Saturday, January 31, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire

I finally got my chance to watch Slumdog Millionaire today.

The way a British filmmaker has presented a story set in a Mumbai slum, and depicted the hard hitting stark reality of Indian slums, is really commendable. Of course, it is based on a novel written by an Indian, but to portray things this well, one needs to feel the emotions associated with the events and characters in the story.

I must say that all the child artistes have put forth credible performances, although I think that Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto's performances were not much to write home about.

I like stories where one has to connect the dots in order to fully grasp the plot. Although I don't like ones with overly complicated plots where one has to watch with constant rapt attention in order to figure out whatever is going on. This one was just right.

And, of course, the music is absolutely brilliant. I've already written about that a couple of times, here and here, and I will refrain from repeating myself.

On the whole, I'd rate this movie at about eight on a scale of ten, and I'd deem it a worthy candidate for at least four or five Academy Awards. Fingers crossed.

6 comments:

actinium said...

Didn't you find the choice of primary language as "english" for the movie a bit odd?

Bhavya said...

What else do you expect from a British filmmaker?

I thought the mix of English and Hindi was just right... when the guy was in the slums, everything was in Hindi, and after he began to work in the call centre, he learnt fluent English.

Haven't you seen stuff like Monsoon Wedding, Hollywood Bollywood, Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice, or American Desi... after you watch a bunch of these, you get used to this sort of thing and it doesn't feel odd

actinium said...

the mix of English and Hindi was just right...after you watch a bunch of these, you get used to this sort of thing and it doesn't feel odd
dats exactly vat i wished to point out...it ws NOT just right. d reason i felt it ws odd ws very simple; i cud nvr figure out how a slum-dweller, vid virtually no education source cud speak impeccable english...dats a slack i'm ready to cut, though...bt simply nothing can explain Dev Patel's accent!
as for d othr movies u'v pointed out, i doubt if poverty n resource less-ness ws dat big a part of d portrayal. i'm all 4 a "risen from d ashes" story, bt plz make d narrative consistent.
n yep, i'd recommend watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Bhavya said...

He was working in a call centre, interacting on a daily basis with people who were learning to speak with a British accent, constantly walking in and out of their training rooms, filling in for them at times... it wouldn't be too far fetched for him to pick up the English accent

Prats said...

Read the book and you would understand where the movie lacked...

and obviously I feel pity that they picked up Rahman for Slumdog Music he has created better music... Slumdog music is just ordinary by Rahman standards.

Bhavya said...

Will need to read the book to figure this out... but I agree with you on the music part. Ref: http://searchforrandomness.blogspot.com/2009/01/another-feather-in-rahmans-cap.html#comments