Slumdog Millionaire is like any other B grade movie being churned out by Indian film makers and hardly touches any chord with the audience. It makes fun of India specially Mumbai as a city where you have to be a local goon, a murderer or a pimp to make it big or you have to simply be plain lucky as the Slumdog Millionaire Jamal Malik is. Jamal has hardly done anything in his entire life shown in this movie....at least his elder brother Salim has some guts and gumption to fight his way out of trouble.
Thankfully for us Indians it has even made fun of the Brits who can be sold any story about Indian History by a 12 year old kid. Queen Mumtaz died in a road accident, and that Emperor Khurram wanted to make a Hotel but died before it could get completed.
The film has illogical continuity and is badly researched. The story ends in the period of late 2005. Therefore the scene about a young Jamal getting Amitabh Bachchan's autograph amongst the crowd mad about their superstar idol must have been early 1990s. Bachchan's helicopter lands near the slums somewhere and a madly euphoric crowd wants to catch a glimpse of the superstar. However in the early 90s Amitabh was already on a downhill path and almost semi-retired from films.
Again Jamal and Salim both of whom have never cared abour their studies grow up into fluent English speakers and Jamal even develops a natural British accent. Salim's voice goes from a child's voice to a much deeper voice in the early teens back to a child like shrill voice when he turns a full-fledged henchman of the local goon.
All questions on the quiz show relate to the events in the life of a slumdog, the show is telecast live, even in India it is not called Kaun Banega Crorepati by its host and after whole night of 3rd degree torture Jamal goes on to participate in the Quiz Show without even a scratch on him physically or mentally. This cannot happen in real life but remember this movie is about hope and optimism ...remember that its a Cinderella story!!
The film has no technical brilliance either. The music is the usual Rehman and at various places like in the scene when Jamal is searching for his beloved in the brothels the music seems 'inspired' from Lakshmikan Pyarelal's Choli ke peeche kya hai.
Its just that this is a movie made by a Brit that this movie is beng hailed as something extraordinary; otherwise Salaam Bombay was almost a similarly dark narrative about the city slums of India. How I wish an Indian makes a film on the life in Harlem of New York or of the East End of London and then let us see how the same Western media reacts - I am sure they will call it blasphemy !! We Indians have seen so many movies of this or similar themes. One of the best ones made in India on the topic of poverty and street children is a film called Boot Polish. Slumdog Millionaire will get the Oscars ahead of Taare Zameen Par makes me laugh at the system of film selection at the big western film festivals..... but how can a citizen of a Third World under-nourished crime infested country like India laugh on the Gora Sahibs ......Amen !
Rating : *****
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