Slumdog Millionaire: Simply wow!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Blade_Runner said:
As a film it is no better than "Jaane tu or Rock On", heck it's even worse in so many cliche ridden ways !!!

PS: The author of that article is also one of the "approval" seeking types ;)
Click to expand...

This is true without doubt. But people should be looking at this movie as a purely commercial movie (like Jaane Tu or Rock On as you said).

x86 said:
IIt seems the 'syndrome' across the spectrum being, anyone who dont like this movie dont because they cannot see the reality which is India is a poor nation with thousands of people under poverty and we simply want a white approval which infact no one is saying in the first place (save some politicians), excuse me I dont want to to be the part of trickle down effect.
I have found more people relating this movie to politics/real life than peoples who dont simply like it that much, issues exist but they are way vast, with roots way deep.
Interpreting us and them is the key, but what we are doing in every sphere is interpreting us through the lens of them, and this was done by them for them as well.
Click to expand...

This is true for most people. I still fail to understand why are filmmakers so eager to win an Oscar when they have their own awards? It is no doubt a film made by a foreigner for other foreigners to see.

But, in defence of Danny Boyle I would like to add something. If any of you noticed, there was not even one scene in which the situation was exploited. To make myself clear, let us take the e.g. of the small clip of the riot scene. Here even though their mother was killed, the scene was not graphic and made more depressing than usual. Neither the scene where they rescue the girl from the brothel made graphic.

The best part was the characters. They were true till the end. This is one thing that our filmmakers need to learn. SRK in Rab Ne was shown to be a nervous, fumbling, self-conscious guy who changes into this uber cool dude (he looked gay IMO) just with a snap of his fingers. I mean, a person who has been the same (Punjab Power, lighting up your life jee ) for a good 25+ years of his life can change so suddenly.. :@

Let us see the two main characters in this movie -

Jamal: He will make any sacrifice to get what he wants. He is ready to jump into shit to get his famous star's autograph, he is willing to sit for a game show just with the hope that his love will watch the show.

Salim: He has a strong sense of survival. Since the beginning when he sells off Amitabh's autograph, to the moment when he waits for the perfect moment to escape from the place where they were being held captive as kids to even later, when he kills that guy mercilessly in the brothel and immediately meets up with Javed who is a rival gang leader.
 
But, in defence of Danny Boyle I would like to add something. If any of you noticed, there was not even one scene in which the situation was exploited. To make myself clear, let us take the e.g. of the small clip of the riot scene. Here even though their mother was killed, the scene was not graphic and made more depressing than usual. Neither the scene where they rescue the girl from the brothel made graphic.
Click to expand...

erm..

shit covered kid getting autograph from celeb?

kid getting eyes screwed?

kid getting pulled off of the roof of a running train?
 
^ Exactly. But if you see carefully, each of these scenes were only a few minutes long. I'm not commenting on the story or the need for the scenes, I'm simply saying that the scenes were not stretched to the extent where you felt like puking all over the place or were shifting uncomfortably in your seat. And if you see these scenes could have easily made you do that IMO.

Though I think the shit covered kid was enough to induce a gag reflex. :P
 
Unlike most people who have a problem with the movie, I don't think that the depiction of slums was inaccurate or over the top. Nor do I think the story was cliched.

I think stylistically they f***ed up. There was no sense in having Jamaal and Salim (and others) talking in English. And that made the whole story farcical. This movie would have been 10x better if they had maintained the movie in Hindi along with English subtitles (which I may mention they had done a good job of at the start of the movie, while they were still kids).
 
^ Earlier they were toying with the idea of even them speaking in English but Loveleen Tandan who was assiting Danny insisted that to maintain the authenticity let them speak in Hindi.

But yeah, everything in Hindi would have been fantastic.
 
Having come from a middle class environment myself, it is hard to understand how some people live. But if you guys think that America is so developed that it doesn't have some pretty bad slums... you are entirely mistaken.

Personally I did not feel this movie is deliberately intending to portray anything bad about India.

Where I live in San Francisco you can go to area's where homeless people have shanty towns setup... These people are often homeless by the necessity of their own drug habits, not because they cannot be fed or have baths or a place to sleep, but because doing so would mean that they would not be allowed to drink or do drugs to obtain those comforts. Instead... what we get is homeless people begging on the streets for drug and alcohol money.

There are area's that are so unsafe that there is often news of gang related shootings and places the cops don't even want to go and definitely not a place to go if you are white.

This is just the Bay Area and most major Metropolitan area's in the USA have places like this.

So what I am trying to say is that this movie (which I really enjoyed) was just about life and one persons struggle to change his life. This could have been in the slums of New York, Africa or any other of a million places.. it is really about the idiosyncrasies of life.

Please people... either enjoy or don't enjoy the movie.. but please don't make politics where there aren't any.

One of my art teachers told me something that I will always remember as great advice.

If a piece of art (in this case a film) invokes a response.. be it negative or positive.. then it has done it's job because a negative response as much as a positive one has evoked an emotional stimulus and has made you think about it, and this is usually the goal of the artist in the first place. :)
 
PiXeLpUsHeR said:
So what I am trying to say is that this movie (which I really enjoyed) was just about life and one persons struggle to change his life. This could have been in the slums of New York, Africa or any other of a million places.. it is really about the idiosyncrasies of life.

Please people... either enjoy or don't enjoy the movie.. but please don't make politics where there aren't any.

One of my art teachers told me something that I will always remember as great advice.

If a piece of art (in this case a film) invokes a response.. be it negative or positive.. then it has done it's job because a negative response as much as a positive one has evoked an emotional stimulus and has made you think about it, and this is usually the goal of the artist in the first place. :)
Click to expand...
ding ding ding :)
 
PiXeLpUsHeR said:
Having come from a middle class environment myself, it is hard to understand how some people live. But if you guys think that America is so developed that it doesn't have some pretty bad slums... you are entirely mistaken.

Personally I did not feel this movie is deliberately intending to portray anything bad about India.

Where I live in San Francisco you can go to area's where homeless people have shanty towns setup... These people are often homeless by the necessity of their own drug habits, not because they cannot be fed or have baths or a place to sleep, but because doing so would mean that they would not be allowed to drink or do drugs to obtain those comforts. Instead... what we get is homeless people begging on the streets for drug and alcohol money.

There are area's that are so unsafe that there is often news of gang related shootings and places the cops don't even want to go and definitely not a place to go if you are white.

This is just the Bay Area and most major Metropolitan area's in the USA have places like this.

So what I am trying to say is that this movie (which I really enjoyed) was just about life and one persons struggle to change his life. This could have been in the slums of New York, Africa or any other of a million places.. it is really about the idiosyncrasies of life.

Please people... either enjoy or don't enjoy the movie.. but please don't make politics where there aren't any.

One of my art teachers told me something that I will always remember as great advice.

If a piece of art (in this case a film) invokes a response.. be it negative or positive.. then it has done it's job because a negative response as much as a positive one has evoked an emotional stimulus and has made you think about it, and this is usually the goal of the artist in the first place. :)
Click to expand...

very well said. :)
 
You guys wanna watch something deep and dark?

Watch Chandni Bar.

SDM is simply too cheesy that I almost think its sarcastic, but more cheesy. Though I enjoyed watching the latter.
 
I'm kinda confused , there is one more movie i recently read about somewhere.. it's called Slumdog Crorepati.. Is it the same movie dubbed in Hindi ?
Slumdog Millionare was great nevertheless.
 
So many posts, 7 pages, for just a movie!
Having read the entire thread, I just want to say, I'd rather watch the truth than watch SRK, AB being Millionaires living in a palace in London, and frequenting India in a chartered plane..
but that is just my opinion..

PS: Now, I'll watch the movie and then comment!!;)
 
Ok...I can't help myself from posting a reply.

Why do I see people comparing the movie with the Political System, the director being a non-indian and much more.

Why don't you just go and watch the movie. Its not fool proof in all senses, the answers to the quiz show are wrong (like who wrote the song "Darshan do ghanshayam..") and the audio-video sync for the songs in background do not match ( Kareena dancing on Chandni bar song), but thats not the point we are discussing here.

The movie is about a typical slum-boy from mumbai who goes on to become a millionaire by answering all the questions.( go watch the movies if you want more details.) But the only thing that kept me glued to the screen for initial 30 mins with praises at every 2 mins was the cinematography of Danny Boyle. And then there are the child actors who just steal the show.

Watch this movie if you want to see something different than typical naach gana of the Bollywood movies.

Watch this movie if you want to see the cinematographic talent of the director.

Watch this movie if you want to enjoy A R Rehman at his best.

And watch this movie if you want a change from the same life that you live everyday, believe me the 2 hours will do you good. (Atleast mine were worth it.)

No offence to others over here, but one of the best movies I have seen in a long time...and a definite for my collection.
 
For all you people who are lambasting Slumdog for showing India in a bad light should really check out Outsourced. These guys have gone crazy. A film like this should be banned!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom