The hype around Slumdog Millionaire hit me and I ended up in the theater to watch the Anglo-Indian movie which bagged the Golden Globe and is nominated in several categories (ten nominations to be precise) for the Oscars. To be honest, I went with high expectations. But it turned out to be a sadistic satire.
There was no takeaway from the movie:
– No entertainment
– No message
– No reality
If the movie is all about its technical excellence, I did not see anything exceptional (as an audience).
I found the story line to be a sadistic satire, which picked up the the ‘worst’ of the slum life and has portrayed on a large canvas to tell the world that India is not only a country of snake charmers and call centers, but also a country of slums!
It seems the movie follows Murphy’s Law – "If it can go wrong, it will go wrong".
I was also shocked to see the nomination for Mr. A. R. Rahman. It is not that I don’t like his music. Undoubtfully he is one of the greatest musician in India. But he has done better scores than the ones that have been nominated. The ones he has done for Slumdog Millionaire does not come close to his best. If he has to be honored, then why not honor his best work. Why was he ignored in past? Only because he was part of a Bollywood production house?
These nominations leave a lot of questions unanswered.
I wont be excited if they win the Oscars. It is unfortunate.
I can’t express how much I agree with you. It was a normal bollywood flick which you can understand when facts are taken to extremes and everything is depicted in an extraordinary way. For foreign movie buffs, all that can be advised is not to buy the things in the movie at facevalue. But its good to have an Indian movie in the Oscars 😉