Blame it on Black. Not the colour but the film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Practically all the awards and trophies at various functions this year went to the actors and the makers of this film.

Giving ‘thank you’ speeches, holding aloft a trophy and sharing stage plus small-screen space with Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee and Sanjay Leela Bhansali must’ve been a triumphant moment for producer Anshumaan Swamy. Enough reason to call it a successful film even if inside reports indicate that Black has not really recovered its full investment (of approximately Rs 25 crore). There’s a buzz that the producer’s records are still showing a red figure of Rs 3 crore and that a large insurance reimbursement is still due. But what’s visible is the mileage and applause that everybody associated with the sensitive film has received.

To a much smaller extent, you could blame it on the Subhash Ghai-funded Iqbal too. This Nagesh Kukunoor-directed film with no star value and a budget of around Rs 3 crore fetched handsome returns for its makers and also got its share of critical acclaim.

If 2005 gave you two successful films with vastly different budgets but both based on the physically challenged, sit back and watch Bollywood unroll a series of blind, dumb and deaf characters all through 2006.

Amisha Patel has already come and gone with two duds called Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai (in which she was blind) and Teesri Aankh (she was dumb in this one).

But there’s a whopper around the corner called Fanaa in which Kajol plays a blind young woman. If cousin Rani Mukherjee could do it with aplomb in Black (she was deaf, dumb and blind in it), Kajol slimmed down, turned sexy and came out of semi-retirement to do her blind act in the Aamir Khan starrer. Although Yashraj Films, the production house, is reputed for its secrecy, insiders know that Fanaa is the story of a blind woman who can’t, literally and figuratively, see that her man (played by Aamir Khan) is a terrorist until the tragic climax.

That Kajol found it challenging to play the physically challenged role in Fanaa is best illustrated by the fact that she had earlier turned down best friend Karan Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (KANK) on the plea that motherhood wouldn’t allow her to do a long spell of shooting far away in New York. It almost sounded as if Karan had asked her to abandon baby Nysa and come with him to New York to make a film!

After saying ‘no’ to Karan, Kajol went on to accept the Fanaa offer from Yashraj Films, the banner that had made Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge with her more than a decade ago. Obviously, the actress simply preferred to play blind and let cousin Rani pick up the Karan Johar assignment.

That Kajol used the can’t-shoot-in-New-York ruse to wriggle out of Johar’s KANK without offending him became pretty obvious when she went to freezing Poland (minus 15 degrees) with baby and maid to shoot for Fanaa!

If the blind role was exciting enough to convince Kajol to step out and play it, then she’s not alone. For a whole lot of other actors are also coming up with a variety of similarly challenged portrayals, even if not all of them are going to be great cinema.

The also-rans will include: Pyaare Mohan, a comedy with Fardeen Khan and Viveik Oberoi playing blind and deaf, respectively; Golmaal where Tusshar Kapoor goes dumb and Tom, Dick And Harry with Dino Morea, Jimmy Shergill and Anuuj Saawhney playing deaf, dumb and blind. Meanwhile, Kareena Kapoor has a go at turning dumb in Priyadarshan’s Chupke Chupke which sounds like an interesting combination.

Honestly, the audience is going to be dumbfounded at the end of it all!

Hey, psst!

Subhash Ghai who has Salman Khan in his next directorial venture had a special screening of Shaadi Se Pehle only for the actor and his family. Salman turned up only with Katrina Kaif!

John Abraham’s fans will soon ‘fall’ for a new commercial that’s yet to be aired. It’s for eyewear with girls of all sizes, shapes and colour falling all over the place when John dons the stunning shades.

When he first heard the storyboard, an embarrassed John dimpled, “How egoistic to have girls falling all over you!” But it turned out to be a fun commercial ? especially since it’s called the fall collection!

Bharathi S. Pradhan is managing editor of Movie Mag International