REVIEW: Slumdog Millionaire
The name Danny Boyle floated into our collective consciousness after his film Slumdog Millionaire swept this year's Golden Globe Awards. And if the media is to be believed, the film might just get 'us' an Oscar too!
Hold it! Get us an Oscar? It's funny how we have appropriated the film and then have gone hammer and tongs criticising it for being too western in its perspective.
Think of it, Slumdog Millionaire has been produced by an American corporation (Fox Searchlight), directed by an Irish-English bloke and at least one of its leading actors, though Indian, was born and has spent most of his life in the West.
So as it seems, Slumdog Millionaire is as Western as it could get in its worldview of India. Whether or not we should hold it against someone for his/her perspective is a question each of us must answer for ourselves.
The story
Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of a former slum dweller Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) who finds himself in the hotseat of the gameshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Jamal works in a call centre as a chaiwallah and miraculously knows the answers to all the questions. Suspicious and somewhat jealous, the show's host (Anil Kapoor) hands him over to the police.
The cops (Saurabh Shukla and Irrfan Khan) try their best to make the boy confess to having cheated but are unsuccessful.
That's when one of them (Irrfan) tries to probe into Jamal's mysterious source of knowledge. Thus begins a series of flashbacks where the 'slumdog' narrates his story.
We are told that the boy had entered the show not so much to win money but rather in the hope of being reunited with his childhood sweetheart, Latika (Freida Pinto).
But it's easier said than done. The girl is held captive in a gangster's house all thanks to Jamal's ruffian brother Salim who has used her for his personal benefit.
How the two unite and whether Jamal manages to win the final prize money despite the scheming host forms the climax of the film.
Film picturize true things hapenning it should be shown to
mumbai
mahanagar palica
Slumdog ........Film is very real seen in natural life of in
india..Villege.So this film is veryfine &beautyful sound
.,sing........
i hop verry wish to
film.................................................,
The hype and commotion around the movie is truely
outrageous. This is a story that shows what is really
happening and they did miss the bull eys about those sleezy
politicans who spoil the country. I would have appreciated
that aspect of the story. And talking about westeners
looking us like slumdogs.... Wait that needs to be
justified.. Do we really respect these so called slumdogs
while we all have this stupid caste and idiotic reservation
system that put the fate of the country on some under
qualified wimp. Germans are not the most racist people when
compared to indians. We differentiate our self as indians
into north, south, east, west, color, language, food, and
wealth.. How do you people think that westners point of view
about india was sub par compared to the current events.
India... The name says it all .. It is not a slum where each
and every person wins a crore through reality show.. They
work hard, they work hard for their food.. I agree there are
many slumdogs.. Bt are they nt human beings.. The name of
the movie is 1st of all bad .. India is a place where there
are many vig cities like calcutta, mumbai,delhi, etc .. I
can proudly say, that, here are also many rich persons than
in britain .. And every britisher should like to see poor
india.. Bt i, being a proud india, can tolerate mah
motherland down in front of soo many eyes,,, thanxx...
Aranya moulick
I would have really appreciated had u mentioned abt the
essence of the movie.. Destiny!!.. U or i need not believe
it.. But this movie certainly gives a tremendous boost to
ppl who have gone thru a hell lot and hope to see the light
at the tunnel.. A 5000watt light like this movie climax can
be just an upper bound of wot to expect.. And this in
essence is true indianness most of the indans have in them..
abt the whole world going gaga over slumdog millionaire: i
guess its just that everyone does feel the dose of coke..
Even if u r white, black, brown ... And u enjoy it too...
too sad the indian audiences and their movie expense
consultant mr. Abhishek mande havent watched trainspotting.
Awesome movie
Slumdog is a parable of our times. In times of a global
financial meltdown the movie is about hope and triumph of
the underdog. Whether the underdog is a desi or firangi,
urbanite or slumdog,
that is immaterial. Deep in our psyche there is still a
sliver of consciousness that roots for justice and the
triumph of goodness. All this is the basis of slumdog's
success both at home and abroad. Every family has a jamal,
and every jamal knows a salim.Let us not forget that every
jamal lives for a myriad of reasons not the least of which
is a long lost latika. Danny boyle you have surgically
caressed the indian psyche. May the future bring you greater
success and continued laurels.
Slumdog millionaire opens the rotten face of india, does it?
Does it show the so called “dirty underbelly” of india?
by no means this movie is aimed at showing the chronic
poverty of our nation. Many reviewers have criticized this
movie for showing only the dirty reality of the country
instead of displaying all those swanky buildings, glittering
malls etc.
overall i would recommend this movie to every person who
has a tag “indian” attached to him/her. A detailed
insight into the murky life of slumdwellers.Come on,lets
face the truth in the open day light!
hightly recommended.
A completely balanced review sirji...And it has really made
me curious to go and have a 'dekho' at this much hyped,
golden globe award winning and 10 oscars nominated movie.
must say, a perfect response (or rather publicity) that
any foreign director portraying indian reality could
expect....!!
I give to all cast & crew of slumdog millionaire a very
best of luck to win all oscar awards they had been nominated
for. And also congrat's for winning golden globe awards.
Hats off to the team of this film.