Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Azharudin Mohammed Ismail, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irfan Khan, Madhur Mittal, Rubina Ali
Slum dog Millionaire revolves around Jamal Malik (portrayed on screen by Dev Patel), a muslim boy, who grew up in the slums of Mumbai and at merely eighteen years of age, is a single question away from winning the prize money of an Indian Game show. The movie scored big at the Golden Globe awards, bagging the awards for the Best Movie, Best Director, Best Screen play as well as the Best background score and has got 10 Oscar nominations. Despite all the ravings about it, I found it to be in the genre of a typical Bollywood masala movie. The theme was somewhat similar to Salaam Bombay , an older Bollywood flick by the Indian director Mira Nair; but, more sugar-coated to make the audience happier. Unlike Salaam Bombay’s not-so-feel-good ending, Slum dog Millionaire ends on a happy note, with the hero getting millions of rupees as well as the girl of his dreams. The movie is a crowd pleaser; however, I’m not quite sure if it has been the best Indian movie ever, as the media portrays it out to be.
I wonder if the reason why it clicked so much here in the US is coz of the bad economic phase that the country is in & it might actually make the US residents feel a little better to see that there are people in WAY worse condition that they themselves are in at present!!!!
A fact that I’ve lamented upon about the Indian movies that seek international accolade is that they almost always tend to focus upon either the slums or the corruption or religious riots or some attributes that are not so flattering to our otherwise rich heritage. Why don’t the media also rave about movies like Lagaan or Chak de India , which also portray true Indian spirit?
Also, came across this interesting blog by a person of Indian origin, who proclaims the movie is an authentic representation of Indian life.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/jan/15/danny-boyle-shows
GET A GRIP, MAN!!!! Please stop spreading more bad stories about the situation in India than those that are already circulating.
The background score by A.R. Rahman is so great, that it has an out of this world feel about it.
I agree with the first part mentioned about the movie, absolutely correct!!!, but think about AR Rahman’s back ground score, i think this is the worst music produced by AR Rahman compared to his other great works. I think, the fact is, Warner Bros is looking 4 indian movie market for their next productions….