Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
D. It is WRITTEN
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Simon Beaufoy, Swarup Kumar
Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto.
A young boy wearing a green t-shirt runs and delivers ball to a batsman. The batsman hits it high while the bowler screams,”Jamaal, catch it”. Dumbfounded Jamaal (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) looks up in the sky and starts running at the end of flying ball’s trajectory to catch it and suddenly a plane flies too close and shocked Jamaal falls. This is when we see that this game of cricket is being held on an airstrip and two cops drive on two-wheeler mopeds with sticks in their hands to runs these slumdogs away. A.R. Rahman uses his vocals to sing an Aaalaap to a fast paced symphony that matches the steps of running boys and Danny Boyle’s fast cuts filmed from unusual angle. This is nothing but a terrific start to one of the fascinating movies of 2008, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.
This is a tale of Jamaal (Dev Patel) answering questions of the popular game show to become a millionaire. But he is surprised and horrified to find questions flashing his own life. This life gave him unforgettable moments and those moments become answers on his way to a million rupees. Really unforgettable? Yes.
With a surprise of silence to the tune of Brian Eno’s The Ascent in a zombie movie, 28 Days Later (2002), approaching sun’s reflection on aviator sunglasses of an obsessed crew member of Icarus, Sunshine (2007), or the camode dive of a heroine addict, Trainspotting (1996), Danny Boyle always brings images and moods quite unique and extraordinary. Slumdog Millionaire is no exception. This time rather he takes his skills even farther. No doubt there is a great help from Simon Beaufoy’s marvellous screenplay to Swarup Kumar’s novel ‘Q & A’. But Danny’s vision to put viewer in first person’s point of view is unparalleled and admittedly this is the reason this movie stands out. He should hope for an Academy nod.
Next credit is to actors Ayush Khedekar, Tanay Chheda (Middle Jamaal) and Dev Patel (Jamaal). These guys are fearless. They can ‘jump in a dump’, hang upside down from a train or sit and answer ‘Millionaire’ questions ferociously. Although Dev Patel has the longest screen time and will get nominated in several film festivals, Ayush and Tanay are remarkable and memorable. I wonder what Danny Boyle must have felt when he saw their expressions through the lense. So were the performances by Azharuddin Ismail, Ashutosh Gajiwala and Madhur Mittal as rightful and wrongful father figures, Salim, to Jamaal. Freida Pinto as Latika could be a very simple and shy girl but gives enough reason to Jamaal and us to her undoubted beauty. Irfan Khan, a cop, wants to know the truth. Short appearance maybe but as Jamaal spells the truth out to him he could very well give the expression of realization. Anil Kapoor as the game show host is a surprise character twist to Mr Bachchan’s Kaun Banega Crorepati. There perhaps is no bad performance in this 120 min drama.
Other mentionable additions are cinematographer Anthony Mantle and editor Chris Dickens. This movie is a stunning experience in cinema watching. Though there might be a constant reminder of Mira Nair’s Oscar nominee Salaam Bombay (1988) for the theme of orphans living in slums of Mumbai. But the difference is huge. Salaam Bombay creates extreme recurring pity and sympathy for the slum kids while Slumdog Millionaire, though shows dark side at times, it creates an excitement over and over again for the kids. The main requirement to every answer to the game show questions is an unforgettable moment in Jamaal’s life. Not only the writers have come up with those lines but Danny has shown images which anybody in Jamaal’s shoes would never forget. This is a must see.
Rating: 9.5/10
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Is it released now ? where did u get to watch ?
It is released here in Dallas, TX.
One of the best of the year 2008, if you have to see one movie this yr, watch this one. May be the flavor of economy and rising unemployment in this country (USA) is helping the movie’s appeal, however ironic that may be – but it surely is a movie full of hope and positivity.
For once, the movie doesn’t exploit the poverty, even though deals with slums in Mumbai – that’s a very hard job.
The American media is going crazy over the movie, yet to be released in India (few months more, what I hear), but here they started with a very limited release (90 theaters US-wide) and as of last week they released it in 200 more. And this week its the #8 in box office.
Just read some of the user reviews on IMDB or Yahoo – its a winner in every aspect of filmmaking. From the script to screenplay to music to bground score to (amazing) camerawork, and of course direction and performances (esp by the younger actors).
One of the best review I read: “I have always wondered how Indians are so driven, after seeing this film I know why!”
Go watch it!
What did “It is WRITTEN” exactly mean ??
D: it is written means its destiny…he knew all answers except the last one which could have lost him everything but then he gets to talk to latika n takes the risk n wins…thats why its written (its destiny)
Thanks Anand.
just saw the movie. Before seeing the movie, I thought that it would be slightly serious movie… That is why I got bored in the first half. But then the light dawned on me. So I kept aside my thinking cap and then was able to digest all the masala dish which was being served one after the other.
@Anand(5) – spoiler!!
While talking of any movie review, please don’t give the climax out (if possible, re-edit the post). Tons of people haven’t seen the movie yet 1.2 billion people in India haven’t :-)
Disclaimer
There are few spoilers herein,(read at your risk)
I was taught in municipal school (just outside Bombay) and that too in lower English medium, so please bear my English.
I yesterday watched the film. And I said “it is written”. I recall Amitabh Bachhan running on the street, very young and restless and supporting his younger brother, who is growing noble, very noble , I recalled “Parinda” where Javed , jamal, salim, latika were all present but with different names. I recalled countless a,b grade hindi films where poor downtrodden become millionaire, because he has brother who was sometimes protective and sometimes bully and sometime an angel, the only difference is Danny boyle don’t want any of the kids to have mom.
I was wide awake. I saw American lashing out dollar notes at the kids who robed them. I saw that slum dog knew all about Benjamin Franklin and not anything about Gandhi. And like every smiling American viewer I believed it.
Raised in Maharashtra, I knew story “three musketeers “was never in the syllabus, not at least part of the syllabus of any municipal school in Bombay. But then it was a cinematic liberty. I can also imagine a young and exploited Indian girl can drive car. Come on they
(those who were exploiting) must have exploited her by means teaching her “how to escape faster with the help of car” … now again that could be cinematic liberty
I also watched a 10 year old kid , who was hardly taught English, can become guide to American tourist and also speak relatively good English.
And after sometime it become his first tongue even while talking to his bro ( I am , taught in lower English school in Maharashtra , not able to even write good English. Shame on Me). F$$k you man , it is cinematic liberty.
Oye dibakar said cumshots and I felt it was Indian porno for American audience. It was cumshot after cumshot , again and again, with same old manner , same old style, with same old characters, we see countless of times in “bollywood” films and yet it is ranked 105/ all time 250 and I asked why zanjeer ,prinda , deewar never made to that list.
Because … because … (please don’t hit me PFC friends, I am also a slumdog) … because they didn’t show the poverty, they were made for Indian audience who lived in that poverty, they don’t show unrealistic story and screenplay through very realistically shot film
Also because Danny boyle’s direction was superb and he made us forget all about the very bad very “formulaic “ screenplay , he made us believe that slumdog could be a millionaire , (at least there is some probability) , he shot on realistic locations, he edited like a Hollywood independent classic,and “rest is written “
@Chhatrapal
The few paras you have written – great review man.
@Chhatrapal,
“because they didn’t show the poverty, they were made for Indian audience who lived in that poverty”
Few years ago I watched Salaam Bombay (1988) with the same recurring theme of slum kids. All the time I felt sympathy for those kids but Slumdog Millionaire created joy and excitement for a slum kid’s life. I wanted to be with him on the train hanging upside down, I wanted to fall in love with a rain-soaked girl, I wanted to feel the happiness when he gets Mr Bachchan’s signature, I wanted to get the phone call, I wanted the whole nation to watch me on the 20 million Rs question, I wanted to see my girl’s face looking at me on the platform. That is excitement for me.
“hollywood editing”
explaing bollywood editing, if you please.
@Jateen
Between the screenplay and the final film, there are inputs by crew and cast. Looking at the locations and young actors, i think director did great improvisation. I also think that lots things were improvised in the edit like the first shot of the film when credit starts and actually it was one of the last shot. It connect well at the end. And I attribute it to editor and or director. But I felt they conceived it while editing. Again all running and action sequences made highly realistic, the rhythm and pace is beautifully maintained, now from what I heard (correct me if i am wrong) bollywood don’t give that much freedom. Let alone bollywood even Hollywood commercial films don’t give that much freedom. The idea is stick more to screenplay (reference-documentary The Cutting Edge – The Magic Of Movie Editing). That’s why i said “Hollywood independent classic” .Now the term i invented here(consider it as bad writing style)
“but Slumdog Millionaire created joy and excitement for a slum kid’s life. I wanted to be with him on the train hanging upside down, I wanted to fall in love with a rain-soaked girl, I wanted to feel the happiness when he gets Mr Bachchan’s signature”
i also liked that part but then I realized it is not something new , it is same old deewar, trishul, parinda, lawaris paradigm. Only difference is same emotion were served with foreign label. That why I say great direction and edit and very bad “formulaic “screenplay. Because I made to like , what I am used to see in our films.
Btw I rate salam bombay better than slumdog any day, because it has content . And just look at IMDB top 250, do you think this film is better than chungking express, Nema-ye-Nazdik , Bicycle thief. the point is America rules the world ïŠ)
Leaving the child actors(youngest ones) and Dev Patel, none of the other actors worked for me…the oldest Salim Malik was a joke….i read some guys comment on Imdb board that he resembled Michael Jackson during the Thriller days…laughed my ass off….
@Chhatrapal,
I wanted to say that there is no differentiation like ‘hollywood editing and bollywood editing’. It is more like a difference of technology, money investment and experience. You can give the same editing effect too. In my opinion editing for this movie has added extra flavor to already well written and well directed movie. There aren’t memorable lines but the basic idea and story are enoguh to create excitement. Salaam Bombay rather used the plight of slum kids to make a good film, I would have written an enthusastic review of it too. But Slumdog relies on the idea of creation of unforgettable moments to form basis for Jamaal’s answers.
“the point is America rules the world”
and not all people think alike. When it comes to top 10 all time, then usually similar movies will be shared among the crowd but the order will be different. I can rate ‘El Topo, Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Paths of Glory, Judgement at Nuremberg, Oldboy’ higher than pulp fiction or the godfather, but that will be my opinion. I won’t be suggesting those are bad.
@Jateen
Dude i said (wrote)
“he edited like a Hollywood independent classic”
it was supposed to be
“he edited like Hollywood(American) independent classic film”
i didn’t want to say “Hollywood editing”
And i agree that editing is universal phenomenon-as far technology and money (now here i mean editing platform and Purchasing power parity) goes, there isn’t much difference between Hollywood and bollywood
i want to say about craft, art of editing where independent films are willing to experiment because of lack commercial pressure.
“already well written …”
i would say it is stereotypical,formulaic and to a extent predictable. In fact all the time i was thinking something new will happen, but nothing new happened. It was same old story.
“When it comes to top 10 all time … ”
For example my personal fav movie “city of God” is not in top 10 and your assumption may be wrong
Anyway here i am talking about slumdog and top 250 ,now it is 73/250.
why?
those who votes on imdb pro are mostly Americans and there are no other comprehensive site films like imdb ,even i check credit of bollywood film there. But that does not mean that top 250 are really the list i agree with. And American bias towards Asians and there films reflects in that list. anyway this is what i think.
and i also think slumdog is more hype and less content.