desire..."

I don't know if this film is any good. The opening to the web page is pretty impressive and the director's statements are much more intelligent than a superficial gossip level. I suspect that it will be very interesting and moving.

It is good to see PAR used as artistic inspiration in its own right.

Michael