Review: Slumdog Millionaire
Finally I have watched the much-talked about Oscar nominated movie by Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire and it is a thrilling and grippy movie. Slumdog Millionaire is a good entertainer at it’s best, but not a great movie or worthy of the talks it has going on about it. Because the movie is too much Bollywood-ish in it’s story line. But it is not surprising as the director Danny Boyle has mentioned drawing influence from many Hindi films including Company and Black Friday. Priyadarshan saar – please note this, as you seem so angry at Danny Boyle, that the director himself has credited his influences before somebody else has mentioned it. Ever cared to credit One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest for Thaalavattam? Or… oops! I forgot!! There are way too many movies by you which have lifted story lines from Hollywood movies and made in Malayalam!!!
What is beautiful about Slumdog Millionaire‘s story narrative is the way the Q & A sessions connects Jamal (the lead character played by Dev Patel) back to his memories. It was a beautiful narrative to show how Jamal connected the game show questions to the events of his own life. But I think that Boyle did not need to bring in another narrative with the questioning scene in the police station. That was overdone.
Minuses and pluses
- The lead actor Dev Patel doesn’t sound like an Indian at all. At his best, he looks like an English man’s kid left at the slum in his early teenage. Dev does a horrible job of portraying the slum kid with his British accent which would not go away no matter how hard he tried (and we can see in the film that he tried hard). The movie shows Jamal serving tea in a call center, perhaps to add credibility to his British accent, but that doesn’t save him the embarrassment.
- I have one question. The youngster who plays Jamal’s brother does a good job and looks very native. Why wouldn’t the casting crew find someone of that sort? I am not blaming Dev Patel. I would rather blame it on the casting crew of the film.
- The game show’s anchor (played by Anil Kapoor) wants Jamal out of the show. For what, we do not know. We could understand if it was part of such game shows, planned by the entire crew, but the crew is actually happy at Jamal winning and the anchor is not. Why? The movie doesn’t give us a clue. And he throws him out to the cops at the end of the show. Excuse me?
- The blind beggar boy in the subway tells Jamal that the person whose face printed on an American Dollar note is Benjamin Franklin. So Jamal, who doesn’t know that it is Gandhi who is on a Rs. 1000 note, learns that it is Benjamin Franklin on a Dollar. I don’t really get this unless the director wanted to make a sarcastic remark on the globalized face of India.
- An Indian taxi driver of American tourists beat up Jamal when they find out that their things were stolen while Jamal was guiding them through Taj Mahal. The tourists ask the driver to stop beating Jamal and when Jamal says “here is a bit of real India for you“, the American woman says “here is a bit of real America for you” and signals at her husband to give Jamal some money. Again, I don’t know if this was about sarcasm but it did not give me a good impression as an Indian.
- The kids who have played Jamal and Salim in the early childhood have done their jobs exceptionally well. I don’t know how some international awards have gone to Dev Patel because some of the other kids have done a wonderful job in acting than Jamal. Not that Dev is a bad actor, but he couldn’t fit into the character and he ends up being a metro NRI looking kid.
- The music given by A R Rahman is okay, but not great. Except for some Sitar tones and occasional strings, it is just a work of ‘sounds’. It does not have much to represent anything Indian either. I am not saying that A R Rahman did a bad job. He did what the movie needed, because the movie progresses with music very well with it’s adventurous pace. But considering that there are James Newton Howard (for Defiance), Thomas Newman (for Wall-E) and Alexandre Desplat (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), I doubt if A R Rahman stands a chance to win in the Oscars and I will be surprised if he does (the others use full piece orchestra and manual instruments in their works). This is not to under-rate A R Rahman’s abilities as a music director; I think he has done wonderful works in Indian language films. Jai Ho is a typical Bollywood song and Rahman has done better songs than this before. But as a huge fan of A R Rahman, I wish him all the best in winning Oscars.
The controversy
About Amitabh Bachan’s comment on Slumdog Millionaire – I have already written my views on that in an earlier post in this blog. Even after seeing the movie, I do not see how the movie showcases India in a bad light. But it does show the two faces of India, which is a reality and not a Western made- up story. The movie also shows a Marlboro smoking low rank gangster and his boss who lives in an expensive bungalow and eats sandwich (and a film critic at Rediff says that it is “implausible” that a hardened gangster asks for a sandwich. So the gangsters do not eat sandwiches or burgers? 
). It also has a scene where Salim points out at gaint apartment complexes and tells Jamal that there once was their slums.
Perhaps Amitabh Bachan was offended at one scene that depicts him in the movie. The scene where his helicopter flies over the slums. The image of two Indias come into picture here – the rich and the poor. Perhaps Bachan was offended that the movie makers took him as a representative of the glossy, rich, affluent creamy layer of India.
Overall, the movie is a fast paced, adventurous entertainer that does give a positive outlook on life. It tells the story of hope, dreams, love and achieving it all. But in it’s urge to narrate in a Bollywood-ishtyle, Slumdog Millionaire becomes nothing greater than a good entertainer. With the movies like Milk and Changeling to contest with, I doubt if it will stand a chance to win at Oscars. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the Academy chooses to push a Gay movie (Milk) out of the Oscar’s way and push in Slumdog Millionaire instead.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:41 am
I totally agree with your review. It is the perfect review for this film. But i dont agree with one line… How can u say that “I do not see how the movie showcases india in bad light”
Ofcourse it does. If i was not indian and i watched this film, i would never want to travel to india. It totally makes india look like a horrible place. I watched this film in america in a theater full of americans. I was the only indian. You can imagine how embarassing it was for me.
but other than that, i totally agree with the rest of ur review.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:40 am
Hi Joe,
Agree with most of your observations about this movie. I really didn’t get why this movie has been discussed so much. It is a clear success of the publicity machine of the Hollywood studio that is behind promoting the movie. The recent tragedy in Mumbai clearly helped it, esp. since it has a positive outlook and honoring it seems to have become close to making a statement against all that bad happened in Mumbai. So, I won’t be surprised if it even wins Oscar for best picture. However, I think, ‘Milk’ has a better chance; Hollwood likes gay themes and it is a good movie; remember ‘Philadelphia’, ‘Brokeback Mountain’, ‘Boys don’t Cry’ and other movies which were honored by the Academy members.
Some clarifications reg/ on your doubts:
- The anchor wants the kid out because the latter stole the limelight from him. He indicates that in the movie in a monologue, but the script is too weak and that interesting sidestory was not developed into a powerful theme.
- $100 bill part of the movie was touching. Esp. when the blind boy identifies Benjamin Fraklin from Jamal’s description.
- “Here is bit America..” only points to that country’s materialistic inclinations to solve problems, IMO.
February 4th, 2009 at 3:32 am
Great post with precise observations.
Me too like the younger actors.esp Rajan Damodaran from TZP.He did a better job than Dev.
Why the host is angry?My best guess is he doesnt want anyone else to bask in his glory.It is his show to make him famous and he dont want anyone to share the limelight and maybe even become more famous.lain old jealousy!!!
The dollar bill stumped me too..No idea how its explained in directors mind.
And yes, even if SDM doesnt win, I sure hope AR wins!!!
February 4th, 2009 at 3:59 am
You might like to read this…Its from my fave movie reviewer
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=76&contentid=2009012320090123222504218bc4fafde§xslt=
February 4th, 2009 at 4:00 am
Dear Jo,
Glad you liked the movie. I too saw it and I think the movie was not all that to the hype. I enjoyed the book by Mr. Swarup than the movie itself. About the score, I agree with you.. it was not ARR at his best. Comparing to the music of Defiance [big fan of Mr. Howard] or Wall E,haven’t heard The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- I think SM score was just average.Its not something that I would listen over and over. My favorite ARR score to this day is movie ‘Fire’. As an Indian I am definitely proud that he is getting acknowledged in mainstream west. I think SM will win many Oscars but for the ‘score’ I want Wall-E to win this time, its classic Thomas Newman and it defines the ‘movie’.
Cheers guy
February 4th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Jo, good review. Glad you liked it. I hear many people in India didn’t like it. I also don’t see how it put down India. You need to be objective. They did a good job of portraying the slums as they are. No exaggeration. I also watched the movie in America and in the midst of Americans and I didn’t feel one bit embarrassed- I was in fact, proud. To me its the triumphant story of a no-name boy from a slum. I disagree with u that Dev Patel did a bad job- I thought he was very good! First off, you shouldn’t pay much attention to the fact that the dialogues are in English- that’s just to cater to the global audience. (Coz, how on earth would goondas/ slum boys pick up SUCH good, flawless English in the first place? ) So I think we should just stop right there and not probe further into the accent etc..
>>So Jamal, who doesn’t know that it is Gandhi who is on a Rs. 1000 note, learns that it is Benjamin Franklin on a Dollar. I don’t really get this unless the director wanted to make a sarcastic remark on the globalized face of India.
–> It was just irony. He’s never seen a 1000 Rs note- he’s a slum boy after all, but got to see a Dollar coz of that unexpected incident.
>>the American woman says “here is a bit of real America for you” and signals at her husband to give Jamal some money. Again, I don’t know if this was about sarcasm but it did not give me a good impression as an Indian.
–>Yes, sarcasm that in America, money speaks for everything.
>>What is beautiful about Slumdog Millionaire’s story narrative is the way the Q & A sessions connects Jamal (the lead character played by Dev Patel) back to his memories. It was a beautiful narrative to show how Jamal connected the game show questions to the events of his own life.
–>Completely agree.
It was not a great story- sure, but it was a well made movie with some good performances I thought…
February 4th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Desi Pride won’t accept a few things. That’s expected !! I am glad SDM has exposed a little bit of the ‘SLUMS’ in the metropolis !!
I didn’t like even a single song from the movie. Was surpised how ARR got a GG. Don’t get me wrong…I think he is a great composer..but not for SDM !!!
I won’t be surprised if an Oscar comes the way of SDM…who knows even ARR might get one ..which I’ll fee proud about !!
February 4th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
>> Raj: Thank you for sharing your views.
>> TK:
“Here is bit America..” only points to that country’s materialistic inclinations to solve problems, IMO.
That makes sense, if the director originally intended it to be so.
>> Jina:
My best guess is he doesnt want anyone else to bask in his glory. – that makes sense. But like TK said, the script failed to convey that properly and it had very subtle reference.
And that BM link takes me to another page.
>> Taffy: I too am a fan of Howard and Newman. I’ve seen Milk, Benjamin Button and Wall-E and among which Wall-E had the greatest challenge as the movie did not have any dialogue between the robots and the emotions had to be handled by the animators and musicians.
>> Sindhuja: Even leaving the accent aside, I don’t think Dev fits into the role. I feel a talented native actor could have done a better job. Perhaps someone like the guy who played his brother.
About the Rs. 1000 bill, I agree he might not have seen a Rs. 1000 bill, but what surprises me is that he doesn’t know Gandhi.
>> Narayanan: I agree with what you said. The first step of solving a problem is by realizing that there is a problem which many people do not when it comes to the situation in the slums of our metros.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:55 am
Jo,
I got to watch this movie on Sunday and I must admit that I was thoroughly disappointed. I mean, I have seen better Indian (regional language) movies that should have gone to Oscar but this one I thought is mediocre – Something like those indo-aglo movies like Monsoon Wedding etc (which at least had a better message).
Now, I know why Amitabh Bachhan went against it… Firstly, he had to sign autograph for a sh*t-clad boy. Secondly a mediocre artiste like Anil Kapoor was in his KBK seat. Thirdly, he was supposed to do the KBK host job in that movie that he couldn’t take up but finally the movie went to Oscar, while his past hypes like ‘Black’ didn’t… (A movie that was painted India differently than slumdog. When I watched ‘Black’ I thought it was shot abroad!)… All the above added to his fury, may be
February 5th, 2009 at 4:10 am
Umm…I dont paint the right picture when I say things…but yes, you’re spot on (on what I actually wanted to say) in your minus and plus points thingy. The first time I was introduced to SM was through the trailer where dev is at the train station looking over latika…he didnt convince me one bit as an Indian, forget about an Indian slumdog..
The movie did nothing to me in terms of dreams, hope, love and achieving it all…its a highly hyped movie….I dont know why, I liked rocknrolla better!
February 5th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
I also thought that the dialogues were horrible. Very unreal and amateurish.
February 8th, 2009 at 10:23 am
‘The music given by A R Rahman is okay, but not great. ‘
the guy is hugely overrated and is only good enough for jingles..
like your review .haven’t seen it but your point about why the movie needs/doesn’t need dev patel is good..
February 8th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Thank you all, for sharing your thoughts.
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
[...] made India proud in the event and people everywhere is talking about it. Not so surprisingly, Slumdog Millionaire packed 8 Oscars in the event. I feel sad for Thomas Newman, for his work in Wall-E (for background [...]
February 24th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
[...] Haasan (whom the media used to call Kamal Hassan earlier) relating to the Oscar sweep of the movie Slumdog Millionaire. We can see how futile this question is, since Slumdog Millionaire is a [...]
March 1st, 2009 at 1:40 pm
[...] Slumdog Millionaire bagged 8 Oscars, I have been getting at least 50 spam comments everyday to my SM review blog post. And it doesn’t seem to [...]
March 7th, 2009 at 7:06 am
Has anyone heard new news about the rumored Wicked movie?
August 2nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I TOTALLY disagree with your bad points about Dev Patel. He has been living in England, so Jamal’s accent would seem a tad English. But yes, Salim does look the part, a cute part at that
Great review other than that.
This film touched my soul and changed my life.
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:38 pm
I am okay with Dev Patel’s English accent, but not Jamal’s.