Slum+dog+millionaire+india
“5 stars!!!” I squeaked in disbelief as I felt my brow ascend to my forehead, which had contorted as well, gazing at the Saturday HT column. I felt my mind wander back in a trance; back to the time when I had gained it, much enough to analyze the ratings and reviews; stroll from the Chak de Indias to the Bourne Ultimatums.. No!! no other movie had managed to snatch this elusive ‘award’ from Khaled Mohammed in his piece. The closest they ever get, is to a four. The ‘omg’ moment was but, instinctive, even after the 4 globes and the 10 academy award nominations.
I’d hence take pleasure (as I usually do) in pointing out the glaring glitches in the much touted movie. First, this being as imperative as the 20 million question on the ‘next day’ itself; NO television quiz show is telecast live on TV anywhere in the world!, let alone India, it takes more than a month to broadcast an episode. Secondly, it might seem absurd if not totally outrageous, that the two slum dwellers, within a couple of years time span, learn to speak impeccable English in Agra after their tattered Hindi in Mumbai. And of course, although Dev Patel earns the credit, Mr. Boyle could have done with a protagonist without such a flavoured accent in an ‘Indian’ movie, especially when most of the crew is Indian.
Lastly ( not a glitch this), as my peers agree, this is hardly the best performance Mr. Rehman has given in recent times. I can’t really comprehend how the film fraternity acknowledged his effort only in the movie which also has 7 other Oscar nominations to its name..
But I guess...As they say.. D: It Is Written …
The serious bone of contention involving the movie, here in india has sincerely been the 'true india', as should be portrayed.. Whether it be the repercussions of the communal riots, the slum dwellers' desolate and dismal lives, the corrupted and fraudulent system, or the depiction of the "murky underbelly" itself, the fact is, this aint really gonna alter the way the west perceives india. The age old stereotype about india still lingers on, whether it is portrayed by an oscar nominated movie or not, whether its veracity is confirmed or not. So, i say fret not mr AB, and lets hope some day a movie featuring 'shining india' gets nominated for the same honors or maybe more..
Comments
SDM is definitely not his best....
and regarding english... it had to be made for the english audience... :P
but yes, Boyle should have done it in Hindi..
there's no prob with english either but the point that he has mixed up the two languages is baffling. The westerners wouldn't recognize this, but indians know that slum dwellers dont learn to speak english here overnight..:) thanx for going through...
its jst anoder example of Western Domination Over India n Indians...everybody is jst so after OSCARS...and SDM getting 5 stars is completely influenced by the Global critics and nothin else...n jst one movie cannot turn around the way people across the globe perceive us...
For them, we still r 'people from the land of snakes n Mahatama Gandhi':)
regards, god bless!
keep writing!
PULKIT
(http://19goes20.blogspot.com)
thnx for going through and getting to the depth.. its not that bad as the "land of snakes and m.gandhi" though :). lets hope india comes at par wid the developed fraternity. keep visiting :)
thnx for the contradictory comments. but u seemd to have missed the simple pts- the only reason any such show hasn't been shown live yet is cos its technically not possible(a lot of editing and post production work), although eng was used for "obvious reasons", again, its technically not possible as i explnd in my earlier cmmnt; and the matter of this being rehman's best remains a personal choice: just bcos he wins awards abroad for this doesn't make it his best for one and all.. thnx for dropping by...
well SDM sure shouldn't be missed :)
thanx for the appreciation and your visit..
thnx for ur apprecn.. and although it helps, its not necessary to go for cat or gre to have a gud vocab.. keep visiting..:)
Just been to Taj about a week ago, and witnessed by myself, they do speak english! the dancers of Mumbai Dance bars speak english, the call-girls of delhi have now upgraded their surrogate adds to annouce 'fluent english speaking'..all on the above adapting to serve the needs of their coustomers better!
Many of the flaws you speak are basically logical fumbles, so blatant that they rather ask for viewers to give literary freedom to the makers than to criticise him!
But still a nice work in your blog, to raise consistant questions.
nice having ur expert comment.. indeed, the flaws are blatant, and blatant enough to give critics(like me!) their 'critical freedom' for the 'literary freedom' the artist possessed.. will look forward to more such comments...
Tell them lies, give them hope, and they will Love it.
You Love reality, and hence you want them to show it.
The guy who gave it 5 stars hates it as much as you do, but know that people Love it, so he gave that rating.
yes, it Is a good movie.. but that being said, pushes a Very stereotypical image out there... i know an Indian wrote the actual story (Vikas Swarup?) but that doesnt make it any less exoticised!
again, Glad you wrote this post! :)
i didn't "hate" the movie. i only pointed out the glaring glitches which i felt.. and, but the review in newspapers depends largely on a single connoisseur's perception of the movie and he needn't care whether ppl love it or not.... thanx 4 ur opinion:)
@go phish
critics have a new option nowadays of commenting on the reviews given by ppl other than the usual movies stuff..:)and yes the stereotype abt india continues to linger on but hardly is it due to movies etc which only show a skewed view.. thnx 4 dropping by :)