Cool News
An Indian's Take On Danny Boyle's SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE...
Merrick here...
Danny Boyle's SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, described by IMDB as "The story of how impoverished Indian teen Jamal Malik became a contestant on the Hindi version of Who Wants to be A Millionaire? - an endeavor made without prize money in mind, rather, an effort to prove his love for his friend Latika, who is an ardent fan of the show", is now in limited release (has been for a few weeks now - see if it's in your area yet via THE FILM'S OFFICIAL SITE).
We've received many reviews of this film, and read a great deal about this project in the press, but not too much attention has been paid to how an Indian might perceive the movie.
Parth, who grew up "in a small, one-movie-hall town in western part of India", sent in a thoughtful assessment of SLUMDOG. We thought you might find it interesting...
Here's Parth...
Having grown up up in a small, one-movie-hall town in western part of
India, movies, and in particular Bollywood movies, have been a big
part of my early life. Those movies are now a part of the memory that
is reserved by Indian expatriates to miss and despise alternatively.
I had been looking forward to Slumdog Millionaire for quite a while. I
had a chance to see it last night....
Say you are in the East Village and you feel like eating Indian food.
You can walk to the block of Sixth Street between Second and First
avenues. There are about eight Indian restaurants there. All of them
have what an authentic Indian restaurant in the West is supposed to
have: the look of cheap sophistication, people standing outside trying
to lure you in—"Yes please sir, welcome sir, great food sir," and
sometimes old Sikh uncles playing sitar. You choose one and try the
food. Now, if you go to the East Village often and feel like eating
Indian food often and go to one of those authentic restaurants often,
you find something strange. The only good Indian food in that entire
block is served by a British chain restaurant—Brick Lane Curry House.
It looks clean and well maintained and the food has the (more or less)
right balance of spices. Having grown up watching Bollywood movies,
that is exactly how I felt after watching Slumdog Millionaire.
Most Indian movies are fairy tales, and fairy tales in popular culture
are for two things: to highlight a moral value and escape the burdens
of reality. Both of these have been the driving forces in the majority
of our Hindi movies. They tried to induce morality but worked because
of the escapism. We love our escapism. We would believe anything.
People dancing on the street? Yes. The hero taking in a dozen bullets
and driving to the next city in time for his wife's delivery? Yes. A
beautiful woman lying on alpine snows wearing nothing but a red silk
sari? Oh, yeah. A thirty-five-year-old actor playing a college
student? Check. Bad actors with big biceps becoming huge stars? Yes.
It's like we have been in the 80s for the last 40 years.
We don't mind if our stories or dialogues are corny. Subtlety in
Bollywood is like modesty in corporate America. The most famous lines
from Bollywood movies have been the cheesiest. Our biggest stars have
been those who have were man enough to deliver the cheesiest line
without losing the swagger. Remember, if you deliver your goods with
enough passion, even the corniest material is tolerable for a short
time. Remember Bruce Springsteen prancing around on stage with his
sleeves rolled up in the Glory Days video? With the synth and big
drums in the background? It worked. But, of course, there is one
Springsteen and a decade worth of crappy music.
Slumdog Millionaire is a fairy tale as well. But it's what a fairy
tale would be if David Simon wrote one. It tells a story of Jamal, a
young man out of Mumbai's slums, sitting on the "hot seat" of the
Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" quiz show. Each
question that knows the answers to is, inexplicably, connected to a
part of his harrowing life. If this sounds bizarre to you, it is. Even
the cops in the movie think so and try to beat the truth out of the
boy. As he tells his story we see a vivid picture of three young lives
torn apart by the brutal poverty and violence of a Mumbai slum: Jamal,
his childhood sweetheart Latika and his tough older brother Salim.
The story has a heart of gold that it doesn't mind baring from time to
time, but it'll show you the process of molten metal going in the
chest as well. Like the best things to come out of Bollywood, it is
tough enough to have corny lines like, "I will wait at the V.T.
station every day until you come." It is also crisply edited,
beautifully shot and, unlike most Indian movies, it takes care of the
small things. In one scene Salim is shown picking up a used water
bottle from the trash, filling it with tap water and gluing the cap on
it so that he can re-sell it as mineral water. A lesser movie would
have shown him selling it but Boyle lets the viewer guess it.
The film has influences of some of the best crime movies made in
India. Danny Boyle cites Satya, Company, and Black Friday as his
influences. There is a scene very reminiscent of Satya where the two
brothers sit in a construction site and look at the slum below. Some
of the people responsible for these great movies even have a part in
this one. It also has the classic Hindi movie transition when a
character falls down in a dust cloud as a child and comes out the
cloud as a grownup. But on the other hand it has the technical
superiority of a Hollywood movie. The soundtrack, even though it's
very Indian, is more diverse and very modern.
Last night in the theater I could see the people around me having a
different reaction to the movie than I did. A gentleman sitting on the
same row as me had tears in his eyes when he stood up at the end of
the film. A tall guy in a Yankees hat, sitting in the front row,
cheered loudly every time something good happened for the young
protagonist. I didn't feel like having either of these reactions.
Neither did I find the movie as heart-wrenching as most of the critics
did. Maybe I have been desensitized by years of Bollywood films and
naked sentimentalism. Maybe the sound of the lead actor's British
accent coming out from beneath his put-on Indian accent was a buzzkill
for me.
But Danny Boyle, god bless him, has been successful in making a movie
about India that does not feel condescending. A story with India as a
character but without the funny accents, or westerners discovering
themselves, or any crap about "elders of the gentle race." It is
actually a film that an Indian can appreciate more than the average
western viewer: the subtitles don't let Anglophones in on the
cusswords.
India, movies, and in particular Bollywood movies, have been a big
part of my early life. Those movies are now a part of the memory that
is reserved by Indian expatriates to miss and despise alternatively.
I had been looking forward to Slumdog Millionaire for quite a while. I
had a chance to see it last night....
Say you are in the East Village and you feel like eating Indian food.
You can walk to the block of Sixth Street between Second and First
avenues. There are about eight Indian restaurants there. All of them
have what an authentic Indian restaurant in the West is supposed to
have: the look of cheap sophistication, people standing outside trying
to lure you in—"Yes please sir, welcome sir, great food sir," and
sometimes old Sikh uncles playing sitar. You choose one and try the
food. Now, if you go to the East Village often and feel like eating
Indian food often and go to one of those authentic restaurants often,
you find something strange. The only good Indian food in that entire
block is served by a British chain restaurant—Brick Lane Curry House.
It looks clean and well maintained and the food has the (more or less)
right balance of spices. Having grown up watching Bollywood movies,
that is exactly how I felt after watching Slumdog Millionaire.
Most Indian movies are fairy tales, and fairy tales in popular culture
are for two things: to highlight a moral value and escape the burdens
of reality. Both of these have been the driving forces in the majority
of our Hindi movies. They tried to induce morality but worked because
of the escapism. We love our escapism. We would believe anything.
People dancing on the street? Yes. The hero taking in a dozen bullets
and driving to the next city in time for his wife's delivery? Yes. A
beautiful woman lying on alpine snows wearing nothing but a red silk
sari? Oh, yeah. A thirty-five-year-old actor playing a college
student? Check. Bad actors with big biceps becoming huge stars? Yes.
It's like we have been in the 80s for the last 40 years.
We don't mind if our stories or dialogues are corny. Subtlety in
Bollywood is like modesty in corporate America. The most famous lines
from Bollywood movies have been the cheesiest. Our biggest stars have
been those who have were man enough to deliver the cheesiest line
without losing the swagger. Remember, if you deliver your goods with
enough passion, even the corniest material is tolerable for a short
time. Remember Bruce Springsteen prancing around on stage with his
sleeves rolled up in the Glory Days video? With the synth and big
drums in the background? It worked. But, of course, there is one
Springsteen and a decade worth of crappy music.
Slumdog Millionaire is a fairy tale as well. But it's what a fairy
tale would be if David Simon wrote one. It tells a story of Jamal, a
young man out of Mumbai's slums, sitting on the "hot seat" of the
Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" quiz show. Each
question that knows the answers to is, inexplicably, connected to a
part of his harrowing life. If this sounds bizarre to you, it is. Even
the cops in the movie think so and try to beat the truth out of the
boy. As he tells his story we see a vivid picture of three young lives
torn apart by the brutal poverty and violence of a Mumbai slum: Jamal,
his childhood sweetheart Latika and his tough older brother Salim.
The story has a heart of gold that it doesn't mind baring from time to
time, but it'll show you the process of molten metal going in the
chest as well. Like the best things to come out of Bollywood, it is
tough enough to have corny lines like, "I will wait at the V.T.
station every day until you come." It is also crisply edited,
beautifully shot and, unlike most Indian movies, it takes care of the
small things. In one scene Salim is shown picking up a used water
bottle from the trash, filling it with tap water and gluing the cap on
it so that he can re-sell it as mineral water. A lesser movie would
have shown him selling it but Boyle lets the viewer guess it.
The film has influences of some of the best crime movies made in
India. Danny Boyle cites Satya, Company, and Black Friday as his
influences. There is a scene very reminiscent of Satya where the two
brothers sit in a construction site and look at the slum below. Some
of the people responsible for these great movies even have a part in
this one. It also has the classic Hindi movie transition when a
character falls down in a dust cloud as a child and comes out the
cloud as a grownup. But on the other hand it has the technical
superiority of a Hollywood movie. The soundtrack, even though it's
very Indian, is more diverse and very modern.
Last night in the theater I could see the people around me having a
different reaction to the movie than I did. A gentleman sitting on the
same row as me had tears in his eyes when he stood up at the end of
the film. A tall guy in a Yankees hat, sitting in the front row,
cheered loudly every time something good happened for the young
protagonist. I didn't feel like having either of these reactions.
Neither did I find the movie as heart-wrenching as most of the critics
did. Maybe I have been desensitized by years of Bollywood films and
naked sentimentalism. Maybe the sound of the lead actor's British
accent coming out from beneath his put-on Indian accent was a buzzkill
for me.
But Danny Boyle, god bless him, has been successful in making a movie
about India that does not feel condescending. A story with India as a
character but without the funny accents, or westerners discovering
themselves, or any crap about "elders of the gentle race." It is
actually a film that an Indian can appreciate more than the average
western viewer: the subtitles don't let Anglophones in on the
cusswords.
-
+ Expand All
-
OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS I AM STANDING HERE BESIDE MYSELF FOR THIS CINEMA ATTENDING EXPERIENCE.
THANK YOU COME AGAIN -
I've seen some of those corny ass movies when I eat at Indian restaurants. They aren't remotely interesting, we know that. But you're supposed to be reviewing a film not giving us a history of shitty Indian cinema.
Oh and first -
Nov 26, 2008 10:04:13 AM CST
what do Native Americans have to do with this film?
by dannyglovers_dickblood
I thought it was Hindi.
-
Was the name of the book.
Guess they couldn't call it that because of the Nick Nolte film.
And it's not the most exciting title either. -
this cannot be...
-
I was just going to leave a comment praising the guy for giving a genuinely refreshing and different review of the film.
Unfortunately on hitting the Talkback I was greeted by a some racist cunts idea of an insightful joke at the authors expense.
ArcadianDS It's fucking idiots like you that give users of this site a bad name.
Grow up. -
Jeez what a bunch of fucking retards you all are.
-
Its not MiraJeff. Its not selling bootlegged advanced copies of movies. Its not plugging 'mystery author' screenplays for writers of the site. Its not chocolate covered vaginal secretions. Its not Cumpston. Its not video game reviews by guys who dont play the games. Its not a parade of HTML links to the exclusives on other websites. Its not DANNYGLOVERS_DICKBLOOD. Its not the dating service post-bots. Its not the political bent to every single text posted to the site. Its not the layout and interface that hasn't improved since 1996. Its not the fantastically awesome babypoo brown and kaopectate gray color scheme.
Its just me and my capslock key bringing this whole empire to its knees.
With a brain that tiny, how are you able to tie your shoes in the morning? -
Nov 26, 2008 10:12:31 AM CST
He likes it! He doesn't like it. He likes it! He doesn't like it
by iammrmonkey!
I think he liked the movie. But I'm not sure.
-
I love this site and read it daily. Its like marrying an ugly chick - she's ugly and your babies are gonna be ugly, but God Dammit you love her like nothing else you'll ever love in your entire life.
I HEART YOU AICN, MY DARLING UGLY WIFE. -
guys "like" you. No I do not think you're searing wit is solely responsible. You are part of the problem.
And it's quite obviously not the fact you used capitals, it was the lazy, knee-jerk racist bull-shit you are quite conveniently ignoring in your reposts.
Twat -
actually. Even though I expected a more 'exhiliarating!' conclusion.
-
What do you mean by "guys like you" because that seems like a very prejudicial way to gloss over a whole batch of readers.
So lets say you're now in charge: do you start banning me because in your opinion I made a racist comment? Would you post-delete any references to the Simpsons or the Johnny 5 movies because they did the exact same thing? How about South Park? Do we no longer discuss that show?
The only difference between my 1st post here and any given Simpsons epsiode is that Im not mustard yellow and Im not being paid a million bucks to make fun of our toast colored brothers in India.
So if I offended any of the aforementioned toast-colored brothers, I apologize to you. Something tells me tho, that every complaint in this thread is from a fat white guy in Illinois.
You would think I'd stolen a sacred Sankara stone for all the tooth gnashing going in in here. -
and thanks for the tip on the restaurants
-
Christ do I really have to go into this? The major difference between yourself and the writing teams of The Simpsons and South Park is that they approach all their subjects from the point of view of satire. They twist the issue to reveal the truth via humour and are very clever about it.
You simply made fun of a guys accent. BIG fucking difference there I think you'll agree.
"Guy's Like You" could be seen as prejudiced if you considert "smart-arsed idiots who find it funny to pick on someone for there own entertainment simply because they think it will make their mates in the "smart arsed idiots" demographic laugh" a social grouping of some sort.
Finally I'm neither fat or from Idaho and fail to see what baring being White has on finding racism of any sort repugnant?
-
And damn you Pantene.
-
'Cause, it's like circles of hate.
-
When thefrood said 'guys like you', he probably meant brainless idiots who post first based on the headline without reading the article and having absolutley nothing of value to contribute.
Whereas DGDB made an ironic and humorous statement about a possible confusion between Indian and Native American, you just blurted out a twenty year old television catchphrase which must have required the minimal of effort.
As for you 'bringing this empire to it's knees', don't make me laugh you brown nosing, ass kissing, craven maggot. 'Ooh Harry, you're the bestest, thanks for bringing us ScriptGirl, thanks for banning those horrid men, you should ban more people, mwah, mwah.'
You make me want to puke. Now take your 'toast colored' tongue and fuck off. -
DAMN YOU SUBASH GHAI!
I cant wait to see this movie yaar!Its going to be happaning mahn! ALL YOU BEHNCHODS NEED TO SUCK MY CHOD! -
BEHNCHOD: sister fucker
MADARCHOD: mother fucker
LODA: dick
GAND: ass
chutiya: slut (loose)
chut: pussy
-
makes me fucking sick!
-
I hope that name is a BTTF Pt. 3 reference. I really do. I could also comment on your opinion of Bollywood but I'll let someone else have the duty...
-
since Im one of the ones that hates her PG-13 tittyshow. She almost makes you not want to look at breasts.
Also, google up what irony and sarcasm are, and then try reading my 'empire to its knees' post again. Its too late to not look like a buffoon in this thread, but that added knowledge could help you avoid it in future threads. -
I don't know it you are Indian or not but THAT was funny.
-
You stupid fucking dickhole, the contraction of "it is" has a an apostrophe in it you faggot cunt.
It's
Moron. -
I've been off these forums for a while, so someone will need to link me to one of your negative comments.
I do remember your comments on the SG TB immediately after I was banned...Do you?
So it would appear, that not only are you a brown nosing idiot, you're also wishy washy with your opinions. Great.
Why didn't you google up irony and sarcasm before throwing out that aged and hackneyed Simpsons line as your first post?
Thanks for the advice about looking like a buffoon, I bow to the master. -
I got so lost in that clusterfuck of a first paragraph, that I thought we were talking about "Big Night."
-
nice job, man.
-
I don't agree with everything he says but it is a welcome change of pace to most of the sub-standard writing one usually finds here.
-
which clearly didn't hammer hard enough.
also your use of profanity and slur suggests a measure of emotional attachment to this topic - which means I've hurt you to some extent. Sorry bro didn't mean to hurt you. -
I can't listen to her anymore but it's a weird man indeed who hates breasts like that and still considers himself straight.
-
Come on, you knew politics was coming...
-
C'mon....no one by now?
-
you risk the collision of two wildly active talkbacks, and if you do that the ArcadianDS you know and love will cease to exist. An ArcadianDS divided against itself CANNOT stand.
-
Thanks for a well-written & thoughtful review.
-
And why are all the really cute girls in my office Indian? I might try taking one of them to this as a date!
-
ALL THE TOURIST LOCATIONS:
http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/video_streaming.php -
you know you do. it's a great song!
ZEP RULE :o) -
...both positive and negative elements from a unique perspective. We need more contibuting reviews like this. Well done.
-
Or is it just my computer. It's an interesting review marred by bad formatting, at least on my computer.
-
OMFG, someone fucking shoot me now
-
Mark my words.
-
Forgot to mention, beautiful film, my current favorite for 2008
-
I saw a sneak preview of this a couple of weeks ago with Danny Boyle in attendance (who, by the way, is AWESOME).
During the closing credits there's a Bollywood dancing scene pretty much out of nowhere. It's almost as if Boyle said to himself, "Great script, but I think we're missing something... Oh, I know! We're making a film in India without dancing? Fuck that!" When talking about it to us, he said that he tried to have it in the middle of the film but couldn't really shoehorn it in.
He commented that the only person they had to help with the dancing was the male lead, since he was the only person not from India - Boyle dryly remarked that EVERYBODY in India can dance. -
Nov 26, 2008 4:52:39 PM CST
What does the Indian think of Killing Innocent People?
by admiral akwelches
Hmm...that's right. I don't hold any punches.
-
For realz
-
No chat about Danny Boyles new film just Racism, and Titty Talbacks again!
-
The man can write!
-
Really interesting. Thanks for posting it.
-
Oh, and good review, my curry-munching friend (DISCLAIMER: I mean that in the nicest possible way)Just for fun, re-read the review with an Indian accent - good stuff.
-
Prince's ex-wife was caught in the crossfire. This shit is gettin' serious!~
-
It's one of the world's gravest human rights issues that has gone unaddressed for far too long. Bollywood may be stuck in the 80s, but India's society at large is stuck in ancient times.
-
For the record I'm a Canadian living in India right now, and while there are certainly areas of the North where the caste system exists, most of the South has far more opportunity for the poor than any other developing country I've ever visited. Visit Bangalore and tell me it's stuck in Ancient Times...
-
dolts, I'll just thank the author for his review. Thanks.
-
Will have to see this film.
-
That was an amazingly well written review with a fresh and unique perspective. I can't believe some of the illiterate morons who populate this site.
-
I just felt it in my heart! I only just believed, my little bastards!
-
And the ACTUAL Brick Lane is an awesome area for indian food. Damn, I love me some spicy as hell curry. The next day ring sting? Not so much.
-
I knew that there was a reason I still read AICN.
-
Shame about the racist/ignorant cunts in the talkback.
-
I mean he does ramble on a bit. Just sayin
-
I'm an American of Indian descent who lived in India throughout my teen years and I also happen to live in Manhattan.
Let me go on record that MANY of the Indian restaurants, particularly a few in the East Village, serve authentically spiced, since that seems to be an issue with the reviewer, dishes, especially considering there are about a BILLION different "authentic" ways to serve Indian cuisine. Brick Lane is shite overall, though they MAY spice the food in the particular manner in which the reviewer is accustomed to given wherever he was raised.
Seriously, this review sounds like it was written by someone who's never seen good cinema, never eaten fine food, and has never been anywhere but has heard of all those things and now feels he has the expertise to discuss them.
I'm 100% for making special allowances for alternate points of view on this or any other board, but don't open up your minds so much that your brains fall out. -
Indian secret service must have trouble stopping snipers cause everybodys already got red dots on their foreheads
-
a western part of Canada - Does that make me interesting?
-
a gay guy's take on 'Milk' and some black guy's review of whatever Tyler Perry has coming up.
Seriously? -
What is wrong about getting a point of view. however it may be phrased? I hope people realise that having an "Indian" review is not the same as calling it more authentic or more knowledgeable, just giving you a context of a different kind. I may be an Indian, but I'm also a poker player and if I want to present a poker player's review of Shade or Rounders or even Casino Royale, and I would like to make a point about what it relates to as far as my experience is concerned, that does not necesarily mean a more valid review on the movie's greatness, just one seen from a point of view. For all the talk of authenticity, what exactly bothers people about getting a point of view, no matter how it is couched, about something?
Please tell me how a "Brazilian" review of City of God or a Hong Kong review of "Crouching Tiger" would make itself any more objectionable than any of the other reviews? -
In America. That's it. There are none. No good curry places. Great Steak places in America. But no good curry places. Amazing fried chicken soul food places. Awful curry places. Best place outside of India? Great Britain. Amazing curries. Movie review: T'was good. T'was a good review. Racists: We can't reason with them. We can only kill them.
Thank you. -
Mumbai actually... yeah they're still trying to catch the terrorists, fucked up shit happening all over. Anyway speaking of food, the only food I ook forward to in India is the Chinese, it's like a chinese and an Indian got married and gave birth to some spectacular stuff! But it's also the snacks that are awesome, I'm gonna go get me some chicken lollipops!
-
Movie sounds good! Is it in English or Hindi?
-
A agree with at least some of the talkbackers here. Nicely written piece and a welcome change to the style of many of the reviews on AICN...
-
Although it's been a few weeks since I've seen it, I know that when the main character is a child, Hindi is used and there are English subtitles. Once the movie goes to early childhood and late teens, it goes to English with (I think) the occasional Hindi line of dialogue.
-
This was an incredibly well-written review from somebody who certainly has more insight and experience on Indian culture and film than the simpletons who keep debasing the film, the reviewer, and the Indian people with the false, racist stereotypes they hold. Honestly, what do you guys think you're talking about? Nothing. Get a life, and an education while you're at it.
As far as the reviewer, he should forget AICN and write reviews for the NYT.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 209 total posts 207 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 97 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 144 total posts 77 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 68 total posts 68 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 67 total posts 67 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 64 total posts 60 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 480 total posts 55 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 53 total posts 50 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 118 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 182 total posts 27 posts