Slumdog Wins Best Picture Oscar
(For GK, Gandhiji & his many avatars, The Gora & Terraferrous)
All ye Bollywood curs, hang your heads in shame because the Slumdog is soon gonna expose you.
An Oscar-worthy gem and the finest movie made in India this century, Slumdog Millionaire (based on the novel Q and A by Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup) is coming to India in January.
Naturellement, as fine a movie as Slumdog Millionaire can’t be from a Bollywood director (although plenty of Indians do feature in this English movie directed by British filmmaker Danny Boyle, produced by Christian Colson and distributed by Fox Searchlight).
Outstandingly executed, Slumdog Millionaire is the riveting life-story of an 18-year-old Mumbai ’slumdog’ and chaiwallah Jamal (Dev Patel) who happens to win the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire much to the bafflement and chagrin of the program’s host (Anil Kapoor).
Jamal is a slumdog, with his roots deep in the bowels of Mumbai’s slums. Ergo, he must be cheating in some way to get at the right answers. Right?
So this young man is promptly dispatched to the police station where Jamal undergoes what thousands of Indians unfortunate enough to enter the precincts of a police thana experience everyday across the country – merciless thrashing.
When the beatings don’t work, the police inspector (Irrfan Khan) ups the ante telling his underling Srinivas (Saurabh Shukla a.k.a. Kallu Mama of Satya) – A little electricity will loosen his tongue. Give him.
But even the electric shocks administered by Srinivas don’t yield a confession of cheating from the young boy, who resolutely maintains - I knew the answers.
How does young Jamal know the answers to difficult questions that would stump even the most educated Indian. Like for instance, whose figure adorns a $100 bill?
No, we won’t tell you how Jamal knows the answers to some of the most difficult questions.
All we’ll tell you is that Jamal goes on to tell the police inspector an incredible story that is brought to life in an extraordinary manner rarely seen on the big screen in India or elsewhere.
Slumdog Millionaire is not merely a magnificent movie but it’s also the most absorbing portrait of India we’ve seen on the big screen.
And that’s what raises Slumdog Millionaire to the level of a classic – its amazing portrayal of the wonder and chaos and injustice that’s India.
The filthy slums, the abject poverty, the Hindu-Muslim violence, the Bollywood craze, cricket mania, Mumbai underworld, horrific exploitation of young children, the ‘new’ India rising over the demolished slums of Mumbai, police brutality, the call centers, inexplicable goodness in some souls, the packed commuter trains et al – nay, the very essence of India is distilled and captured with unusual verve and dexterity in the moving story of Slumdog Millionaire.
Hey, director Danny Boyle seizes on, and brings to life, even the Indian fascination with Amitabh Bachchan.
A Poignant Tale
Explaining how he answered one question relating to Lord Ram in the Who Wants to be a Millionaire contest, Jamal tells the police inspector in one of several poignant moments in the movie – If it weren’t for Ram and Allah, we’d have a mother.
But Slumdog Millionaire is more than just a sob story. It’s a fine amalgam of the tragic, the comic, the fatalistic and the anarchic elements of life in India today.
Younger Jamal Dazzles
More than the grownup Jamal, it’s the young Jamal played by Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, who cast a bewitching spell on us. All of our Bollywood veterans are zeroes before this young boy.
The younger version of Salim (Jamal’s elder brother) is also played with elan by Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail.
Compared to Ayush and Azharuddin, Dev Patel (who plays the grownup Jamal) and Freida Pinto (cast as the older Latika, the love of Jamal’s life) prove to be disappointing.
But even the less-than-compelling performances of Dev and Freida can’t dim the lustre of Slumdog Millionaire for such is the power of the camera, the allure of the story and the depth of the screenplay. And of course, there’s A.R.Rehman’s music as well.
Tired as we are of the endless run of ugly monsterpieces coming out of the Bollywood cesspool, Slumdog Millionaire is that rare masterpiece set oddly enough in the Mumbai cesspool.
Yes, literally in one early scene in the movie Jamal emerges out of the cesspool.
If you love movies as passionately as we do, if those moving images on the big screen in a dark room excites you as much as it does us, if a gripping narrative on the screen raises the hair on your hands like it invariably does to us, go watch Slumdog Millionaire.
By the way, watching Slumdog Millionaire after seeing Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is like using Listerine to get rid of the unpleasant taste of a bad meal.
(Slumdog Millionaire is in limited release in the U.S. now – nationwide on December 19 – and is set to come to Indian screens in January.)
Related Stories:
Cidade de Deus vs Slumdog Millionaire
Will Slumdog Roar at Oscars Too? Gets 10 Nominations
Bachchan Bitchin Bakwas, Again
Slumdog Millionaire Sweeps Golden Globes; Thrilled
A.R.Rahman Wins Golden Globe; Hooray
Slumdog Millionaire Wins Best Picture Golden Globe
Danny Boyle Wins Golden Globe for Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire Wins Golden Globe
Slumdog Millionaire – How the Critics See it
Beautifying Dharavi
More Indians Living by Gutters
98 Responses to “Slumdog Millionaire Review – A Non-Bollywood Indian Masterpiece”
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From the disappointing opening in India, seems like it will be a flop there. Indian audiences, can’t even appreciate a good movie.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. On what basis do you say that?
2. Many Indians have already seen the movie because it’s been widely available on DVD (illegally, of course) for several weeks.
So, even if the reception is not strong (and we don’t know that until you provide credible sources), you still can’t say Slumdog Millionaire will be a flop because of the widespready piracy of this movies. It was available (even before official release) on IIT Kharagpur Local Area Networks for easy download. We wouldn’t be surprised if the same was happening elsewhere too.
3. Bottomline, if indeed Slumdog Millionaire fails to make good money, it’ll be more because of the piracy and not because as you say Indian audiences, can’t even appreciate a good movie.
4. In the case of Slumdog Millionaire in India, we have to distinguish between flop in terms of making money and flop in terms of poor audience reception. While the former is a sure possibility, the latter is most certainly an impossibility.
yo Aditya.. why, why.. is IITKGP so morally corrupt??
English version opened with mixed response in Bombay and banglore with 60 to 75 percent opening whereas the Hindi version in rest of India got 20 to 25 percent opening.
Lots of theatres have been vandalized (don’t know why) and are demanding the movie to be banned.
Piracy is just as effective as to other Hollywood and bollywood movies which still ended up doing well at the box office.
Let’s wait and see what tomorrow looks like as that will give a clear picture.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You must provide sources with links for your numbers and claims that lots of theatres have been vandalized. Otherwise, no one will take your claims seriously.
2. You write above: Piracy is just as effective as to other Hollywood and bollywood movies which still ended up doing well at the box office
Remember, Slumdog Millionaire was available on pirated DVD for several weeks before the movie released. That doesn’t happen with Bollywood movies (pirated DVDs are available usually after the movie debuts).
It was on zee news and bbc channel. Shiv sena and some stupid Hindu party vandalized some theatres and want the movie to be banned as the movie has a scene disrespecting lord ram. Tomorrow the whole clear picture will come out. For now check out the site boxofficeindia.com for very brief news on slumdog’s opening and vandalism.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
For those who missed our response earlier, we suggest you read this story on Piracy of Slumdog Millionaire in India.
Watched SM ystdy nite.
Loved it.
Someone here commented that the story has such a solid screenplay that it probably could have done without Rahman’s background. I completely disagree. I must say, the background score plays a major part in making the movie so riveting. I was afraid that he got the award due to overhype, as some commented, but after watching the movie I’m damn happy to say that he deserves the Golden Globe, and more.
Hoping for an Oscar, fingers crossed.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. What was the response in the movie hall? Full house?
2. BTW, guess what we are reading?
Yes, The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller.
Picked it up from our local library yesterday.
Short book..just 171 pages..so should finish it soon.
3. Added Sashenka to our Books section.
Regarding the pirated DVD.. the copy that is circulating is not really a cam-print.. it is a DVD screener (the same one that I watched) sent out to the awards voters, as you know.. but they probably don’t care as they have made plenty of money, much more than would have expected when they went for this gamble (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slumdog_Millionaire#Release)
Asha, I also had a similar opinion about ARR’s music
http://indiablogs.searchindia.com/2008/12/13/slumdog-millionaire-a-non-bollywood-indian-masterpiece/#comment-6254
Regarding your usage of “yesterday night”.. I used to use “yesterday night” for a long time.. but have changed it to “last night” now
http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS299US303&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=last+night+yesterday+night
Thought that you may find that interesting.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
According to ET, it was even screened on Indian cable channels.
Why are we calling this movie an Indian masterpiece? Its a British movie. Its like saying braveheart is a non Hollywood Scottish movie. Funny thing is that if you watch Indian news channel, you can hear the reporters saying, oh slumdog has been nominated for oscars and let’s hope that India brings oscar home. If you see CNN or BBC or msnbc or even jay leno show, you will hear them say, oh its a British movie shot in Indian slums……..The director is British, screenplay is British, author is British, producer is British, 98 percent of staff was British and the movie was set to shot in India to have Indian actors to make it more believable with Indian music. So what makes Indians think that its their achievement? Sorry no offense to anybody.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: Why are we calling this movie an Indian masterpiece?
We’ve called it a Non-Bollywood Indian Masterpiece (our headline).
Here are the first three paragraphs of our post, which make it clear we don’t consider it an Indian movie except for the setting and the author:
It’s clear from the above that we don’t consider it an Indian movie, except in terms of where the movie is set, i.e. Indian slums.
As you imply above in your comment, Slumdog Millionaire is not really an Indian achievement.
It’s just that Indian movies are so deservedly starved of awards and recognition on the global stage that many of us (including us) occasionally in desperation try to cling to any recognition even if we don’t really deserve it or even if it does not belong to us (as in the case of Slumdog Millionaire).
sorry correction the author is Indian…. Vikas something….
Yes, AR Rahman should feel shame working on this movie.. I totally agree with this article…
http://arindamchaudhuri.blogspot.com/2009/01/dont-see-slumdog-millionaire-it-sucks.html
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We’ve read the article in your above link.
We don’t agree with it. Seems like a malicious hit job.
Whoever celebrating this movie should feel that they have shit on their face. Its like they are celebrating their dirty happend at their home.
WHat’s wrong with what has been shown in the movie about slums? It’s the truth.
Look at all the bollywood movies that have slums as part of their movie, Munnabhai MBBS, Satya, Aamir, Agneepath, Amar Akbar Anthony and so on and most of them either have been huge hits or have been critically acclaimed.
Amitabh Bachchan is just jealous for criticizing the movie as he wasn’t approached for the role which was given to Anil Kapoor. That’s the bottom line. Man is getting out of his mind with age.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Or maybe, Amitabh Bachchan is just piggybacking on the Slumdog publicity train.
BTW, Shahrukh Khan was approached for the quizshow host’s role but said No.
Wonder how many times SRK kicked himself for what turned out to be a mistake in retrospect.
Anyone who says SM is an excellent movie probably haven’t watched “Cidade de Deus” (City of God) yet. I saw that movie an year back, and it will definitely be in my all time top 3, even when I am 90 years old!. When I was watching SM, I couldn’t help the feeling that most of the scenes were inspired from that movie.(Comparing the screenplay of SM with that of Cidade de Deus, is like comparing Villu with God Father.)
SI, BTW watched Gran Torino yesterday. I thought you had gone overboard with praise for a normal movie,second time in a row, after SM. Not bad though..but definitely not the “best” Eastwood movie as you said).
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Will try to watch Cidade de Deus this weekend.
We disagree on Gran Torino…we think it represents class, particularly Clint Eastwood’s acting & the sparkling dialogs.
I am slowly beginning to support AB’s cause. Looks like in the UK, they are advertising SM with this tag line “THE FEEL-GOOD FILM OF THE DECADE”.
http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/01/16/lolwtf-slumdog-millionaires-uk-bus-advertising-completely-desecrates-the-film/
Also, look at this:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5597745.ece
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Re. Your first link – A bad/silly/stupid tag line does not reduce the entertainment quotient of Slumdog Millionaire one bit.
2. Your second link – The life of biped slumdogs in India is infinitely worse than that of many a quadruped dog. Some activists will protest anything…protest is an end in itself.
3. You write above: I am slowly beginning to support AB’s cause
AB’s cause got him some publicity. Otherwise, it made no difference. From what we can gather, Indians in India had as enthusiastic a response to this fine movie as the Americans. Even the Indian pirates love it.
@ karthik15981,
just having the same backdrop (i.e Slums) cannot make cidade de deus and slumdog millionaire similar. If thats the case most of the movies will be similar. Both the movies are totally different in story, narration, music and direction.Yes, the photography is almost similar, but that cannot takeaway the credit that belongs to slumdog millionaire. I think citade de deus is a better movie than slumdog millionaire, but i dont think slumdog is copy of god’s city.
and for all those who are shouting at slumdog millionaire that it shows poor india, can anyone say that u havent seen children begging in signals, slums which dont have toilets,rogues who make orphan children as beggars, prostitutes, thieves etc.., please anybody there?
Its just that , if all these things happen before your eyes , u can tolerate that, but if they are shown in a big screen, ur patriotism comes out of nowhere and blasts comments about the movie.
See a movie as a movie, give creators some freedom, afterall they are work of fiction.
most westerners are praising this movie bcos it touches their heart and they feel for the characters, they are not thanking danny boyle for showing what they think as real india.
Sanewar,
Sorry if my words were misleading, but I never meant SM is a copy of Cidade de deus. The common thing I was trying to emphasize was, as you said, the same backdrop.
The first feeling I got after watching movies like “Cidade de Deus” and “Amores Perros” was “Thank God..How lucky I am to be living in a country like India..”. (I have never been to Brazil or Mexico). I am sure, someone who had never been to India would have got the same feeling when he/she had watched SM.
Yes. There are many in India begging in signals, slums etc as you said, but that does not warrant anybody to over-exaggerate their plight (like jumping into a pile of shit, pouring acid into their eyes etc) and tarnish the image of our country. Now, name one “Indian” character in the movie who is shown as normal, or sane. (Even the host of the show is shown as a prick, who makes fun of a slum “dog” and the whole Indian audience who are watching the show, are shown laughing and enjoying when the host mocks a poor chaiwallah.. The super star of Indian cinema is shown to coolly sign an autograph from a kid who is drenched in shit etc etc.). Is this how we Indians behave???? But that is exactly what this movie portrays.
Having said these, I am not saying SM is a bad movie. It is a good movie, but, it does to India what Cidade de Deus did to Brazil and Amorres Perros did to Mexico.
Finally, Britishers should be the last to take movies to show our plight, as they are the ones who looted us.
karthik,
where do u belong, have u not heard of fans who pierce their tongue, cut goats or even their own body parts, spending their monthly wages for a first show ticket,etc.,well compared to these reality what was shown in the screen is very believable and must have happened somewhere many times.
well, yes , may be there was over exaggeration in case pouring acid in the eyes, but that does not change the fact that some rogues are turning orphan children into beggars and prostitutes here in india in each and every city.
90% of human population ( not just indians ) will laugh when somebody mocks other person.
I dont know what cidade de deus did to brazil and amores perros did to mexico , could u explain?
But remember all these movies have a general appeal and they can be taken with any country as its backdrop.
BTW, have SI watched amores perros, if they do , then we will get an ugly thrashing on YUVA.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We’ve been going slow on movies for a few days…resuming our binge today. Will watch Amores Perros as well.
i second Karthik151981. the character of Salim is so inspired by the Rocket (hope i remember the name right) from Cidade de Deus. Another striking resemblance that does not pass off for a coincidence is the cricket scene. as such, everything abt salim is there in Cidade de Deus i can say. and this movie is f*** all. nothing worth celebration. so relax.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: this movie is f*** all. nothing worth celebration
What planet do you come from? How many light years away…what’s the weather like there?
We’ll watch Cidade de Deus soon.
Praneix, Thanks Dude
SI, Praneix comes from a planet where people understand the difference between a good movie like Cidade De Deus and a over hyped sh** like SM.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
That must be a planet where they use a different dictionary (with a different meaning for overhyped sh**).
Sanewar,
“90% of human population ( not just indians ) will laugh when somebody mocks other person.”
—Well, laughing when one someone is mocked is one thing, but openly laughing at one’s poverty, illiteracy and the work he/she does for survival, is another thing.
“I dont know what cidade de deus did to brazil and amores perros did to mexico , could u explain?”
—The point I was trying to make is in the first paragraph of my post you were responding to.
“But remember all these movies have a general appeal and they can be taken with any country as its backdrop.”
—This is were we completely differ. In my opinion all the three movies we were discussing can never be taken in any other country.
Cidade De Deus – Because the movie is inspired from true incidents that actually took place in Rio. The movie was shot in the same localities (amidst huge security risks). You can read the trivia of that movie in IMDB here,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317248/trivia
So, there can never ever be a country other than brazil or a place other than “cidade de deus” itself that could have been used as back-drop for this movie.
Amores Perros – Well, this is one movie where the viewer is left with the task of interpreting the director’s thoughts. (Two movies which I could never succeed in this are Rashomon [Akira Kurosawa] and Birds [Hitchcock]).
The way I understood the movie is this :
The director tries to convey each character through his pet ( a dog ).
1) A rich dog leaves a beautiful house and gets stuck in a hole ( Its owner, a rich man leaves a beautiful family and gets stuck with a model).
2) A fighter dog which wins in all fights initially, gets cheated and is deceived of a victory,in the last but the most important fight. (Its owner, who thinks he had won his brother’s wife, gets cheated by her in the end).
3) A mad dog whose only intention is to kill any other dog in a senseless way. (Its new found owner realizes he has the same character).
With a story like this, the movie could not have been taken in any country other than mexico, where dog fights are in practice.
SM – Well the reason is very very obvious. No creatures in this world other than INDIANS would appreciate a movie that insults their country. Imagine a hollywood movie by an indian director that has a scene like this:
“A white kid gets insulted by a white guy. The kid who is with an Indian tourist, shouts “This is real America”..Immediately the Indian says “Son, I will show you, what real India is”..and gives him a 100 Rupee note. Tell me honestly. Will the western audience appreciate that the same way they appreciated SM.. ?????
Of course,Slumdog is rich in its story-telling,but if there is one thing that is better than the slumdog in portraying real India,its the man booker award winning novel,’the white Tiger’-written by the Mangalorean ‘Aravind Adiga’. I hope searchindia.com will review the book ‘the White Tiger’ too…
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We read the Aravind Adiga book long back. We did not think highly of it. Most definitely not worth $24.
If you have not purchased it, don’t waste your money. If you have not read it, don’t waste your time.
Even before Aravind Adiga won the Booker Prize, we wrote in September 2008:
BTW, Arvind Adiga has a short story in the January 26, 2009 issue of New Yorker – The Elephant. Again, nothing extraordinary.
hahahaha.. see this:
“Let’s say I made a movie about the US where an African-American boy born in the hood, has his mother sell him to a pedophile pop icon, after which he gets molested by a priest from his church, following which he gets tied up to the back of a truck and dragged on the road by KKK clansmen. Then he is arrested and sodomized by a policeman with a rod, after which he is attacked by a gang of illegal immigrants, and then uses these life experiences to win “Beauty and Geekâ€.
Even though each of these incidents have actually happened in the United States of America, I would be accused of spinning a fantastic yarn that has no grounding in reality, that has no connection to the “American experience†and my motivations would be questioned, no matter how cinematically spectacular I made my movie. At the very least, I wouldn’t be on 94% on Tomatometer and a strong Oscar favorite.”
IMHO, this is the best and the most apt review of this movie…
Source:
http://greatbong.net/2008/12/29/slumdog-millionaire-the-review/
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Kadavule, kapathu (God, help us).
Some people will not be pleased even if God were to appear before their eyes (except maybe, if Yama were to come).
2. Never have truer words been said (Excerpt from review in your above link):
Sorry this message is off-topic. You say,”We read the Aravind Adiga book long back. We did not think highly of it”.
Up to the half- the hit and run case involving Pinky madam -I was glued to the book and then it was boring somewhat. Overall I thought it was readable since it had very nice quotes. Maybe I should read more and more books to prove myself that ‘The White Tiger’ is not such a good book.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
In our case, the feeling was very bad since we spent around $24 on the book. We should have asked our library to get it (one of the good things here is that you can recommend books to your library & they usually get it. You’ll find this hard to believe but our local library in the U.S. gets Stardust, India Today, Frontline…most likely on the recommendation of some desis here).
Here’s an excerpt from The White Tiger of two villagers discussing a city gal (P.107):
BTW, the woman works at a call center.
They (your library) would have got “The White Tiger” after the Booker prize, no?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Yes, they do. The county library also has the CD version now.
Will go out to Blockbuster & get City of God (some think this movie inspired or is better than Slumdog Millionaire)
You havent made any further mention of The Bridges of Madison County, am I to infer you dint like it?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
No, we did not dislike it.
The beginning was OK, then there was the Mills & Boon-esque middle (particularly P.82-84) when your ‘cowboy’ spends a few days with Francesca, then the story gets better as we get to the end.
There were quite a few references to India – at least six including one to Pondicherry (although it’s not named).
Was this your favorite line:
BTW, the book was made into a movie as well featuring two of our favorite stars – Clint Eastwood & Meryl Streep – and directed by Eastwood.
We’ll watch the movie sometime in the near future & review it too.
Happ to see a funny tamil movie in some useless channel the movie is called “Kalakrey chandru” I think its the last movie where Prabhu and Karthick acted together…shocked to see the story line like that of “Slumdog millionaire” ofcoures there isnt that bad violence/terrorism in it..this tamil movie is more of a funny note but also revolves around the “Quiz show” and all the answers are interesting related to the flashback…search india shall we say the Dog director has copied a tamil movie??!!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Interesting. Very interesting.
The technical brilliance of this film — sound, score, cinematography, editing — is remarkable.
The screenplay is a cartoonish gloss, and the character development is minimal.
People have said Dev Patel isn’t a great actor, but his performance is as memorable as those the three veteran actors, Mr. Kapoor, Mr. Khan, and Mr. Shukla. And Madhur Mittal is quite strong, as well. Slumdog is a rough outsider’s sketch of India, in terms of the script and characters. But the five actors I mentioned, plus the cinematography, editing, music and sound, step beyond those limitations to tell a powerful story and make the film.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You ignore the youngsters, who did an amazing job.
In perspective, this might sound silly, but I read the last few pages of the books through blurred eyes.
I know about the movie, but dint want to watch it, lest I lose the flavor of the book, and the characters.
The line you mentioned above packs a powerful punch, and it really is one of my fav lines. Sigh!
PS: I dint participate in the MNB contest, btw… I had a nice storyline in mind, but what with joinin at the new job and all, I kind of lost track, and before I knew it the last date was over
Maybe I could write and post it to you, and you could review it, huh?
Check out Luck by Chance. Its an average movie. It could have been better. Farhan is really good actor. Hritik Roshan is strictly OK. The only movie I slightly liked him was in Koi Mil Gaya and Jodha Akbar and I think rest of his movies have been pretty pathetic such as Dhoom 2, Krish etc…..The man just can’t stop acting like GAY! In this movie, he is back to his GAY routine. I remember one of his interview where he said “I am very self conscious about the way I look” but it doesn’t mean that you have to stop being yourself. The man uses too much grease and tan lotion.
I measured them against the kids in Born Into Brothels, and they came up short. I went into the film expecting them to be great like that. Yup I know Born Into Brothels is a documentary, but after you’ve seen it, no one acting out poverty in a film, no matter what their real-life experience or acting skills, can come close.
I came away from Slumdog somewhat angry at the light sketchiness of the story, and the underdeveloped characterizations, from a writing POV.
After twenty minutes, what stayed with me were the visuals and sound in every respect. Boyle uses expressive visuals to tell the story in all his films, no matter how strong or weak the screenplay. The on-location sound, and some of the best camera shots I’ve ever seen of Mumbai — comparable to Spike Lee’s NYC in Inside Man, which is so redolent of the city’s financial district I could smell the nabe as I watched the film — are brilliantly brilliantly captured. Rahman’s work is luscious. The editing is precise, percussive, with an unrelenting pace. The color is rich and lovely, a difficult thing to capture if shooting in Mumbai because of the frequent hazes that cast the light to yellow.
The male actors’ work stayed distinct and strong as the experience of the film faded. This was the biggest surprise of the film, for me. I’d read so much about how great the kids were, and that, except for Kapoor and Khan, the adults weren’t quite so stellar. Dev Patel was the biggest surprise. His relatively comfortable UK background is apparent, so at first he didn’t read well to me as a grown-up poor Mumbaiker. Yet by the end of the film. he’d convinced me completely.
Even now, Dev Patel stands tall in my mind. His character, Jamal, seems to live on the edge of life, but he’s actually centered in life, in a very quiet way. Jamal doesn’t seem strong, a winner, but his focus and tenacity make him stronger and more of a winner than anyone else. Like that, is Dev Patel’s performance itself.
The five male actors’ work did the job of characterization that the screenwriter did not do. For that extra duty alone, they should have gotten some award nominations. You could produce this story as a stage play with a sparse setting — and if you had only these same five actors playing their respective roles, you could tell the rest of the story with narrative rather than additional actors, and the resulting play would be as memorable as the film was.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. We have yet to see Born Into Brothels. Will see it one of these days.
2. Dev Patel is extremely inadequate in his acting, a tyro.
3. Visually, more compelling than Salaam Bombay.
I want to comment on something ‘Noble’ said – “this tamil movie(“Kalakrey chandru†) is more of a funny note but also revolves around the “Quiz show†and all the answers are interesting related to the flashback” ,”search india shall we say the Dog director has copied a tamil movie??!!”
I don’t think so. Tamils adapted Vikas Swarup’s novel without a copyright (I mean they stole the plot partially) and made a bad movie-a movie not even a dog could watch. On the other hand Slumdog is genuinely adapted from Vikas’s Swarup novel and is beautifully done too. In short we Tamils tried to plagiarize Vikas’s art and the end-result was a disaster.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: a movie not even a dog could watch
Funny.
First half of the movie was acceptable. Second half was horrible, adding to it was miseable acting by the leads. I don’t think it deserves an oscar or so much hype. It is just a mediocre movie.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Yes, Dev Patel & Freida Pinto were mediocre.
Hey, SI… I just read this review, and am eager to know your views;
http://greatbong.net/2008/12/29/slumdog-millionaire-the-review/
Waiting!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. We disagree with the review in the link you provide.
But the essence of blogging is that it gives every idiot a pulpit to vent, fantasize, abuse, bully and occasionally even write some interesting stuff.
Ultimately after reading all the ‘idiots’ and listening to friends/family, moviegoers make up their minds whether they want to bless the movie with their wallets and time.
In the case of Slumdog Millionaire, the people have overwhelmingly voted with their wallets in favor of Slumdog and roundly rejected the naysayers.
In our view (as well as that of countless others), Slumdog Millionaire accomplishes well the job of a movie, which is to entertain. The reviewer is disappointed but he/she is in a minority.
2. Yes, most of the negative stereotypes about India are true. People do live in or amidst garbage dumps., Muslims are routinely slaughtered with impunity by the Hindu clowns (and vice-versa too to a lesser degree). Rape is endemic. Child prostitution is widespread. Do they all happen to the same person or group – Highly likely, in the case of minorities like Muslims. After all, misery seldom travels alone.
3. The reviewer feels Slumdog is never greater than the sum of its parts. Again, we disagree with the reviewer. Slumdog Millionaire is actually more than the sum of its individual parts (deft direction, gripping story, nice photography, fine acting by the kids et al). As we wrote in our review:
4. The ‘demented’ writer makes the following points in its review and we agree with all of them:
5. One of the most important things which the reviewer touches upon but briefly is the production quality. It is top notch in Slumdog Millionaire and the dregs in 99% of Bollywood movies.
Even if you suspend disbelief, most Bollywood movies are crude beyond belief, leaving you with a ripped-off feeling for the $10 or $12 you spend on the tickets. With Slumdog Millionaire, there are few moments where you feel shortchanged.
6. To use a contemporary anology, Slumdog Millionaire is an Obamaesque moment vis-a-vis movies made in India.
An unstoppable force like Obama or Slumdog Millionaire comes but rarely and quickly takes on a life of its own. Sure, there will be some rednecks (racists), Republican clowns or some oddball blogger who will attempt to thwart the phenomenon. But they will have as much success as the Kauravas had on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
All resistance is futile because some battles are lost before they even begin.
Hmm… I liked Slumdog a lot, but I cudnt help agreeing to certain points the guy made. Like, it’s highly unlikely for all those events to have occured to a single person. I’ve been in an 80% muslim populated area since the last 3 yrs, and not once did I find any differences between religions. But well, I know your point pertains to other places where riots are rampant.
All things considered, I enjoyed the movie, so I was ok with those odd points that crept in now and then. Anyways, I watched Dev D yesterday nite… I found it lacking in all respects except the acting; the lead actors were superb. The movie was a squib, though. Wudve been interesting if you’d reviewed that one. Rediff gave it 4 stars, I guess, though Taran Adarsh showed it the middle finger.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Dev D had a limited release here…don’t think it made it to mainstream American theatres.
You haven’t updated your blog in 22 days…Maybe, you should consider doing a piece on the ‘megastar’ Chiranjeevi phenomenon in politics. That would be interesting and timely.
Will it be NTR redux?
I liked the first half of Slumdog. Youngest and younger parts were good. Second half was boring and acting was bad. Latika had no reaction at all, Jamal expressionless as if he was confused and needless to say his bro was pathetic. Only the UK fans will like it.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Like you, we also felt the grownups didn’t do a good job.
Hey! Just came back after watching Delhi 6! Am in two minds as to whether to write a positive or a negative review! Nice to know you’ve been followin my blog; made my day! Btw, I received a comment for the last post I wrote, and it was from “Stalker from SI”…. wonder who it was! I had a feeling it might be you; cos there was a mistake in my post, and you must’ve been tempted to correct it
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: Btw, I received a comment for the last post I wrote, and it was from “Stalker from SI”…. wonder who it was! I had a feeling it might be you;
Not us.
Check the following posts: Could be Gandhiji or one of his many avatars that left a comment on your blog.
1. Gandhiji
2. ★TRΞY☆
3. Þórarinsdóttir
Sorry for the delay in responding. Just returned…long drive.
hey Asha, I am Amy now. wondering if you’d prefer me if I am a girl..
SI, nice detective work. How was the Abhishek movie..
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: How was the Abhishek movie..
Please see Delhi 6 Review – A Meaningless Kaleidoscope
[Our dog chewed up this comment]
wutt??? was it is a scandalous comment? was she swearing at me? can your dog regurgitate it?? please oh please.. atleast email it to me.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: can your dog regurgitate it??
Yes, our pit-bull can exgurgitate the comment if you can get Tampa to sign off on the request.
Heh
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Hi, Are the folks back home rooting for Slumdog at the Oscars tonight?
We have a new Slumdog Millionaire Box Office Chart.
Hey! We’d set our alarm clocks well before! The awards start early morning at around 6 30AM, and we’re waiting for it with bated breath.
I’m rooting for Rehman, actually… I think that background score was the best Indian Cinema has ever seen.
Came across this, this morning:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/At-Oscars-4-yrs-ago-now-a-sex-worker/articleshow/4186270.cms
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Interesting piece. Thanks.
The story in your TOI link says: There is no clear answer as to how and why Preeti became a sex worker.
It’d have been interesting if the journalist had pursued this issue of how and why.
slumdog is shit. only indian movies are good
why should indians be trying for oscars.. any way they’ll give only to white skinned people. that man danny got the awards because he’s a white person..
we have our own awards.. that is enough we dont need any white garbage’s attention.
we had good movies ike lagaan, anbe sivam,mangal pandey, iqbal etc.. that all movies are like gems in indian history
we dont need any awards from white pigs..
as kamal rightly told why should be begging for oscar we’ll inturn judge their films and give award. that only is correct..ARRahman’s oscar is good because oscar becomes very small compared to his achievements..it is of no match to his taklents
ARR is a true legend ,an indian, a tamilian
Jaihind…….
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: why should indians be trying for oscars.. any way they’ll give only to white skinned people.
Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier, Forest Whitaker and Morgan Freeman are not White.
Read this list of Black Oscar nominees and winners.
ok i accept that wat abt kamal haasan,mohanlal, aamir khan, naseerudin shah ,and many other talented actors … couldnt name all of them .. may be these are the top 4 ..dont u think these guys deserve an international recognition for all the hard work and pain they have put in all these years.. dont mention only abt commercial movies they’ve acted at the end of the day they also need money for their projects.. they have also done some classic movies
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: dont u think these guys deserve an international recognition for all the hard work and pain they have put in all these years.
If hard work and pain alone were the criteria for handing out Oscars, then every whore in India deserves an award.
Kamal Haasan (Thenali) and Aamir Khan (Ghajini) are beneficiaries of theft.
Why are the other Kollywood directors not releasing their movies in the U.S. … when trash like Indralogathil can make it here….why not Paruthiveeran et al.
as I said before, Indralogothil et al were big-budget movies that could afford to go to the US. Paruthiveeran, Subramaniaburam, etc. were off a smaller budget. They were massive hits in India though…
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Why are the other Kollywood directors not releasing their movies in the U.S. … when trash like Indralogathil can make it here….why not Paruthiveeran et al.
a). Most Tamil film producers/directors/distributors are blithering idiots.
They are clueless about the basics of both making and marketing their films.
The first part is making a film. These morons think just having a Surya, Vijay, Ajith or Rajinikanth and getting friendly reviews in some print or online publication will do the trick.
As the sorry fate of several Tamil films featuring the aforementioned names has proved, big names alone are often not enough.
Movies like Aegan, Villu, Kuselan, Ayan and Aadhavan are just not worthy enough of release in a theatre. Maybe, the stars can play it for their friends or families in their home theatre over a few drinks.
b). The second part is the marketing aspect.
Again, these buffoons are all at sea.
God, has anyone seen that producer Udayanidhi Stalin speak. We watched a couple of his interviews on YouTube. The fella gibbers like a chimp. We harbor serious doubts whether this nincompoop can even find his cojones without an anatomical atlas. Look at the two movies he’s produced – Kuruvi and Aadhavan. Utter garbage, both.
How can you hope to get smart marketing moves with schmucks like Udayanidhi Stalin at the helm.
We could easily give these monkeys some simple, low-cost marketing tips.
Without giving the game away, we’ll provide a hint. Study how young corporations and startups operate and there are some lessons here for the Tamil film producers in marketing their films.
But past experience suggests these Korangus (simians) will only learn their lessons the hard way.
On both a) and b) above, Bollywood is way ahead in the game.
oops… the first part was quoting you guys… i was providing answer
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Think of it as a new rhetorical technique, a new kind of Socratic method (whatever that thing means) of us answering our own questions.
But what we wrote above is nevertheless true.
not covering the insider trading desis?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. If the government indeed has all the tapes and the evidence they appear to have, the future doesn’t look good for the three. Of course, we must always have the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
Apparently, Rajaratnam’s $100 million bail is the highest ever in the U.S. Then there’s the LTTE angle.
2. BTW, Rajaratnam is the second Sri Lankan executive to get into big time trouble here.
Remember, Sanjay Kumar, the CEO of software firm CA. He’s cooling his heels in a New Jersey prison now.
3. For your morning’s entertainment, here are eight pictures (mostly perp-walks).
Rajaratnam looks like a villain out of a Vijay movie.. super.
Was hoping Danielle will look hot.. alas! Moffat was a front-runner for CEO, I heard.. How idiotic is this to throw all that away!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: Rajaratnam looks like a villain out of a Vijay movie..
Do you think Rajaratnam will look good in stripes?
2. Hard for Rajaratnam’s Galleon Group hedge fund to survive this 10-scale earthquake.