Slumdog Millionaire
1 Comments Published by Lost. Found. Lost Again on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 10:01 AM.
First things first... Let me wish everyone here a belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year as well... Hope the hols were as fulfilling and relaxing as they were supposed to be!
Coming to the topic, Slumdog Millionaire, one of the movies that's getting rave reviews all over the world, is a guaranteed must-see according to me... It's one of the best movies this year without a doubt! I hadn't heard of this movie until I was going through the Golden Globe nominations and noticed A.R.Rahman's nomination for Outstanding Score for the movie... Well.... Then I noticed that SDM ;-) had been nominated for Best Movie, Director and Screenplay as well... I couldn't help getting more intrigued and so I went and bought the DVD. (...which isn't out yet? so you guys know what i actually did...)
Not wanting to spoil the movie for you guys, a heavily micro-sized synopsis for now... The story's based in India, mainly aamchi Mumbai, about how a street urchin who's barely educated, gets on the "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?" contest (KBC!), and seems to know all the answers somehow... The story evolves over the various back stories of how he got to know each answer (through the trying experiences of his life obviously...) and about how and why he got on the show in the first place... The narrative's got it's moments and you just can't but help being happy for the hero in the end...
I was quite moved by the story telling which was both subtle and in-your-face at the same time... And the acting of the children especially, the colours, camerawork and Rahman's background score all added to the excitement, the athos and the pathos that is everyday India and Mumbai in particular... I dunno what it is about people using third world (Just generalizing... India's not Third World anymore...) country backgrounds for movies (maybe it's for the awards season), but it works... Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Millions, 28 Days Later) and co-director Loveleen Tandan have made a movie that targets the worldwide audience as such. The stories are stories we've heard, stories that we know, stories that we've seen and stories that we've experienced and understand. and thus thanks to Simon Beaufoy (screenplay) and Vikas Swarup for the novel Q&A on which this movie was based... The movie's got quite a few familiar actors from Bollywood, each doing their parts quite well, except when they have to say things in English which were better said in Hindi... Dev Patel does a good job for his first movie... Apparently he's a Brit Indian... And Frieda Pinto looks beautiful and acts quite well too.
It's a movie that uses the age-old adage that fate and destiny make the world go round... And I think the movie works because of that. It's not groundbreaking or that different, but it's still a breath of fresh air.... Watch it. Tell us what you think!
See you guys!!!
Luv,
Nelson
P.S.
Q. So finally how does he know the answers?
A. Well, finally because... "It Is Written..."
To read more about the movie... Imdb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia...
Other Movies to watch if you've missed them this year.... The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Kung Fu Panda, Wanted, Hellboy 2, Quantum of Solace, Transporter 3, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, In Bruges, Vicky Christina Barcelona, etc etc
and the rest which the editor will help me out with...
Coming to the topic, Slumdog Millionaire, one of the movies that's getting rave reviews all over the world, is a guaranteed must-see according to me... It's one of the best movies this year without a doubt! I hadn't heard of this movie until I was going through the Golden Globe nominations and noticed A.R.Rahman's nomination for Outstanding Score for the movie... Well.... Then I noticed that SDM ;-) had been nominated for Best Movie, Director and Screenplay as well... I couldn't help getting more intrigued and so I went and bought the DVD. (...which isn't out yet? so you guys know what i actually did...)
Not wanting to spoil the movie for you guys, a heavily micro-sized synopsis for now... The story's based in India, mainly aamchi Mumbai, about how a street urchin who's barely educated, gets on the "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?" contest (KBC!), and seems to know all the answers somehow... The story evolves over the various back stories of how he got to know each answer (through the trying experiences of his life obviously...) and about how and why he got on the show in the first place... The narrative's got it's moments and you just can't but help being happy for the hero in the end...
I was quite moved by the story telling which was both subtle and in-your-face at the same time... And the acting of the children especially, the colours, camerawork and Rahman's background score all added to the excitement, the athos and the pathos that is everyday India and Mumbai in particular... I dunno what it is about people using third world (Just generalizing... India's not Third World anymore...) country backgrounds for movies (maybe it's for the awards season), but it works... Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Millions, 28 Days Later) and co-director Loveleen Tandan have made a movie that targets the worldwide audience as such. The stories are stories we've heard, stories that we know, stories that we've seen and stories that we've experienced and understand. and thus thanks to Simon Beaufoy (screenplay) and Vikas Swarup for the novel Q&A on which this movie was based... The movie's got quite a few familiar actors from Bollywood, each doing their parts quite well, except when they have to say things in English which were better said in Hindi... Dev Patel does a good job for his first movie... Apparently he's a Brit Indian... And Frieda Pinto looks beautiful and acts quite well too.
It's a movie that uses the age-old adage that fate and destiny make the world go round... And I think the movie works because of that. It's not groundbreaking or that different, but it's still a breath of fresh air.... Watch it. Tell us what you think!
See you guys!!!
Luv,
Nelson
P.S.
Q. So finally how does he know the answers?
A. Well, finally because... "It Is Written..."
To read more about the movie... Imdb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia...
Other Movies to watch if you've missed them this year.... The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Kung Fu Panda, Wanted, Hellboy 2, Quantum of Solace, Transporter 3, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, In Bruges, Vicky Christina Barcelona, etc etc
and the rest which the editor will help me out with...
Labels: A.R.Rahman, Danny Boyle, Golden Globes, Mumbai, nominations, Slumdog Millionaire
good movie man..definitly a must watch..the music is really apt and brilliant...and anish as u said its the english diaogues that are a bit funny to hear..especially when u hear the local don talk to his servant in english..but i guess they just could not help that..its afterall an english movie;-)