Of slums, dogs and millionaires

Last night, I got to watch "Slumdog Millionaire" at the local cinema. I know many of my readers are anxiously waiting to see it and want to know how it is. So here goes, my first attempt at reviewing a movie.

If I were to sum up "Slumdog Millionaire" in 3 words, those words would be "feel good movie". Director Danny Boyle(famous for directing Trainspotting, Millions and 28 days later) has blended life, liberty and the pursuit of love of an impoverished Mumbai slum dweller into a carefully crafted "rags to riches" narrative. The movie starts with Jamal(referred to as "Slumdog" in the movie mutliple times) being just one question away from winning 20 million rupees in a game show. The audience is then asked the question - how did he get here? "Slumdog" then takes the audience through an amazing journey of Jamal's life until that point in time; simultaneously answering the question that was asked in the opening sequence.

The director has successfully taken a book (Q & A by Vikas Swarup) that was intended for an Indian audience and transformed it into a piece of cinema that can be enjoyed globally. The storyline blends reality, destiny, comedy(intermittent) and miracle, so there are some parts where you may find it a little cheesy. I think the movie is at its best when the main characters are going through their childhood phase. The child actors are superb, to say the least, and add a lot of substance to the soul of the movie. It is when they grow up (now played by different actors) that they change their language to English (earlier parts of the movie feature Hindi dialogues with English subtitles) at which point the movie loses a bit of authenticity since the actors clearly are trying to put on an Indian accent. (Grown up Jamal is played by Dev Patel, who was born and raised in the UK).

The high points of the movie are its direction, cinematography and music (A. R. Rahman - who needs no introduction). Story narration is outstanding, and coupled with intertwining multiple timelines, lets the audience figure out obvious missing clues of the story instead of being spoon fed. The cinematography is par excellence- panoramic, aerial and closeup shots combine to create a wonderful palette of imagery giving a real sense of how you would see the world when you live on the streets of Mumbai. One of the highlights of the movie is a chase scene through a slum - as the camera moves, it captures all vital elements of a slum - poverty, diversity and irony ( a Benz car passing through the slum). The panoramic shot of a row of slum loos could be easily mistaken for personalized spa rooms at a jungle resort.

And then, there is the music. That is what keeps you engaged throughout the entire movie. When the situation is a nail biter, the music takes your brain out of the seat and into the actual location. It has combined elements of Indian and western instruments and embodies the mood of the movie at all times. Kudos to Rahman for a job well done.

In the acting department, both Anil Kapoor(host of the game shaow) and Irfan Khan(cop who questions Jamal) have done a great job. As I mentioned before, the child artists are a feast to the eyes. Danny Boyle has proved that he can direct kids very well (Millions) and in this movie he does it again. Dev Patel (as Jamal) has done justice to the central character. Mahesh Manjrekar (acclaimed director of Vaastav who plays Jaaved the Don in this movie) deserves a special mention. The rest of the cast do just enough acting so that the movie does not fall flat on character portrayal.

To sum it up, "Slumdog" is definitely worth a watch in the cinema. Let me warn you, if you are softhearted, there are some parts that may make you squirm - but not too much that I would advise you to stay away from it. The movie manages to stay out of making political commentary or social statements, so a lot of stuff that is happening on screen only manage to slightly bruise your conscience.

Are you still reading the review? Go, watch the movie and if possible, let me know what you think of it.