SLUMDOG Millionaire:
A super-hit movie of 2008, and an excellent mixture of acting, cinematography and music……Though it’s not completely Indian but as some of crew members are Indians or of Indian origin, we can consider it as a movie made for Indian public……..This movie got an overwhelming response worldwide, and even more so in India. We Indians are basically emotional fools …..if someone tells us our own story in a glossy way, we just fall in love with it like anything….. And I mean it!!!.....
Hurt??? Indignant??? Ego affected??? National pride just slipped a few points???
It’s good if so and a pity if not…
SLUMDOG Millionaire…….An Indian boy is considered as a DOG of Indian slums!!! And what is the Hindi (Indian) version for this??? - SLUMDOG Crorepati…..just to make a fool out of the Indian public, they have keep this SLUMDOG title as it is……otherwise it would be “Jhopdi Ka Kutta Crorepati”…….It is said that it is based on a book titled ‘Q & A’ authored by an Indian. The question is why a boy from the slums is considered as a dog….. The title could be “SLUMBOY” also. The ‘SLUMBOY’ title is enough to depict India as a land of poor people and beggars……Already, those Indians who were part of the crew have accepted it, then why a title like “slumdog” ??? And many of us have watched it and praised it also….
That list also includes yours truly….
I am not telling that the movie is bad, the movie is perfect…… A boy from the slums of Mumbai with his brother who is always chasing after the lure of wealth, and surprisingly a girl comes into the picture (A typical Hindi movie scene) and the boy from the slums falls in love with her…….and at last he declares that, he came on air on national television - on a reality show of all places - just to find his girlfriend……..In between that there is the Indian police, the mafia network, a jealous host….everything which is required for a perfect Hindi ‘masala movie’. But I was hurt by the title “SLUMDOG”. Anyways, only the great Indian public like you and me never bother about the extra crap…..we people just see the movie as Indians are there, and a banner like Warner Bros. is enough to make a movie a super hit. (Just think what if this movie was made by Indians taking foreign actors and musicians and titled “Ghetto Millionaire” or “Skinhead Millionaire”???)
The movie has come up with a touching message, however - that all the money in the world won’t get you love, but a true love will give you happiness beyond riches. Jamal (the hero of the movie or “Slumdog”) got the autograph of an actor, and his brother Salim sold that autographed picture to somebody else just for a few bucks. Later his brother was the head of the children’s begging team, and everywhere in the movie these two characters are shown opposite of each other - one always thinks of money and the other thinks of love……The love for Latika led him to the show ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ , and in the end after giving the keys of a car to Latika to help her escape, Salim prepares a tub full of money and chooses to die in it, in a sort of last stand against his partners in crime……. but on the show Jamal gambles a risk to attend the last question - that too for 20 million rupees - on a hunch.
Love was described in a very practical manner in this movie. Though, for a happy ending Jamal won Rs. 20 million (otherwise it wouldn’t have been a ‘SLUMDOG Millionaire’) but in real life, it’s different. However, movie hai bhai, isme sab hota hai, chalta hai…..
It is truly quite inspirational, what heights creativity can attempt, and also to what depths it can sink, in striving to entertain the masses.
Danny Boyle’s movie is an example of both…..