Why 'Slumdog Millionaire' is a great film:
- Danny Boyle is an outsider. He intended the film to be like a Bollywood film. It's totally out of his world. He intended it to be a 'masala' flick. It's not the way he makes his movies, watch 'Trainspotting' or 'Millions' if you don't believe me, yet he succeeded. 'Slumdog Millionaire' became exactly what he wanted it to become. He probably may feel he could have done something differently but it is definitely close to what he intended it to be. Very few movies what they are intended to be, this is one of them.
- It makes you love India. Many Indians (Amitabh Bachchan for one) feel that 'Slumdog Millionaire' shows India in poor light. I accept it shows poverty.What I see in the film is three kids going through an adventure. I guess I am romantic. I loved seeing the kids escape from the clutches of the evidoer running the orphanage, sell tap water as mineral water, steal chappatis swinging heads down from the top of a train, con foreigners at the Taj Mahal, become a part of the underworld, serve tea in a call-center and win 2 million INR. A good movie often involves obtacles that an underdog has to overcome. What better obstacle to overcome than poverty in an economy where which is poised to grow at 7% even in a year of recession?
- This film has no agenda. It's plain fun! It's films like these what make me want to "go to the movies". It's not complicated, there seems to be no hidden-meaning, no allusions, no nothing except what's seen on screen. Watch any other Oscar nomination this year or past years and the films trying to make a point are numberless. Nowhere is the film is trying to make a point about the poor in India. There is no sympathy for Jamaal because he does not have money. The only feeling Jamaal gave me is that he is like anyone else. Trying to get - a girl, some money, enjoy life, be a decent guy in this bad world, that's it. There was scope for making points, the riots in Mumbai is an example where the film could have taken that route but didn't. Kids don't care about such stuff. Jamaal does not think much of it when he is grown up. All he remembers is Krishna! How is that?
Jamaal's story, to me, is like Rocket's (from 'City of God') and Chaipau's (from 'Salaam Bombay') rolled into one!
3 comments:
1) Akshay , you are trying to be overtly romantic here..I can see the influence of Mr.Ebert's view on this movie on you. You know what my American colleague asked me after watching the movie; "do they really take off kids' eyes for begging in India"., only pleasnt thing for her in the movie was Taj Mahal :))
2) Best part for me in the movie was Music indeed. Apart from the kids' flawless, heart-warming experience , I thought the performances too were not that great..(having said so , they were not bad also)
3) I too had some problems with the way kids thrown out of the train suddenly become teenagers (a typical 70's Bolywood formula ) and start speaking english..and once they grow up, one of the kid (a chaiwallah) start speaking in accent !! Clearly made for a target foreign audience...
4) I completely agree that the movie actually inteded to celebrate the India's emergence as ecomomic power .but I disagree with you that the filmmaker was successful in projecting what was intended...people came out of movie thinking the Mumbai has a mafia who removes eyes off the kids, police torture the suspect similar to that in GITMO ..etc. Atleast people whom I interacted so far had the same opinion..(atleast 10 of them :))
I think your comparison of Jamaal to Rocket hits the nail on the head. Both characters just have things happening to them and around them. Haven't seen salaam Bombay. And as for what RJ said, well I think the American audience can be too gullible. Like Akshay said this is one of those rare movies which gets an oscar nod for pretty much nothing more than a riveting and fun story. An oscar nod generally go to those movies with some kinda social or political references. But all said and done there are too many loose ends in slumdog. The older jamaal was just too dissimilar from the 2 younger ones. And it's just not the accent. We know the older Jamaal is still looking for Latika bcos of the narration but we can feel it in the frames with the younger jamaals. Also the tv show isn't telecast live. And somehow this error ruins the movie. It's the live telecast that binge the 2 lovers together. Somehow it's just too flimsy for
Me.
I jsut feel that apart from these things slumdog is a great journey. It completely gives you a good masala Bollywood type flick with great music and camerawork. But THE DARK KNIGHT is still the best I have seen this year :)
Very true Angadh...For me too , "The Dark Knight" is the best movie of the year..The reason is because even people who dont like Superhero movies loved it, reason being it was one of those movies where the superhero's vulnerability was exposed by an maniac...amazing portrayal...and a thorough injustice been done to it when it was not nominated for Best Movie and Best director...
Compared to Slumdog, where there were many loopholes in the plot itself...I still stick to my argument that if SM was not made by Danny Boyle, it wouldnt have got 10 Oscar Nominations...and even Salman Rushdie agree with me and AB. (http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/salman-rushdie-%0Aoscar-%0Aprognosticator/)
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