Monday, February 16, 2009

Slumdog or Millionaire?

Watched the movie yesterday....Good one, definitely. But nothing deserving of all the "great accolades" its been winning which makes me doubt the fairness, authenticity, PR and lobbying that goes behind these awards - but thats a separate topic...

The movie is somewhat like a BBCD (British born confused desi), really not knowing where it belongs - I could classify it in several genres - childhood affection that matures into love and wins with persistence, destiny to be rich, good wins over bad, poverty all of them mish mashed and kathi rolled into the game show concept which, I agree is a novel idea and the only novel idea in the movie.

Even in the treatment of all the genres, you're not focussing on one for too long and therefore you're left feeling blankness and not one strong emotion at the end of it. Agreed, that the initial, slum scenes, child trafficking and all that jolt you - even though it is a reality that all of us face everyday at every traffic signal, not without a guilt that rushes through us, but choose to block out for purposes of a sane life - I am not being callous, or even saracastic here, this is the truth of the nation and shown in macabre details, it makes you hate yourself for the lifestyle you lead (survivor's guilt). But if that was the intended impact, then, without dwelling on it, the movie moves on to other themes, lost love, mafia and the works - it does not make a choice between being on the face or being euphemistic - therefore landing up being somewhere on the borderline of hypocritic.


My only reasoning, for it gaining so much popularity, is probably because, Westerners, dont know that this is the truth of any big Indian city (maybe a little less so in other cities, yet mostly true)..And this being a revelation to them, they are probably appalled enough to give away enough awards...Well whatever it be, it doesnt really matter, if all this culminates into something more than just awards and actually helps someone in need.

Well, but the kid who acted as Jamal, in the slum, he was just brilliant - the innocence in those doe eyes and the suffering that he goes thru, but the natural honesty in them - he just touched my heart. My sense of self went for a huge toss, when he goes to Maman, and says he would sing, if given 50 bucks, because he is a professional singer, with dreamy eyes unknowing of the harm that awaits him..


Movie review apart, reading, or seeing such things, makes me wonder, why are some people's lives so much tougher than others? It bothers me, that I had it easy, atleast relative to such sufferings....I know there are no black and white answers in life, the world needs a color scheme for it to run, and we are all distributed in the varying shades of gray to let it happen....But the justice of the design bothers me - " If God exists he is either cruel or incompetent or both and he better have a really good excuse" - Woody Allen's quotes that come to my mind...

4 comments:

BlanyAshwin said...

gud one....Sowmya... The negative side of India always when portrayed to the western world brings loads of laurels and accolades....for eg did not understand as to why the "White Tiger" won the booker prize for Adiga....definitely Slumdog dint deserve an oscar... except it gav ARR a opening all over the globe....

Definitely the design of life cannot be justified....Dey say "everything happens for a reason".... I m still trying to figure out d reason but still struggling....

Keep blogging Sowmya

Wundergal said...

Thanks Blany! Can I also solicit your comments on my painting which I heard you were extremely interested in I heard :P

Suryanarayanan said...

Really good blog Sowmya and would have been a gr8 one if you had mentioned about Freida Pinto :).

But I think this is one movie that has been filmed with no exaggeration from other hollywood movies shot in India like Outsourced or Darjeling delights. It brings you things that you either fail to notice in your every day life or dont want to notice like child traficking and slum conditions.

All that bollywood shows to the western world is Family traditions and stuff like that and then comes a movie from hollywood itself showing the entire world what India really is. It is a bit hard to digest but thats the truth. And this is not the first time, there are movies like City of God that shows the dark side of Brazil. I was not surprised by the way the Indian audience recd it, loads of negative feedback but all I can think of is "No stones are thrown at fruitless trees".

Finally I do think this movie really deserves the Oscar because it is not just a good entertainer but also hits every Indian hard and says this is the reality of your brothers and what are you going to do about that.

Wundergal said...

I agree with the first three paragraphs of your comment, esp the Freida Pinto one:P.
But the last one, I still disagree - it did not hit me hard, because it meandered into too many topics and I still think the same picture by an Indian based in India would never have won so many accolades. The question if favoritism not of truth.
- WG