Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Yup. I know. I have heard a lot about this movie over the last week or so. People at work are talking about. Friends are also going  ga ga over how great this movie is and so on…

To be honest, I am not really sure why everyone seems to be going so over the top about this movie…

I mean I enjoy Danny Boyle’s movies too. Trainspotting still remains one of the most brilliant movies I have seen till date. I also enjoyed Sunshine, a movie that did not get so much public attention.

So I will choose to disagree with the likes of Raja Sen and point out why I thought the movie was okish and not super like what most people have said.

I like the plot of the movie. Boyle has used a very interesting approach to present what is actually a very ordinary story: a kid from the slum who wins the Who wants to be millionaire game show by answering each question by relating it to his life experiences.

But there are certain things that really disappoint. In a movie that is based in Mumbai and that is made primarily for an English speaking audience, the choice to have all the screenplay and dialogue in English seems like a natural choice. But by doing that in Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle has actually taken something out of each scene. For instance, why would Mumbai cops be speaking to Jamal Malik, a slumdog, in English after abusing him in Hindi ?! Agreed that there are parts in the movie where the choice is natural : like the scenes during the actual game show or when young Jamal pretends to be a guide and in the process dupes the foreigners who are visiting Agra. At places where the native language seems to capture reality better, the native language should be opted for and maybe use English subtitles so that your English speaking audience is not lost.

That brings us to the second bit: reality. In this story, Boyle portrays reality in a unique way , trying to mask it in what is essentially a commercial flick. But there are instances when this just goes a little wrong. For instance, how many times would you find a game show host insult the contestant fair and square? Or was it just me who found those dialogues a little odd?

Even if you chose to side step all this and enjoy the movie for the other things it has to offer, right at the end of the movie, out of nowhere really, Boyle decides to put a silly dance number involving Jamal Malik and Lathika. And while in your head you are probably saying “What the hell was that all about?? “, you realize that the ironical twist is just an indication of what Boyle really wants to portray using the movie.

I think the entire cast did a reasonable job and the movie was good time-pass.

I actually liked Anil Kapoor’s part, as the host of the game show. Salim was another character in the movie that was interesting, a real mixture of everything : anger, hatred, jealousy, sacrifice. Both the characters were unique and interesting.

Overall, a nice movie. But let us not go overboard and harp too much about it.

And for those of you who think that the movie is big in the west because of the west perception of what India is like i.e. all poverty, slums and shit hole … you are missing the point.

Rock On

Saw this comic at flyyoufools.com

Check out the other comics on this site. Pretty funny!

Mumbai Meri Jaan

Every once in a while we come across a movie which seems to focus on one central theme but in the process tries to answer all our questions that we do not want to ask ourselves or anyone else for various reasons. Mumbai Meri Jaan is one such movie. In every sense, this movie is apt for modern-day India.

This movie is based on the serial blasts that took place in Mumbai on Jul, 2006. The movie tries to gauge the impact of the incident on the lives of a journalist ( Soha Ali Khan), a patriotic ‘aam-aadmi’ working for a corporate organisation (Madhavan), a policeman on the verge of retiring ( Paresh Rawal), a computer dealer and also a hindu-fanatic ( K K Menon) and a tamilian coffee-vendor (Irfan Khan).

I particularly enjoyed Paresh Rawal’s and Irfan Khan’s acting. These are too contrasting roles. Paresh’s part involves a lot more dialogues as compared to Irrfan’s but it is amazing how both manage to deliver such powerful performances.

It is disappointing to know that movies like Aamir and Mumbai Meri Jaan do not receive the kind of attention that they deserve.

Rating : 4.5/5

Aamir

I watcher ‘Aamir’ yesterday night. I do not want to reveal much in terms of the plot of the movie as such because by doing that I would be killing the movie itself for you (believe me! i am right about this!).

But ‘Aamir’ will give you a new perspective. It will give you a third eye view of some our social problems. It will open up the door to several questions : most of which will be unanswered. But more importantly, it will make an honest attempt at trying to convince you that not all that meets your eye is the ultimate truth.

Kudos to Rajeev Khandelwaal! His portrayal of the character called ‘Aamir’ is simply brilliant! RajKumar Gupta is brilliant in his direction.

Overall, a must watch!

Rating : 4/5

Bowled em!

Yesterday was no different from a regular Saturday. Go meet some friends. Make plans to watch a movie….and then hang out somewhere discussing arbit stuff.

Me, Haathi and Daku went to watch Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic. Wonder why we went to watch such a kiddo movie. But the fact that the other movies on offer had got hopeless reviews did not help our cause. The movie was ok-ok. Clumsy animation as expected. A Rani Mukherjee that did not look all that appealing. Kids that were adorable. But the surprise package, and maybe inappropriate given the plot of this movie, was that one song called ‘Lazy Lamhe’ picturised on a sultry Amisha Patel with barely any clothes on her ! Some critics have applauded Kunal Kohli for utilising ‘the complete potential’ of Amisha Patel in this song. Lol! I can only interpret that comment in one way.

After the movie, we decided to go for some bowling. We went to the nearby Star City bowling alley. While playing, I observed this one particular guy stirke on most occassions. I noticed his run up and then the release. It was not too different from the underarm leg break. That was the obvious part. But the surprising thing was his run up and then arm motion after the release. It was different.

Given that I am ‘brilliant’ at this sport, I decided to go and talk to him and learn a thing or two about bowling. I did learn a lot.

Me: Hey you know so much about this sport. You should be playing for India man!

X : I do ( flashing his Team India badge at me)

I was clean bowled!