Finally, the biggie and the most talked about film in the world for the past month or so is finally open for general viewing. The big question is- is it as good as it has been described?
I need not to repeat the synopsis of Slumdog Millionaire here. It is a well-known story, the story of a slum boy who participates in a 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' show hosted by prominent Bollywood star Anil Kapoor with only one intention, not to win the money, but to find his long-lost lover Latika.
Slumdog has sparked off one too many debates to further prove that the West only laps up an Indian-based film when the film talks about issues such as poverty (examples being Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay and Deepa Mehta's Water). Water was a good film but it was hardly an excellent one and it mystified me as to how the film managed to get so close to winning an Oscar recently, the West seem to have taken a liking to it since it showed how widows were treated back in a conservative society in India in the early 1900s. You can't help but to think Slumdog was so well-received because it shows India's disgusting underbelly of crime, prostitution, poverty and all about the slums. But the truth is Slumdog both works and doesn't work- in two ways.
Slumdog works because of the way in which the screenplay was basically written and some wonderful cinematography. Simon Beaufoy's screenplay is tact, wonderful, and manages to bring all the required emotions of the story which makes you feel sympathy for the lead characters in many ways. Camerawork is brilliant and surprisingly, the Mumbai underbelly was captured elegantly and exquisitely to say the least. The vast colours and fields and brilliant, so much so that even the scene where three children set up a tent in the middle of a garbage dumping site looks so eloquent and sizzling. Gorgeous.
But the film certainly has its shortcomings. It's a delight to watch overall, but something is mystifyingly biased about huge negative shades of all the characters in the film, including the character of Anil Kapoor- a character that you could so easily hate for being deceptive. Irfan Khan was extremely under-used in this film to add to such facts, he only appears in few scenes and apparently a huge chuck of his scenes were chopped off. That is certainly a pity.
Contrary to what many think, Dev Patel is a complete mis-cast in his role. His strong British accent makes it completely unrealistic and ridiculous for a person who knows the Mumbai slums, and he seems to have placed a similarly tad face expression about him in the whole film. The child actors saved the characters a great deal because they carried out the portrayal so convincingly and realistically. Its a pity that Danny Boyle, who actually used very natural Mumbai people or his characters for his child characters, went for glamor with the non-Indian Dev Patel and the model Freida Pinto as his main characters. It's hard to overlook why Jamal Malik's skin color is so fair compared to his brother's even though he too, like his brother, has struggled through the slums. The convenient English that he rapidly speaks when the character recahes adult stage is an insult to intelligence. Freida Pinto looks too beautiful for a slum-dwelling girl that she was shown to be since she was young. A more naturally tanned Indian actress would have fitted the role. Madhur Mittal in convincing though in his brief role. Anil Kapoor is convincing but his character portrayal is too cynical and dissapointing.
Danny Boyle obviously thought he knew how to capture a Bollywood-ish number with 'Jai Ho' but he definitely doesn't. That has to be one of the worst choreographed songs in a long time (but the credits rolling cut-back and shots of two small children dancing are vintage and saves the view). And obviously, the entire song is made up of mostly three steps, and hardly any of them are difficult for even me to do.
Slumdog Millionaire, in that respect, is a brilliant film to watch, but it is still a Hollywood film and not an Indian film like some would like to have it. It's still an American way of seeing things in India, resulting in a lot of inaccuracies. But kudos for Danny Boyle, because at the end of the day, the film installs hope and redemption into you. But one thing India can be proud of, is that AR Rahman is now on the brink of winning an Oscar.
D: It is written :)
Rating: 8/10
Verdict: Indians can see the shortcomings, but it is basically a Hollywood product and its a very good one at that.
I need not to repeat the synopsis of Slumdog Millionaire here. It is a well-known story, the story of a slum boy who participates in a 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' show hosted by prominent Bollywood star Anil Kapoor with only one intention, not to win the money, but to find his long-lost lover Latika.
Slumdog has sparked off one too many debates to further prove that the West only laps up an Indian-based film when the film talks about issues such as poverty (examples being Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay and Deepa Mehta's Water). Water was a good film but it was hardly an excellent one and it mystified me as to how the film managed to get so close to winning an Oscar recently, the West seem to have taken a liking to it since it showed how widows were treated back in a conservative society in India in the early 1900s. You can't help but to think Slumdog was so well-received because it shows India's disgusting underbelly of crime, prostitution, poverty and all about the slums. But the truth is Slumdog both works and doesn't work- in two ways.
Slumdog works because of the way in which the screenplay was basically written and some wonderful cinematography. Simon Beaufoy's screenplay is tact, wonderful, and manages to bring all the required emotions of the story which makes you feel sympathy for the lead characters in many ways. Camerawork is brilliant and surprisingly, the Mumbai underbelly was captured elegantly and exquisitely to say the least. The vast colours and fields and brilliant, so much so that even the scene where three children set up a tent in the middle of a garbage dumping site looks so eloquent and sizzling. Gorgeous.
But the film certainly has its shortcomings. It's a delight to watch overall, but something is mystifyingly biased about huge negative shades of all the characters in the film, including the character of Anil Kapoor- a character that you could so easily hate for being deceptive. Irfan Khan was extremely under-used in this film to add to such facts, he only appears in few scenes and apparently a huge chuck of his scenes were chopped off. That is certainly a pity.
Contrary to what many think, Dev Patel is a complete mis-cast in his role. His strong British accent makes it completely unrealistic and ridiculous for a person who knows the Mumbai slums, and he seems to have placed a similarly tad face expression about him in the whole film. The child actors saved the characters a great deal because they carried out the portrayal so convincingly and realistically. Its a pity that Danny Boyle, who actually used very natural Mumbai people or his characters for his child characters, went for glamor with the non-Indian Dev Patel and the model Freida Pinto as his main characters. It's hard to overlook why Jamal Malik's skin color is so fair compared to his brother's even though he too, like his brother, has struggled through the slums. The convenient English that he rapidly speaks when the character recahes adult stage is an insult to intelligence. Freida Pinto looks too beautiful for a slum-dwelling girl that she was shown to be since she was young. A more naturally tanned Indian actress would have fitted the role. Madhur Mittal in convincing though in his brief role. Anil Kapoor is convincing but his character portrayal is too cynical and dissapointing.
Danny Boyle obviously thought he knew how to capture a Bollywood-ish number with 'Jai Ho' but he definitely doesn't. That has to be one of the worst choreographed songs in a long time (but the credits rolling cut-back and shots of two small children dancing are vintage and saves the view). And obviously, the entire song is made up of mostly three steps, and hardly any of them are difficult for even me to do.
Slumdog Millionaire, in that respect, is a brilliant film to watch, but it is still a Hollywood film and not an Indian film like some would like to have it. It's still an American way of seeing things in India, resulting in a lot of inaccuracies. But kudos for Danny Boyle, because at the end of the day, the film installs hope and redemption into you. But one thing India can be proud of, is that AR Rahman is now on the brink of winning an Oscar.
D: It is written :)
Rating: 8/10
Verdict: Indians can see the shortcomings, but it is basically a Hollywood product and its a very good one at that.
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