A film about India, shot in India, featuring Indians! How I wish this could be India's official entry for the Oscars, but for its British director, Danny Boyle!
Slumdog Millionaire deserves all the hype surrounding it. From it's very first scene, in which the slum kids outrun our very own pot-bellied cops inspite of them having motorcycles, the movie manages to capture the rawness of slum-life. Not only that, throughout it's duration, the movie has some terrific scenes, some funny, some moving and striking!
In a strange way, the movie manages to make slums look smelly yet full of life, especially in the scene in which Jamaal jumps from the toilet into a pit full of shit and runs across drenched in....you know what, just to get Amitabh's autograph. No movie has ever manged to capture India's dark underbelly in such a beautiful manner. Kudos to the screenplay writer for making the film look more realistic than Indian films.
The whole journey of Jamaal from the slums to the show is brilliantly thought-off. The beauty of the movie is that Anil Kapoor asks questions, not the actor but the film answers it. The narrative keeps shifting from the show to his childhood, adulthood et all, answering all the questions along the way!
The direction is brilliant, the music is good, but the real star of the movie is not Anil Kapoor or A R Rahman, the real star is Jamaal, the little kid. His acting is as good as anyone's I have seen in recent times. His spontaenity and enthusiasm just get to you. He is a real find, a slumdog who I think really has the potential to be a star worth not million but billion bucks. An actor so good, I wouldnt surrpised if many producers are ready to jump in the pit full of shit just to get his dates.
Slumdog, the movie is brilliant but it is Jamaal, a real-life slum-kid who makes the movie what it is. Hence, 'Slumdog slams it! 'Full stop
P.S: We will miss the Oscar again!
