Not for the faint hearted!. Review on Slumdog Millionaire Movie

I had read and heard mixed reviews of Slumdog Millionaire. And although I know it wasn't my kind of movie (give me a mindless romantic comedy or a sweet animated movie any day), my curiosity about the hype generated by this movie got the better of me and off I went to watch a paid preview after work last night. I have to say the movie is brilliant, I mean the way everything comes together, the logic is flawless, but it's way too gory and shocking to stomach. The movie's screenplay has been adapted from Vikas Swarup's novel Q&A. The music is beautiful and A. R. Rahman deserves all the accolades and attention he’s been getting for it. It’s a good movie overall and had everyone riveted, but even recalling the scenes to write this review is upsetting.

I'll try not to reveal anything about the plot, beside what anyone who has seen the trailer already would know... an orphan from a Mumbai slum goes on to answer all the questions correctly in the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. And since he has done what educated professionals couldn’t do, he is suspected of cheating… And that's basically what the movie revolves around. How everything ties in to explain how this slum boy knew all the answers is where the beauty and genius of this movie lies. There are moments of comedic genius, but even those are tinged with underlying sadness… the plight of the poor and everything they have to endure leaves you gasping in disbelief.

Dev Patel as Jamal Malik is a convincing lead… the one thing that I couldn’t digest (besides all the gory stuff they show in the movie) was how a boy raised in the slums, with hardly any schooling, could have such a polished accent. Dev Patel grew up in London, which explains his accent in the movie. But he should have made an effort to adopt a more Mumbai-street accent, for credibility. The director Danny Boyle and co-director Lovleen Tandon really should have caught that accent and made Dev Patel work on it. But that just adds to the whole “this movie caters to Western audiences” theory… if he spoke like a street kid, the whole movie would have needed English subtitles for firangs to understand it.

Anil Kapoor as the condescending, snide host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire was a shocker for me… I hardly watch hindi movies, but the few I have seen that he’s worked in have cast him in a very different light, like Khel or Chandni. Saurabh Shukla and Irfan Khan are convincingly corrupt and tough cops in their relatively small roles. Freida Pinto who plays Jamal’s love interest Latika comes off as a natural actress. And Mahesh Manjrekar as Javedand Ankur Vikal as Maman, the bad guys, will make you hate them… I particularly loathed Maman, if you watch the movie you’ll understand why. Madhur Mittal as Salim Malik, Jamal’s brother, will leave you conflicted. Your heart with go out to his vulnerability and at the same time you’ll hate him for what he becomes, through no fault of his own.

But to me the real stars of the show were Ayush Mahesh Khedekaras the youngest Jamal, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail as the youngest Salim, and Rubiana Ali as the youngest Latika. The first half of the movie shows you what these innocent slum kids have been through, and it’s really heart wrenching. And all three kids are brilliant actors, who emote so amazingly well and are such natural actors that they could teach a thing or two to some so-called superstars who can’t get beyond hamming. The youngest Jamal is really the one who carries the movie. Your heart will just go out to him, even though in your head you know he’s just acting.

I can’t say much without revealing more about the movie, and I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it… all I’ll say is that this movie really is brilliant, but it’s not very plausible. At least I hope it’s not. Because it seems unreal that all these misfortunes should befall one child… it’s like whatever can go wrong, will go wrong in Jamal's life. And the ending is not clear cut happy either… so you don’t even leave the theater feeling light and happy. Even though it’s a terrific movie, and has won six Golden Globes and been nominated in ten Oscarcategories, it definitely caters to the Western world’s view of India: the utter poverty, mindless cruelty, firang worship, and hopelessness that they associate with our country.

My only advice is, don’t watch this movie when you’re feeling low, because it will drag you down even more. I was pretty upbeat and happy before I saw it last night. But I cried through the movie, cried when I got home, and I’m still feeling lousy, even though Friday’s usually my favorite day of the week. A friend who is rather stoic sternly told me to get over it, “It’s the truth, and we should be aware.” If this is the truth, if this is what underprivileged kids in India go through, we do need to be aware and we really need to do something about it. That’s why I’m going to end by urging everyone who reads this to please give to a reliable charity, like CRY, Nanhi Kali and World Vision. I know a good amount from what we donate goes into overheads for these organizations, but some does trickle down to the children who need it. And if we can make a difference, even a slight one, we need to do what we can! So help the less fortunate in any way you can, and don’t forget to take tissues if you watch Slumdog Millionaire.