Apun Ka Desh reviews the much-hyped movie “Slumdog Millionaire” on his blog-
The storyline is quite new, something you haven’t seen in the past – and as most of us know it comes from the book ‘Q n A’ by Mr Vikas Swarup (a indian bureaucrat by profession… have you noticed how many indian bureaucrats especially on foregin postings are writing books these days! No real work to do .. eh?). The acting by small kids is good – they shine compared to their older ‘avatars’ in the movie.
Yeah, i didn’t have too many positives sorry – inspite of the hype.
Now, for the things which i did not like.
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The movie has apparently been quite unpopular in India for exposing the less savoury side of things. I’ve read about a lot of Indian critics saying it “ignores the true beauty of India” and that it’s just a collection of stereotypes.
Having seen the movie a couple of times, and having spent a considerable amount of time in Bombay including visiting the Muslim slums depicted in the film, I personally believe it was a very accurate depiction. The criticism I’ve read seems to be mostly from people who are happy to hide the problems, preferring escapist fantasy that is common in Bollywood film.
All that being said, I thought it was a great movie, but it’s hardly about Islam – not sure why it’s on Ijtema.
I wouldn’t get into criticism of the movie as I haven’t watched it, but I like to keep topics as wide as possible to things that related to the Muslims. People may get bored if we only include politics, and Islam, don’t you think? Moreover, I think we need a perspective of “today” as it is unfolding.
I heard that the film resembles Trainspotting [a fantastic FILM!]. I can’t bear to watch a Bollywood film. It’s too much forme with all the dancing/singing. I do understand why they promote such films [Bollywood] in India. It is meant to escape the reality of today’s India, and not to mention the unspoken of the Partition.
I only watched one Indian film [non-Bollywood] – Monsoon Wedding. It was good.
Faraz ur right the movie is not about Islam or muslims or muslims of India. It is about India and more specifically Mumbai and the slum life of Mumbai. The communal riot is just a sideshow to kick off the movie so that the kids become orphans and the story begins.
And Gess if u liked Monsoon wedding go ahead and watch a few of these……..you will like them. they are far better than slumdog millionaire.
Deewar, Shakti, Sarfarosh, Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par, Hey Ram, Swadesh, Parineeta, Iqbal, Khosla ka Ghosla, Life in a Metro, Salaam Bombay, Eeshwar etc….
Slumdog Millionaire is very average and too simplistic and formula based. Definitely not Oscar material.