Slumdog Millionaire Review
The film starts with this question
Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 Million rupees. How did he do it?
A: He cheated
B: He’s lucky
C: He’s genius
D: It is written
Anil Kapoor escorts Dev Patel(Jamal Malik) to the hot seat in the game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” The next scene is where Jamal Malik is brutally interrogated by the police in the suspicion of cheating in the game show.The film escapes into flashbacks,game show and the police interrogation.
Slumdog Millionaire is a clever(not great) adaptation of the book “Q and A” written by Vikas Swarup.The film tells the story of a Mumbai slum boy who rises from rags to riches with the help of the game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” Slumdog Millionaire is a untypical melodrama film which we can hardly find these days.
The flashbacks in the film are related with the questions asked in the game show.Each question of the game show reveals the life of Jamal,his childhood,his bad luck,his love,his adolescence,etc..,.The realtion between Jamal and his brother Saleem, and his sweetheart Latika is wonderful.The way the story develops and the way it swings from the game show to the flashbacks is very good and the important part is the narration of the film which sticks to its target.
A meticulous viewer can find that “Slumdog Millionaire” consists of all the ingredients which we find in a Bollywood film,it consists of flashbacks of bad childhood,revenge,love,melodrama,money and the Happy Ending,but unlike the most of our Bollywood films it contains something extra to it and it is the contemplating narration attached to most of part of the film.There are many things which are hard to believe like the English language used by the brothers, Arvind(blind beggar) talking about Benjamin Franklin,cricketer who scored most number of first class centuries ? etc.. The film consists of overdose of few emotions and relations which Jamal shares with the other characters of the film.”Slumdog Millionaire” is at “42″ in the IMDb’s list of top 250 films.Is “Slumdog Millionaire” a better film than Kubrick’s “The Shining” and “A Clockwork Orange”, Scorsese’s “Raging Bull” etc. ??? I don’t think so.
Danny Boyle has done his home work very well when it comes to shooting of the film.The representation of the slum in the city like Mumbai,Train sequences,Taj Mahal ,Police Interrogation etc.. shows the true face poor India.He is obviously inspired from “Black Friday” for shooting the Mumbai Slum and the police chase and the other films which inspired Danny Boyle can be found here.The Cinematography of the film by “Anthony Dod Mantle” is amazing and not to forget the background music by A.R.Rahman for which he has won many awards.Dev Patel gives a neat performance and the others too are well handled by Danny Boyle.
One may find many loopholes in “Slumdog Millionaire” but what makes the viewer love “Slumdog Millionaire” is the charm, drama and the Final Impression which it imposes on the viewer and it stays even after the viewer comes out of the theater.”Slumdog Millionaire” received overwhelming response across the world and got nominated for many awards and looks like it might get nominated for the Oscars too.
I felt this question very tricky.
“A picture of 3 Lions is seen in the national emblem of India.What is written underneath it?”
A : The Truth Alone Triumphs
B : Lies alone Triumphs
C : Fashion alone Triumphs
D : Money alone Triumphs
To whom the above question is asked?
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
Its repulsive…for the first time in my life I felt like lauding Karan Johar for showing the world that India is more than poverty and filth…
I agree with you satya ,although the movie-making is terrific and the acting world class ,the film is loaded with a host of symbols that the western world associates with India ,namely ,”beggars”,”slums”,”tajmahal”,”BPO”,”chaos”,”riots”,”movies”,even the last song is played out as typical bollywood item song with a host of extras for no apparent reason ,in fact now I think that it’s the main reason the film has been a sell out at all the major award functions ,because it plays to the western audiences in reaffirming their ideas about India.
I will write about a post about this symbolism very soon.
The film may be terrific but Danny Boyle’s idea of India is not.
@Satya
I really cant support Karan Johar on any issue.
@vineet
Eagerly waiting for your article
“He is obviously inspired from “Black Friday” for shooting the Mumbai Slum and the police chase and the other films which inspired Danny Boyle can be found here.”
somehow the way danny boyle captured bobmay is a wholel ot better than most other films
for me that is
Exactly my opinion, Krishna. Yes, the craft is great. But, why is that westerns and People of Indian origin living abroad choose to portray the dark aspect of our country.
Because, it sells!
@vivek
You are right, i don’t think any other other would dare to show the scene where “Jamal meets Amitabh Bachanan to get his autograph”
@ Sivakumar T
Interesting point..
O c’mon, for once I felt the director didn’t exploit the poverty and has portrayed a positive and hopeful picture of it. Makers like Deepa Mehta and Mira Nair are directors par excellence, but I feel they do show poverty (albeit in an artistic way) to create a pitiable sorry feeling in audience mind.
However, I agree with the bollywood elements – its a silver foil wrapped masala dosa – all ingredients inside are from Bolly-palette.
One more thing from marketing pt of view, it surely boosts bollywood to the westerners, so I don’t mind insertion of that dance piece at the end. :-) Nowadays, the local AMC theaters (San Francisco bay area) are releasing desi movies, and I see the increasing non-desis lining up for those.
My only peeve is, why does it have to be a westerner (Richard Attenborough, Danny Boyle) to make a movie appeal to the academy, when will the Anurag Kashyaps of homeground will rise up to the challenge! (though I agree, academy recognition is not necessarily the ultimate badge of honour).
@bollywoodplusplus
No one thinks that Danny exploited poverty or anything ,coz that mentality would belong to the 19th century ,it’s just the way things are in the minds of western audiences ,earlier it was the snake charmers now it’s the BPO and we got a good glimpse of it in slumdog ,not only that the film is literally loaded with symbols as I mentioned in my last comment .
also the scene where jamaal gets kicked and says “you wanted to see the real India” ,and the lady says “I’ll show you US” WTF was that ,what’s the script writer playing at ,India may be bad but it’s a stretch to imagine that you don’t get mugged or robbed in US.
I am not being a cynic or anything ,the film is good but it’s not as good as it is being hyped to be.Also just look at the history of Indian films which have made it to the oscars ,mother india ,salaam bombay ,lagaan .and what’s the common thread running through them ,poor Indians living in filthy conditions.
Lagaan hardly had poor indians living in filthy conditions. Yes they were villagers, and hence poor, but definitely not shown to be “living in filth” – nor was that aspect of hunger or poverty visually depicted. The poverty there was just the background to establish the desperation building the villagers that gave them that extra bit of determination to give it their all and win in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
Even in the case of Mother India, one should also bear in mind when it was made – it was an extremely relevant theme at that point.
I haven’t seen Slumdog but even if this is a case of “indian poverty or misery sells”, you can’t compare it to Lagaan or Mother India.
@kic
I meant to say that Lagaan generally fits the bill ,and as far as Mother India is concerned it’s not a question of whether showing poverty is relevant or not but the fact that it’s only poverty that captures the attention of people ,surely in a country as myriad as ours there are more things to be depicted and explored.
Vikas Swarup is represented by our literary agency, so it’s really interesting to read your views on the film and how it measures up to the book on which it’s based. Feel free to visit our blog to comment!
&… xxx
@bollywoodplusplus
when will the Anurag Kashyaps of homeground will rise up to the challenge! :-?
I saw this movie in theater, and was simply blown away from the movie.
Who hasnt seen poor kids in india, in train, in streets, near shopping malls, where not?? Who hasnt seen amputated kids, blind, and wat not?
We never ever want to learn or even want to know about them. For many of us we simply ignore them or pity them at the most on the spur.
This movie was simply an eye opener. I wish people in india take this movie positively rather than “Ye kya gore log dikha rahe hain”, “India ki garibi dikha rahe hain”, “Gore logon ka slum fascination”, what the heck is this attitude? Dont you know majority of indian are poor. And they were almost true conditions as shown in the movie(of course the movie has to be exaggerated, wahan sachai dekhne you never went for the first place, otherwise it would have been a documentary). Last but not the least, Danny boyle set up a trust to help the kids, who else from cinema world cared a damn in india.
The story was so ably told. The amitabh sequence was mind blowing and there were many such great moments in the movie.
This discussion about depiction of poverty is a waste of time. Do people who are against such depiction on film, feel that such things do not exist?
Then doesn’t it become the responsibility of a socially responsible Director to bring that world to the rest of the world? Whats wrong with that?
Do you know that some of the kids from Salaam Bombay were adopted after the film came out? One was by the screenwriter or producer or DP.
Mira could make whatever film she wants to. Same with Deepa. These issues probably affect them.
BTW I’m no way saying Deepa is a great filmmaker.:) I’m just defending her right to make movies about any subject she feels like.
“Last but not the least, Danny boyle set up a trust to help the kids, who else from cinema world cared a damn in India.”
There you go Vineet. Lets not ignore the mess around us. We have become so used to poverty & filth that we don’t even want to acknowledge its existence. All we wanna hear about is IT & India Shining.
Vineet are you in IT?
Mira Nair started a orphanage, but it was reported recently(~1 year back) that it is being neglected and the children are abused.
I too didn’t like Deepa Mehta/her spin doctors’ handling of Water’s PR but I do definitely support her doing that movie, on that controversial subject.
Prema Karanth, wife of theatre doyen(she was a doyenne in her own right) B. V. Karanth had made a very moving film about the very same evil, she even shot it in a more orthodox(albeit “docile” Brahmin households) environment
Why is this movie getting more acclaim than a real movie like City of God which deserved an Oscar? I’m puzzled as to why this depiction of poverty is more life affirming. Is it because you have a British director, leads that look too clean and educated to be real slum kids so its easier for people to swallow? Slumdog is not a bad movie but it is way overrated.
I’m only rooting for AR Rahman to win for his music.
For all those people who are upset about the depiction of India in Slumdog, let me remind them that this is the REAL India. This is how majority of Indians live.And its depicts them as being street – smart and intelligent, and not ignorant illiterates. The people depicted in KJ sagas are make up just a tiny fraction that is the upper crust of the Indian population.
Its high time films are made on the lives of these people. I’m really surprised that a film like slumdog has not come out of bollywood as yet.
Here is a list of top 10 highest grossing hindi films in US and Canada:
1 Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
2 Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
3 Om Shanti Om
4 Veer-Zaara
5 Jodhaa Akbar
6 Devdas
7 Dhoom 2
8 Singh Is Kinng
9 Ghajini
10 Lage Raho Munna Bhai
This definitely do not support the fact that we sell poverty. At least, not any longer. Yes, a majority of the audience for these films are NRIs, yet it is quite an accurate measure of the popularity of Indian films in the west.
And dont you panic, the way they are scared about loosing their jobs through outsourcing, no amount of on-screen poverty is going to convince them. They know their rivals, clear and present!
@Raunak
I second your opinion brother.
The earth appears blue from moon .. or outer space … for the simple reason that majority of it is occupied by water. The same thing is true for .. the western world’s opinion/image of India. Poverty/Filth is so much more prominent to them than KJ’s big fat indian weddings.
I don’t see anything to complain of in the movie.
At the end of the day … it is fiction, not a taunt by Danny Boyle. Scotland never complained of showing scotland as a country of drug-addict-maniacs after Trainspotting.
I remember a chat with a friend of mine from Slovakia in a pub some time back. I asked him if what is shown in the movie Hostel, is true about Slovakia, my friend replied back “No its not true, its even worse than that in fact”.
Now dunno about Slovakia, but honestly speaking i dont think we need to go into bouts of self indignation just because some one shows us as a poor nation. And lets face it, this is true of as.
And lets not get holier than thou, i quite often remember when i wud watch an English flick, and on recommending it to my friends, the first question they asked wud be “Are there any scenes in that”, i guess u know what i am referring to.
We queue up for movies at a film festival, not because of the movies, but for the steamy scenes. so when we have these stereotypes about the Westerners being type of people, who jump into bed at the first available opportunity, though in reality, many are not that way, we shud be prepared to face it other way also.
I had seen people standing in long Q’s for Basic Instinct and Species, but practically none for a Schindlers List, except maybe in metroes. So before pointing a finger at the Westerners, maybe we need to take a look at ourselves also.
i agree with most observations and like most here i dont mind people from here or there or anywhere taking up subjects like poverty and various abuses in india . but i hate the way the west depicts them . they seem to have an agenda of running down developing countries rather than looking at the issues. i loved salaam bombay , it showed evertything that slumdog showed but wasnt that so damn real , wanstthat how thinsg are . agreed there are so many insensitive people here but what about the canned laughters during teh show everytime anil kapoor says chaiwala or referring to his slum roots. and someone else also pointed out teh most ridiculous scene of the film when the boy sgets kicked , he says ‘ you wanted to swee the real india here it is ‘ ..the lady says let me whow you the real US..what was that?..also if one were to look using a minor as tour guide by the westerners , isnt that patronising child labour..now is that the real US??…
now here please dont look at my comments in a ptriotic light . i am certainly patriotic but i dont believe mere bharat mahan . we have more ills than most civilzed societes . but there’s a proper way to show them .
hey and if someone here has read the book , i want to know what is teh difference between the two in depcition of teh above two scenes.
@ Sags
In the book, there is no reference to the host insulting the hero as a chaiwalla. In fact Prem Kumar, is more of a sleaze bag.
Also the book has no American lady, saying let me show u the real US thingy, he does work as a tour guide at the Taj, but he is not a minor, he is a teen. And we have a romance angle in Agra with a prostitute in the book.
Also Sags regarding the distortion angle, u pointed out, i have some American pals from the Deep South, who say that what is shown in movies like A Time to Kill and Mississippi Burning is not an accurate representation of The South. In fact they dont like it that the Southern part of US, is depicted as a racist, poverty stricken area.
thanks ratnakar . but you know wat i dont have nay such problems of india being shown in a certain light liek some people have . i dont mind people havinga certain idea about india through movies or books or whatever else. its bound to happen . if its not a documentary its not real .
but i hated the above mentioned two scenes or may be didnt understand what they were trying to say . was that ‘ real india vs real US’ scene supposed to be funny??..then may be i understand it …otherwise even if i was not indian i would hate that scene . i dont like scens in any movie where there seems to be a political agenda . or which comments on a community or country in whole.
Sags have not seen the movie to date, but i felt the novel did not have that kinda patronizing attitude, which some people spoke about. From what i heard it started off as a realistic flick and then turned into a masala one.
A Non-Indian director has used India as a theme, an Indian music director and put it on global map. Every award ceremony is worshipping it. Rahman got his due because of him. Suddenly an “Indian” film is on the global cinema and spread discussions around the globe( IMDB #49 of all time 250) If I am not mistaken, he didn’t get any producers in India. Now can we really suppress our bloated egos on this and celebrate that our Rahman is going to take the world music scene by storm, that the Indian spirit is being revered through a movie. Our Mumbai is now being projected loud and clear in every part of the world. Though on poverty Indices we are low but our brains are super sharp and that’s what Jamal shows. Can there be a better metaphorical way to show this. I really see this as nitpicking activity by us. The world that the KJOs and Yash Raj’s of the world project about India is not great in terms of cinema. We are known as less cerebral because of these movies. Projecting us as less “thinking people” and illogical is as demeaning as showing us poor. In that case I am ashamed that a British director has done it and we are simply finding reasons to bring it down. I am really proud of this movie and wish Boyle and Rahman take the credits at the academy awards.
I was thinking when to write my first comment on this site and frankly after reading your criticism about the ‘mis’representation of India as a poor country i am appalled to say the least.Anyways,it seems the movie “critiques” on this site are some not only elite but also elitists who just want to praise AK for some reason or the other and to write(or trying to write)movie review to show of their excellent taste for cinema and boast about their aesthetic sense.Thats fine!But somewhere you loose the track of the reality.The material reality of this country is quite different from what you imagine. 77% of people in this country earn less than 20 RS per day…(Quoting from NCEUS report)….sorry for being a little geeky but cinema is not only about aesthetics but also about the society we live(you can think otherwise)….Over the last few decades the stories of working class have totally disappeared and the poor it seems doesn’t exist for the mainstream directors.When some ‘firang’ director comes and shows the face of India which exists all around us,we tend to close our eyes and bluntly criticize the man. Now in this kind of situation it becomes difficult to judge who is the real foreigner.Anyways the saddest part of the movie was that it was not an Indian production…and no director seems interested in such a unprofitable ‘adventure’.It’s sad for Hindi cinema and for many of us who have no other alternative than watching this facade in the name of entertainment.
Some say these kinda films exploit poverty, the same thing is sometimes said about Satyajit Ray at time for the Apu Trilogy. Is it really exploitation?
I think they show the real India.
We don’t see the other part of the Indian society most of the times and just keep on ignoring it and even don’t portray it in films and when somebody days we pass negative comments about it.
The film ain’t nothing great. But isn’t bad either.
Why should we ever be bothered about how many Oscar’s we win or how many golden globes we win ?
frankly I don’t give a damn about which movie goes to Oscar or which does not ,all I care about is a good movie and how prosperous our movie Industry is ? Do all the people here honestly think that Slumdog is the best movie out there ?isn’t there a movie better than it ?and do the various symbolisms I mentioned before have nothing to do with this movie becoming famous.
If India were to be an economic super power no one on this forum would talk about this world wide recognition because it does not matter ,real recognition lies in being powerful.
To make an analogy
Look at the BCCI ,30 years ago an Indian cricketer would have done anything to get recognition from the western press ,today the BCCI can make England and Australia dance to it’s tunes because it has the muscle power to do it. Do we care anymore about how an Indian cricketer was honored at the MCC ,a decade ago it would have been a headline ,today it will be a small box on the last page.
We should not shy away from depicting poverty on screen ,in fact I rue the fact that the Indian media hardly gives space to the villages and farmers.
But we shouldn’t show it in a cliched manner ,which has often been the case with the west depicting India ,surely we also show the west in a cliched manner as someone remarked here ,but they don’t give a damn about it because we are insignificant for them.
I would also like India to reach a stage like that where we don’t give a damn about such films ,instead we sit up and applaud them because the media does it.
Yes India is a poor country and we have our own problems and we should realize it but that realization should be internal to us.
Vineet
“But we shouldn’t show it in a cliched manner ,which has often been the case with the west depicting India ,surely we also show the west in a cliched manner as someone remarked here ,but they don’t give a damn about it because we are insignificant for them.
I would also like India to reach a stage like that where we don’t give a damn about such films ,instead we sit up and applaud them because the media does it.”
Read what you are saying again. You keep contradicting yourself all over the place. When you say we should give a damn about such depictions, have you thought of applying your theory to yourself?
Ratnakar
I think people just love to complain. They are bitching about romanticizing of poverty by Danny Boyle. How many of these people would go to a theater to pay for a Mrinal Sen film if it releases today? Most would not even pirate it.
How many are going to watch these NDTV films in theaters?
You just can’t please everyone. So fuck it.
i wish such raw and honest depiction could come from directors at home of cities like bhagalpur, azamgarh, guwahti…
@mainak
I am not contradicting myself ,my very point being that we give too much importance to such films as they are hyped by critics.
and yea fuck it, you are right I wouldn’t pay 250 for a Mrinal Sen movie coz there would be no film Industry if we only have Mrinal Sen movies you need masala as well.
this movie is a textbook example of how to promote a movie. last week i’m getting off a plane, and the flight attendant is raving about a movie he watched. before i could hear any specifics i knew he was talking abt slumdog.
.
last night my gay neighbor tells me that he watched slumdog and he loved it. he also goes to add that i reminded him of the adult jamal (dev patel).
.
i wanted to ask him what part, like the electroshocking, or, that gullible twitchiness. but i know how he meant it. he thought dev patel was cute/hot, and i’m probably the only indian guy he knows. i love it when ppl want to fuck me. it happens so rarely.
.
before kal penn became a star with harold&kumar, he had a small part in ryan reynolds Van Wilder film. arouind then, at a gym some guy thought i was kal penn.
.
how i could look like kal penn and dev patel is beyond me. maybe because my uncle’s gujarati?
.
what does any of the above have to do with slumdog the movie? not much, like a lot of the other comments.
@Bollywoodplusplus #9, @gony dhoni #15, @Ratnakr #23,
I agree all the way. People don’t even see similarities between Slumdog and ‘Trainspotting, Sunshine and 28 Days later’ in the realms of Danny Boyle’s vision and have a “JUDGEMENT” about ‘depiction of poverty’. Goddamnit!
Wonderful fable with Mumbai street kids as a backdrop. It is a fast paced commercial film which connects well with the audience. I saw it in the US with a diverse group of young teens who have never seen anything on India before. They were entranced and enjoyed it thoroughly. Now if only our Sriram Ragavans, Anurag Kashyaps and Sudhir Mishras would recognize the need to connect with the audience at the emotional and visual levels, we could have world class commercial cinema coming out of India. People like Karan Johar and Farah Khan are just choreographers and dress designers. They do not have what it takes to make world class cinema.
I like slumdog only for the first 40 minutes and i believe people dont like the mumbai that has been portrayed in the first 40 minutes.
With due respect to mr Boyle, i give the credit to loveleen ( co-director) and her team for following the mira nair way in recreating the scene for mumbai.
The young kids in the first 40 minutes are from the Slums alike Shafiq syed from Salaam mumbai( except Jamal i guess).. Their dialogue delivery made it pretty obvious i guess..
Youngest Jamaal :- Ayush Mahesh Khedekar
Youngest Salim :- Azharuddin Mohamed Ismail
Name mentioned names to give due credit. If darsheel’s performance can be raved and ranted… i dont see any reason why these kids cannot be nominated for any award..
The kids playing the part after 40 minutes were not so convincing in my opinion. Loveleen should have continued with the slum casting theory..
All and all its a decent movie..
———-
Irony :- The lead character of Salaam Bombay ( Shafiq syed) never got any film after salaam bombay. Isnt it an irony that such films get Oscars and the main lead does not get anything at all.. Last i heard he has moved to bangalore and repairs auto rickshaw.. So much for a person who never got an award abroad but his film was nominated for OSCARS.. Any takers for making a documentary/short film on this.. SlumDog Millionaire(?) Slumdog..
I dont think these kids (SM) will get any credit either..
yea the kids are brilliant…….especially young Jamal ……jumping into that pile of shit was awesome…..
I don’t see the point in the accusations. He came and shot the India that was cinematically interesting. He obviously did not create sets of a poor india. That is how it is. Sets are created for those big mainstream films that shows heroes travelling in helicopters and living in mansions. We are so embarrased of ourselves that most of the filmmakers shoot our films abroad. It took a Danny to take a talent like A R R on the global map and he gave credit to films that he was inspired by. It is because of him that people are getting curious about Satya, Company and Black Friday. I never got so many calls from all over the world pre Slumdog.. And the indian distributors who don’t know how to release these films abroad are waking up. There was not a single indian producer who wanted to put money in this movie. everyone was approached. Success of Slumdog will allow filmmakers like me to start looking at telling these stories, without that do you think anyone will even support it here. And anyone who has a problem with the language, why not wait for the Indian dubbed version.
Crouching Tiger was hated in China because of the accented mandarin, did any indian had a problem with it , no. Everyone loved it. A filmmaker has to raise money for a film. When money is given to him from producers in UK then he has to fulfill requirements and one of them is the language of the film has to be local (in large part) from the country the money is coming from, other being major talents have to be from the country the money came from(dev patel) . How many of you had problems with Gandhi being an english language film. I guess none, because you probably saw the hindi dubbed version and you were kids enough to not have an opinion. Why not wait for the hindi dubbed version.
As for it being a masala film, yes it is and what we were not able to crack in last 75 years he has done it. He told our own masala film to the world with all its romance music revenge milna-bichadna in less than 90 minutes. If rest of us can crack that probably bollywood mainstream can become global like the Kungfu movies from Hongkong.
@anurag
i agree with you till here
“As for it being a masala film, yes it is and what we were not able to crack in last 75 years he has done it”
i mean why we didn’t crack it , i mean diwar , parinda ,zanzeer , trishul touched peoples heart. Is it not as good as cracking it.
i agree that It is told with a better techniques and on real locations. But it is the story which sucks ,which is formulaic and stereotypical.
and anyway that doesn’t make it a bible on how to make films. I mean showing poverty and filth is a director’s choice , if director that lived in poverty/seen poverty may stooped seeing it poverty anymore ,he just stop noticing it psychologically and may not portray it. If Danny boyle makes opposite choice and shoot on real locations, i will see it as good as previous director’s choice
compare budget of this film and average offbeat film’s budget … how will Indian producer can agree producing it and anyway it is no low budget … it is made 12 million $(correct me i am wrong) and Nolan made Memento in 3 million $ … so film has sufficient funds even compared to average Indian commercial films budget
Quote
“He told our own masala film to the world with all its romance music revenge milna-bichadna in less than 90 minute”
how come 90 min is good , if film is good time becomes very relative concept … “Underground”-Amir kustarica is 3 hour film … i watched because it was mentioned here … and loved it … i never felt it was 3 hour because it was engrossing
I read a interview of Iranian director Kiastomi, he was asked why chose stay in Iran after revolution he said i chose because my filmmaking can only happen in Iran , i cannot make Iranian films in Europe and i can not make europian film becuase i will not able catch nuisances of Europe. It is same Danny boyle, what he told through slumdog is very borrowed, however technically brilliant it may seen. Emotions which he wanted portray is very superficial and simply because he could not catch nuisance of India and thats why it is masala which harmful for stomach because we get same superficial plate emotions from hindi commercial films.
one last point why compare slumdog with indian films and why compare it world cinema films. How good do you think fares when it comes to world cinema? it is ranked 43/top 250 on IMDB , do you think is better than the films below it?
as far as bollywood going global , i am all with you
njudo.. One slumdog will make the world look at other bollywood films, i don’t grudge it it’s success.. But how and why start raving about something is probably when they see it first time.. that is what is happening.. no one has seen this side of india.. salaam bombay wasn’t seen on that level..
90 minutes is because that’s the reason given to us when our films are not selected or taken over for distribution abroad.. Kusturica was already declared a master before he made underground and his films were pretty successful on boxoffice.. like bela tarr made a 7 hour film and they bought it but noone released it.. even underground wasn’t released widely because of it’s length..
I think its unfair to compare Gandhi to Slumdog.
Gandhi is a universal story. Slumdog is a localized story.
I could not watch 5 minutes of Crouching Tiger. I did have a problem with it.
And I understand the problem of making it in English. But how can I stop my feelings of the movie being not real because of all these things. I want Slumdog to win everything because it will be good for our cinema. I’m not wishing it any harm. But just honestly expressing my feelings.
@Anurag, you nailed it! My sentiments exactly. How many of us watch those European, Iranian, Russian and Korean films with Subs. I dont think language should be a barrier for art. I dont understand Tamil but I like Rahman’s work more in Tamil than Hindi. I dont give two hoots in what lingo is Slumdog made or if it did accentuate the poverty in India to it’s favor. All I know is that it has paved a path for so many aspiring film makers on to the world cinema scene. Take off your pseudo critical hats and cheer for Rahman, for Boyle, for Simon and the “slumdog” spirit of India. The globes is like 24 hours away from now. Thanks to UTV. They’re playing it live.
@anurag
I agree that slum dog is good for Indian film industry and also will open altogether different market for us ,which can change face Indian cinema due to currency and technology benefits.
but my point was slumdog was not that not good film as it was hyped – forget language
just look at a contradiction- Why any director choose to shoot on a realistic location- i think he does because he wants impart a sense of realism- and that only sense of realism fails due to glaring screenplay mistakes
exaggerations like
———
student in Bombay munciple school is taught about three musketeers
knowing about Benjamin franklin and at the same time not knowing about Gandhi
———-
Formulaic like
- “like Jamal promise latika that will he will wait every day for her on railway station” –
Old Brother(one gangster) VS Brother(one very very noble)story
———–
how many times have seen this kind of thing
———–
Stereotypes which are aimed at American peoples ego-like- “i will show what real America is”
—-
It takes away all that was made believable by realistic location. I am not against “happy ending” but don’t show for just sake of it … you will have make audience believe that it is very believable
———
i will take exggaration in “No smoking” because it was meant to be exaggaration and it is form expression but here with all the realistic location , such mistakes made me not get deep into the illusion of the narrative
One of my biggest movie peeves is when the lead character is a white guy from American or U.K. who goes into another country and experiences culture shock as the audience’s proxy.
That was one of my problems with the Hollywood movie City of Joy (Patrick Swayze), which came out only four years after Salaam Bombay. Swayze plays a doctor who travels to Calcutta looking for his purpose, but he gets robbed of everything and has to stay and help out at a poor dispensary. I recall being afraid of traveling to India after seeing that.
City of Joy had some great Indian cinema actors like Shabana Azmi and Om Puri, but perhaps it was too early for Western eyes to tune in to the zeitgeist.
The stories of both Salaam Bombay and Slumdog are told by lead characters who are “insiders.” They are not shocked and appalled by what they see; it is *normal* for them. Thank goodness for that.
I think Slumdog delivers both the expected and unexpected. First of all, Westerners have heard too much about the poverty, but it is another thing altogether to unflinchingly show the cruelty attached to it. That was extremely shocking to us (if I may speak for my fellow viewers). And having been to Bombay, I have noticed worse things, so we cannot say it’s untrue.
Second, Slumdog also shows a world of high-rise developments and glitzy high-stakes game shows attended by a well-dressed middle class audience, which I don’t think most Western audience members expected to see, either. I feel in that sense Slumdog was successful in showing a complex, layered place that is many things at once. On top of that, it told a moving story.
The violence, as I’ve said elsewhere, was too extreme for me. But am I glad I saw it? Hell yeah.
Well the movie is yet to release in India
( releasing on 23rd ) but so many people have seen it ( abroad or on pirated DVD in India) already and/or are talking about it.I cannot comment on it yet because I’m still waiting to catch it on the big screen after its release in India.But one thing’s for sure its making Bollywood & ARR all the more popular all over the world.Will write/comment more about the movie after I’ve seen it.
Atlast somehow Bollywood is getting recognized
A brilliant film! The writer of the article says that it has all the ingredients of A typical Bollywood flick. Maybe. It is a very dramatic piece of work without the over-kill synonymous with most Bollywood films. It had the freshness of RDB.
For those of you who have issue with the depiction of poverty and grime, I ask, is it a lie? I have watched Water and felt that it down-played the widow misfortune. In fact I am pretty sure life for widows in India (in general) is far worse. As hard-hitting as it was for a Western audience, for me Water was far too sanitised.
I am willing to believe that the streets can be a better school than the classroom for general knowledge especially in a Cosmopolitan City like Mumbai.
Finally why compare SM to A Clockwork Orange, The Shining or even Raging Bull. They share nothing in common apart from each telling a “very good story”
BTW, it now looks firm that Shahrukh is introducing Slumdog at the Golden Globes a few hours from now. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ill-clap-loudest-if-rahman-wins-golden-globe-srk/82489-8.html
Looks like many indians are unhappy with the film.I spoke with some of my indian friends living in the US,they are not overwhelmed.
Even the news channels seem to be eager in this debate
The proud Indian moment of cinematic history: Rahman just won the Golden globe for Best score!!! Our prayers are answered!!!
And Slumdog wins Best Director too!!!!!
So far, SD is 3-for-3 at the GG’s.
Interestingly I find similarity between Slumdog and Om Shanti Om(OSO). Both are homage to Indian Industry of the 70-80-90’s. Both have mindless masala trash. Both show what the audience want them to show. The reality of Slumdog which the people have pointed out is as real as the “real world” shown in OSO. Real location didnt impart any realism in Slumdog while in OSO there was no real location. Both the movie are super hit with their intended audience. Slumdog is a hit in the west though I doubt that it will be a hit in India. Slumdog seems to be sweeping all awards as did OSO.
Before we get so self righteous, about Westerners showing poverty in India, are we not guilty of the same thing too.
Movies like Pardes, Namaste London, Aa Ab Laut Chalen to name a few, stereotype the Westerners and NRI’s as bad people, who are always chain smoking, boozing, having multiple affairs, sex obsessed. In real life, i have had many friends from the West, and they are nowhere even close to what is shown in such movies.
And what about the racist stereotypes we have on Blacks, showing them as crooks or goons or weirdos? And i don’t even need to get into the numerous regional, religious stereotypes we have in our own movies.
As they say, those who stay in glass houses dont throw stones.
Me too i didn’t understand one question of who invented revolver . when salim shoots maman how Jamal know who invented revolver ? confused
@Neeraj (29)
“Though on poverty Indices we are low but our brains are super sharp and that’s what Jamal shows.”
One of the finest comment I read on IMDB was by a foreigner who wrote: “I always wondered why Indians are so driven, and after seeing this movie I know why”!
@Debarun (31)
“the same thing is sometimes said about Satyajit Ray at time for the Apu Trilogy. Is it really exploitation?”
Satyajit Ray and exploitation? No way man – SR is the art powerhouse, its cinematic literature at its best. He just “exploited” the art hidden in both poor (Pather Panchali) and rich (Mahanagar), equally!
@Dabba (38)
“…last night my gay neighbor tells me that he watched slumdog and he loved it. he also goes to add that i reminded him of the adult jamal (dev patel).”
Man, that’s hilarious – you need to watch your ‘friendly’ neighborhood – may be buy a big lock (Navtal or Harrison ka Taala)!
@Mainak (46)
“I want Slumdog to win everything because it will be good for our cinema.”
Your wishe are granted – as far as Golden Globe is concerned, now lookin fwd to Academy!
@Manoj (58)
Sacrilegious remark! You compared Om Shanti Om with Slumdog? Oh God, forgive him, he knows not, what he hath done!
Being a desi myself, I felt proud watching SRK, Anil Kapoor on the Golden Globe stage today! Little I expected to see this day …
@ all
my biggest fear is that,the world has opened the window for Indian Cinema,then WHAT???
What type of films will the Indian Film Industry provide to the whole world who might be thinking something positive about the Indian film industry right now?
For example take the “Telugu Film Festival” which is being organized in NEW JERSY, USA,the list of the films which will be screened are as follows
Krishna
Atadistha
Ready
Kotha Bangaru Lokam
Vaana
Parugu
Ullasamga Uthsahamga
Yuvatha
Ontari
Bathukamma
Gamyam
Kantri
Kathanayakudu
Ekkadikeluthundo Manasu
only 3 films of the above mentioned are somewhat respectable…
and when it comes to bollywood we have our Raj’s,Johars,Khans….
@ Gopi #60,
Some of the answers are revealed first in the story and Jamaal answers them later, as per the chronology of the film. Some are answered after Jamaal answers them on the show. The answer Samuel Colt comes after Jamaal answers it, when Salim uses the gun on Jamaal to drive him away from Latika, he says,”No one messes with the guy with Colt .45″. May not be exact words. But he uses Colt .45. Hence.
“Millionaire worth Slumdog”
This movie is one of the most revolting movies of recent times. One has to understand the implications it portrays. I understand overall the theme of courage and bravery and positive spirit is pictured into a captivating theme but there are many other positive stories one can write. Why should give w e sell a movie of our nations emense negativism to portray such a theme. People talk about reality. Then let me remind you all one thing. We are human beings, we eat, we talk, we sleep, we shit. You can make a movie of what we talk or if you want to run us down you can make a movie on how we shit. And that’s what they have done and what everyone is happily watching and accepting. For me india is my mother, and at a personal level in no manner will I accept such eye stinging scenes to prick me and insult my mother. In the movie they have very delicately changed the pulse of the movie by the music and the development of Mumbai and the boys success and love story, so that at the end the viewers don’t leave with an ill feel. But at the same time they have shown all the disgust too. By accepting this movie and allowing it to win awards we are only giving consent for further movie makers, writers and presenters to only continue and insult us more. This has to stop now. Making this a success will only ignite another in the same direction. India is a rising nation. A diverse nation. And for a rising star it needs our support and determination to make it stand not punch it down and mock it in front of the world. People say many things shown in the movie are true. It has been shown that there is child abuse done to all the kids there. Let me remind you, India itself is just like a growing child. The foreign lands are only doing the same thing.To an entire rising nation they are just punching it back onto the floor and brusing its rise. Because this is done at such a mega scale no one realizes it and at an individual level they themselves emphasize on it. This movie is unacceptable and atrocious. it only deserves to be banned. Count our population in india and you can calculate how many stories of heroism one can write from India. It doesn’t have to arise from our slums. To sit back and accept such an insult on your face is for you to decide. I know I don’t accept it at any cost.
And if you want a glance at todays slums- i can also tell you whats reality. One day i was fed up of my stock of newspapers that i had heaped up in my store room and wanted to get rid of it and lately i didnt see the “kabadi wala” who comes on his weekly rounds to gather them and take them. so I asked my housemaid to try and trace him. As he stayed in the same slum as her he promptly came the very next day. And he told me, ” Mam, if you ever need to contact me, here is my card with my adress and phone number. you can give me a ring and i will come as soon as possible to pick the heaps of papers up” And he handed me a very well designed card with a very decent label: “scrap collector” on top. This is what I proudly call todays slums…JAI HIND!
Slumdog is a ‘mainstream’ film. be call it an Indian film or be call it an Hollywood film. it’s not much of a difference. film depicts story in a grand way like any other hollywood or bollywood masala flic. and in a ‘perfect-narrated’ screenplay film compiles Bombay as a whole. this screenplay is films main strength and this is the weakness if you say so. my take on the movie is here:~ http://www.mihirpandya.com/2009/01/review-slumdog-millionaire/
Keep the debate going…
Slumdog is indeed a mainstream film, but its one which depicts the characters with dignity. I have to say Dev Patel’s constantly-occurring British accent made it a bit surreal for me. Also I would have to say that without codirector Loveleen Tandan’s demands that the once English-only script be also in Hindi, no one wouldve given this film a second chance.
I do still love SALAAM BOMBAY though- each time I watch it, knowing it was made on a budget especially, its still magic. By the way, its not “by” Mira Nair. Nair directed, but it was developed jointly by her screenwriting partner Sooni Taraporevala, who as most screenwriters find, does not get adequate credit for this piece of magic. Taraporevala is now a director, and her new film LITTLE ZIZOU, also set in Mumbai, offers a very different, whimsical take on the city and its people. http://www.littlezizouthemovie.com . I believe it premieres in India in March.