Originally Posted by _____V_____
Slumdog Millionaire.
Want me to be totally unbiased? Here we go...
After the 28 Days/Weeks duo, I did not expect this from Danny Boyle. He came across as a moviemaker who has a sensible approach and a no-nonsense way of filmmaking, and for him to make this is a bit incomprehensible. The very first word of the movie title itself portrays the country wrongly, and that goes with the mis-interpretation the West has always had of India - a country full of poverty, crime, slum dwellers, superstitions, orthodox beliefs, etc., when today's India is more or less an opposite.
Now the movie itself.
The performances of the two leads was about par, but the two superstars of the Indian movie industry were a bit flat. The concept of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? was novel, but the execution and the questions itself were poorly done.
The music wasnt that great either, and why A R Rahman has got nominations for it is totally beyond me. He is a very talented music director, and has much, much better soundtracks under his belt than this one.
The only redeeming factor I noticed was the cinematography. Fine camerawork dots this flick from beginning to end.
Boyle's direction - considering the basic premise idea and the settings he should have taken into account, is mediocre. Being a Britisher, he should have had a much better view of modern India today, since the history of India and Great Britain has been so deeply linked. Any Indian viewer with a deep-rooted sense of patriotism would tear him to pieces, but I am being unbiased here, so I ll spare him.
Overall, it has a good beginning, but after the first 30 minutes, it goes down paths which viewers would already have seen many times before in crime/Mafia-esque type flicks. Considering the fact that it doesnt correctly portray the great nation as it is today, its another big minus on Slumdog's credentials. Roland Joffe faced the same problem when he made City of Joy in the early 90s with Patrick Swayze - he totally misinterpreted and misrepresented India and Indian culture, and faced a lot of flak for it.
Watch it, get entertained, but dont leave the theater with any post-conceived ideas from it. Erase it from your memories once you are done watching.
And dont even get me started on the Oscars and their credentials.
Rating - * *
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