Monday, January 26, 2009

Slumdog again - happy republic day!!

On the eve of republic day, we watched Slumdog Millionaire.. the two are connected you think? Yeah maybe.... we definitely have come of age.. what with rahman and gulzar getting nominated for oscars.. with such big scams as Satyam happening here too.. etc etc

So back to Slumdog... the movie is quite hyped.. and actually lives up to it... we went (at least i did) to watch the movie with great trepidation... because while everyone has been talking about the movie.. there have been many people talking about "selling Indian poverty" abroad!!!

Usually i am wary of such movies... but i must admit i enjoyed the movie thoroughly.. the initial bit does get you overwhelmed at seeing the state of affairs.. actually we used to see it everyday in Bombay.. but it coexists.. peacefully or not i dont know.. it does coexist.. and you dont give it a second thought as you rush past dharavi towards bandra... it kind of becomes a part of life.. so showing all this full scale on big screen.. does make you twitch in your seat.. but all this only for 15 mins!!
Thought i must say that Sh** scene was so not required... even though barkha dutt says.. its staring at your face everyday, take a look at the tracks... even then.. i can ignore.. but when shown on big screen.. you cant help but watch and feel a little nauseous!!! They could have shown trudging slime.. and keechad.. why this!!!! It did offend the senses...

Once you are past this scene.. you actually become quite involved in the story.. its the story of a boy.. and how he manages to survive.. through begging.. conning... and finally working as a tea boy in the BPO. The young kid who plays Jamal was absolutely rocking!!!!! Is he an actor? He was just brilliant.. a pint sized thing stuffed with loads of energy!!!! I quite liked the girl who played Latika too.. the kid i.e.!!!

Dev Patel appears right in the beginning as Jamal Malik.. and appears throughout the movie in snatches as the grown up.. however Frieda Pinto comes in only in the 2nd half.. or rather the last half an hour!!! The story in itself is quite good!!! How did he win 2 crs? Thats what the story is about.. which takes us through his childhood.. till his present...

Anil Kapoor as Prem was surprisingly good!!!! Had oodles of attitude ... was actually good!

The character of Jamal Malik was really endearing.. played by equally endearing people.. all 3 actors par excellence..

We watched the 9.50 show in the night and the hall was totally packed.. the movie ended at around 12.. and the funny part was .. the song Jai Ho comes right in the end.. usually you find people already moving out of the theatre.. there would hardly be around 15-20 people in the theatre to watch that last song.. but last night.. nobody moved from the their seats till the credits started!!!! Which was really surprising.. and i have never seen this.. except once in Delhi wherein after the movie 1942 A love story.. when the national anthem starts playing.. everyone stood up and sang!!!

I think i will give this movie at least 4 stars!!! :)

शुभ गणतंत्र दिवस :)

ps: did you all watch the parade?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice review, and blog

Scarlett said...

The kid who played Jamal is a slum kid. He isn't an actor. Infact, all the little ones in the first part of the movie are actual slum kids.

Moonshine said...

@Deluded Thank you!!! Do keep reading!!! Will try to keep at it.. :)

@Scarlett Really? They are so much better

BTW, the spell check thing works.. but still a couple of mistakes in my post.. which i just corrected.. there was a font instead of dont and a sit instead of see it!!! :) But yeah, it works!!! :)

Scarlett said...

Have you seen Trainspotting by Danny Boyle? There's a scene where the guy dunks his head inside a public toilet b/c his pills have fallen in.

Moonshine said...

Havent watched Trainspotting!!! That scene is so groooosssssssssss!!!!!!!!