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Sunday, January 11, 2009

Slumdogs, are we indians slumdogs?

thanks to my job, frnds and my hard disk, i now have SlumdogMillionaire on my comp, although thats not news anymore. I dont want to sound like an idiot who always goes against the popular opinion, but sadly i dont think the film has the class of 'memento' or 'godfather' or even 'shawshak redemption'.

this much garlanded movie, as all must know by now is the story of a slumdog who wins the jackpot at a game show. its also the story of india, seen through his eyes. well shot and intelligently casted, the film gets it wrong when it tries to merge Hollywood and Bollywood. On the one side, its all bollywood masala, throughout, where the hero reunites with his childhood sweetheart again and again and saves her from all evil. the climax has all the spices of a regular yashraj flick. And what to say on that silly embarassing dance sequence during the end credits. That is very likely to be the perception of Daniel Boyle, the director on Bollywood. But all these, when they'd have made a hindi movie a compelling watch, make an english movie dull, over the top and cliched.

And on the other side, theres quite a lot of hollywood masala too. Hollywood, as a matter of fact always needs somebody to mock, villainise or sympathize with. Like all westerners, the filmmakers probably have grown up hearing the stories of malaria, tigers and snake charmers. And it might have been quite shocking to them to find a very progressed, cultured and rich India.What can they now think of, but the story of an ill-bred street urchin, who is just as shocked as themselves to find the new India?

If I am being over the top or excessively patriotic, its all because of the light Indians are shown in, every single minute in the movie. We are corrupt, jealous, immoral and probably slumdogs too.

Its not fascination, curiousity or sympathy that the film has for the country. Its sarcasm.
A boy jumping into a pool of shit, just to have a glimpse of Amitabh Bachan;Frames which show all filth in the slums;People who burn each others' homes in the name of religion; a goong who blinds kids to make them fit for begging; a don who has a 19 yr old mistress; Police walahs who hang a kid by his hands and short-circuit him; What is it, if its not very glorified and dignified sarcasm? Its clear as daylight when the boy says "You wanted to see real India; This is real India" when he's beaten up by a taxiwallah, supposedly for a crime he has no hand in. And quite shamelessly, the next line is something like "Dont worry kid, now we will show you what real America is.." from the tourists he's a guide of. And they take care of him , like saints. How sweet!!
I am in no way hinting that all this is unheard of or strange in our country, but the film doesnt make even a feeble attempt to see the whole picture.In the event of exposing the Indian underbelly, the film seems to have forgotten that we are a nation with a cultured past, a significant and a very promising future.

Just take a look at the characters, if you are still not convinced. There are no good god-fearing Indians in the movie. Except Jamaal and Latika. But one of them is a slumdog and the other a whore. Good at heart, but uncultured and uncivilised. The audience is left to sympathise with these two and be disturbed by the others. Like the host of the show, who ridicules the chaiwallah throughout the game, is the film not looking down upon a nation?This is "poverty porn", which reinforces the western stereotypes on the country.


Just like I said before, SlumDog millionaire is probably good for an Indian movie. However, quite far from the standards of hollywood. Forget the cliches and the prejudices, you have a real feel good movie, like they say it. It has already struck gold in US, where ppl are quite hungry for the story of real, poor India or real , cruel China now that Soviet Union is no more(Read Rambo 3, Rocky4, Indiana Jones 4 and many more where the Russians get to play villians). The script is nothing but food for the hungry-Just like this short story which won the CommonWealth award, but has nothing new to say.It doesnt break cliches. Nor does it evoke a feeling we are all strangers to.


I wouldnt say that i didnt enjoy the movie. Not for a second is it boring.Its an entertainer till the last shot, although it doesnt deserve all of the accolades. Very refreshing music score, which i pray will fetch AR Rahman an oscar.My personal favourite is 'Ringa Ringa'. (The choreography 'almost spoiled 'Jai Ho').The frst song(the one when the kids are chased by the police) is real good too. And very gutsy and measured performances from all the actors esp Dev Patel and Anil Kapoor. I cant remember who the casting director is, but he's probably great.

Watch it coz it might win an oscar, or something similar. Comes to India in two weeks from now. Im desperate for Rajiv Masand's take on this.


(Im still the same old guy that you know.. Not taking myself too seriously. )