Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire...It Rocks!!

It has to be about a Love Story....It just has to be!!

In one of the finest films made this year...shucks...till date...at least on Indian Soil, the love remains the undercurrent for everything. And why not?...if you take out the romance between the lead protagonists Jamal Malik and Latika, you lose the soul.

In an utterly impalusible movie, it still makes you wonder just a little bit...can this really happen, and this is the biggest tribute to the director since everything else is absolutely real. Both sides of India with its pukish slums, brothels, pimps, beggars one one hand and the glitzy call centres, Reality shows, Hiranandani and Mercedes Cars on the other are very 'in your face' real!!

The story is just an elongation of the Movie Name: Slumdog Millioniare in Hindi Slang - Basti/ Jhopad/ 'gandagi' ka Kutta who becomes a crorepati. A dog from the slums who is one the verge of becoming a millioniare and then just before the last question is asked all hell breaks loose. Since the guy is a slumdog, he should not know the answer to questions which even rich people do not know but he does....the situations that he has been in his life till date which makes him know the answer is what forms the crux of the story.

The Q&A moves between the good and the bad but keeping in kind that it has been made for international, particularly British audiences, it makes sense. What makes the Q&A session brillaint is Anil Kapoor, who in a short but career defining role is as slimy and stinking as the pot of shit in which the protagonist falls.

The situations are very real and what makes them more so are the young actors and their interaction. Watch the scene in which the blind child tells Jamal that bearded baldy on a $100 note is Benjamin Franklin. The subtlety of being blind is brought forward so well that its spellbinding. Or take the scene of a vey young Jamal dancing infront of his beloved Latika. The children keep the movie really alive. Infact they are so good that they overshadow the main cast members Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto and also Irrfan who are also quite impressive in their meaty roles.

This movie at some levels reminded me of 'City of God'. There are actually a lot of similarities in their subtext if you observe carefully though they are quite different in their overall positioning.

Finally the 3 things that make the movie so great are, The music of AR Rahman - this guy is a genious and mark my words, one day they are going to call him the greatest musician ever. Some of the tracks are exceptional and without words they convey so much meaning. Then there is the Direction of Danny Boyle - Hats off sir for making a movie in India which is better than what our bollywood has been dishing out for the last 50 years. Some of the scenes are extremely gritty without ever being distasteful. They are just 'Real'. And finally what makes this film truly memorable is INDIA - yes, it presents a myriad of colours and sequences and events our country that have become part of our life. It is what defines India today....sometimes to the extent that we have started ignoring some of these grusome facts about ourselves. If in some way - and i think it will - this movie awakens us to the darker underbelly of India and lets some reality seep into our consiousness, it will deserve the Oscar that is awaiting it right now!!!

2 comments:

~S~ said...

I would tend to disagree a bit. I did enjoy the movie but there were several flaws and many scenes which had as much inorganic masala as a bollywood potboilers.
Even IF kids in slums learn some English, please! - with an English accent? that too suddenly appearing when they are 15?
How come almost every Indian headache - poverty, communal riots, lack of sanitation, goondaism, corruption, prostitution, child labour, slavery, beggary, child abuse, etc happen to the same set of 2 people. Not plausible in the least. Latika saving the hero from his brother's gun? Bollywood. Brother asking Latika to escape- Bollywood. Finding your brother from a mobile phone directory? Bollywood. Picking the fone in the last ring- can't get more Bollywood. Good fare with a lot of masala, yes. Not a masterpiece.

Robin said...

;-))...strong opinions!!..
See sandy, i am not saying that it does not have shades of bollywood...assume that Miss Tandon had something to do with it but dismissing it as completely bollywood masala is not correct. The screenplay can be compared to Forrest Gump where the main protagonist is somehow involved with most of the important events in american history that has shaped the country. I consider that movie to be a masterpiece too.
Also, please understand that this is a British movie made for British audiences, and thus people speaking english at every stage is a creative license that the director can afford. Had it been a bollywood movie, even i would have felt the unease.
Finally coming back to the point of bollywoodish turning points as mentioned by you, please note that i have never said that this film was plausible but it still does make you think at least once if it is possible. and if i can read this film correctly, the movie is supposed to be somewhat...filmy...to make it lighter & look like redemption from suffering is possible. The only place where i agree with you is the dance sequence at the end of the movie. lol...that was hilarious...
nevertheless i will still say that it is a masterpiece!!