The best movie from/about India this year. The casting, screenplay, background Score (ARR, who else?) and the plot are quite good. And the biggest irony was that I got free passes to a pre-screening of this movie and to think that I spent $10 on Rab Ne Bana......
Recently, Indian films have been subject to hyperboles as far as audience reaction has been concerned. A dumb-ass movie like Dasavadharam had email forwards which had Kamal Haasan laughing his way to his multiple bank accounts. And you had movies Anjadhey or A Wednesday which did not become as acclaimed as they needed to have, in spite of being good. But here comes a movie which is unpretentious and does not flinch from showing a few nasty truths (the Amitabh Bachchan autograph scene was quite grotesque and could have been toned down) and some disturbing visuals (the eye scooping one).
The story is about 3 people - Jamal, Salim and Latika, all muslims in a slum in Mumbai where riots strike and change the already pitiable lives into far worse. The story is shown from Jamal's perspective, who is currently on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" show and is on the threshold of winning the full monty. The game show host, played by Anil Kapoor, produces the show and is not able to believe how a person like Jamal can make it so far in the show and asks the police to interrogate Jamal to ascertain that he is not cheating. The cop played by Irfan Khan replays the video of the show and Jamal tells his tale in pieces about how he came to know the answers to the questions, at the end of which Irfan Khan remarks, this is "Bizzarely Plausible". The screenplay has to be seen to be believed.
The background score by Mozart from Madras, A.R. Rahman is surely going to make sure that he is goin' to win the Golden Globe this year. The first BGM bit for the scenes which involved the kids being chased by the cops, was simply mindblowing. Rahman is back to the Thiruda Thiruda, Kandukondein(2) and Dil Se form for the BGM. See below for the uploaded versions.
There has been considerable thought process that has been given to the casting and the kid who acts as the young Jamal is exceptional - he is simply cute, in spite being of unbathed and generally, dirty.
Check out this link to see if your city has the promotional screening by Fox Searchlight: Free Screenings .
Verdict: D) It is written (See the movie for this to make sense)
OST - Slumdog Millionaire
Dreams On Fire - Slumdog Millionaire
Gangsta Blues - Slumdog Millionaire
Millionaire - Slumdog Millionaire
Aaj Ki Raat - Slumdog Millionaire
Latikas Theme - Slumdog Millionaire
Liquid Dance - Slumdog Millionaire
Ringa Ringa - Slumdog Millionaire
Paper Planes (DFA Remix) - Slumdog Millionaire
Paper Planes - Slumdog Millionaire
Riots - Slumdog Millionaire
O...Saya - Slumdog Millionaire
Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire
5 comments:
It's not a movie from India. It's directed by Danny Boyle who made Trainspotting and 28 Days Later and he is British. Can't compare it with dasavatharam, a wednesday or any movie that is from India...
A Wednesday was really good. What is Anjadhey? Do you have that review down?
BTW, just been here once before from Blogeswari. Nice stuff.
You watched this movie? Amazing... I thought it did not release in the US yet. I listened to all the songs. It was good.
I think Gradwolf is right. This seems to appeal to you because it has come from someone who made "Trainspotting". And comparison with Dasavatharam et. al. is unfair. But, again, it is your personal opinion. Though, I agree with you. Anjathey, A Wednesday and even Subraminapuram (though a little bit violent) were good ones this year.
Suggestion: Watch "Welcome to Sajjanpur" if you have not seen it already. Worth it.
Trainspotting? Oh God, I felt sooo depressed after that film. After your review, I wanted to watch Slumdog but now, I don't know (trainspotting was a horrible experience - so stark) since this from same maker!.
The tracks sound fab. True.
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