Slumdog Millionaire

Few days back I saw the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. Today I came across Priyadarshan’s statement ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is mediocre, trashy.. That made me write this blog. I respect Priyadarshan and loved some of the movies he made. With no disrespect I would say that Priyadarshan’s movies are entertainers not Academy Award material.

A artwork becomes great when the artist puts in a lot detail in the background. Artwork with plain canvas is not amazing. The same way a movie becomes great when there is a lot of vibrant background. A story without a colorful background is not Oscar material. That is the same reason the ‘Gone with the Wind’ is a great book. It takes us through the civil war era with a simple love story. Similarly with a simple story, Slumdog shows the environment an orphan kid has to go through in India. It made me remember another great movie “Life is Beautiful” by Roberto Benigni.

I understand that many Indians in India did not like that movie and personally I also did not like the “too real”, “too cruel” aspects of some of the scenes. But many of those are very much possible in India. I still remember those days when my parents used to warn me about “strangers catching kids, cutting their hands and making them beg”. But unfortunately no one discusses about that in public. That is the Indian culture… Don’t discuss about anything which is uncomfortable to discuss.

I recommend everyone to watch that movie and many times even the funny scenes cannot make you laugh. But the director has sketched the real life in the slums through the stories of two ophan kids.