Slumdog Millionaire Review

I read somewhere that some Mumbai-based movie critics are saying Danny Boyle has shown Mumbai as a gutter. I don’t know what those guys mean. If the shoot has taken place in Dharavi, how will it look clean? It’s not supposed to. My advice to the critics is to CLEAN IT if you can.

 

Let’s get to the movie now. I am going to review it as an Indian — foreigners seem awestruck by a few things that we see everyday and pass off as normal. Slumdog Millionaire is a story exactly as the title suggests – the tale of a slum dog who becomes a millionaire. The journey is what makes you believe in this piece of celluloid.

 

The movie is based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup, directed by Danny Boyle and co-directed by the lesser-known Lovleen Tandon. Simon Beaufoy, the screen writer has woven the book nicely into an inspirational screenplay.

 

It all starts off with the protoagonist, Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), being interrogated by a cop (Irfan Khan). Jamal has been brought in for interrogation because the cops suspect him of cheating in a game show. Poverty being his major enemy and honesty his strength, Jamal manages to convince the cops that he is innocent and goes on to complete the show as a roll-over contestant.

 

The story is Jamal’s life’s journey, depicting his life in a slum, the death of his mother in Hindu-Muslim riots and how he and his brother as children are left to fend for themselves. They meet a girl, Latika, who has seen as hard a life and Jamal immediately falls for her. Child actors Ayush, Azharuddin and Rubiana have acted brilliantly. Hats off to the directors, they have managed to extract the impossible out of them.

 

 In a few years, due to unfavourable circumstances, Jamal ventures out alone into the dark and unforgiving city that is Mumbai. His mission is to find his love, Latika who gets separated from him in the prime of his childhood full on hindi film style (running behind a train)

 

Working as a chaiwalla in a call centre he manages to get through as a contestant in the Indian version of Who wants to be a Millionaire. He is ecstatic as he knows his love Latika (Freida Pinto)  watches the show. He manages to answer all the questions as they are related to his life at some point or the other. Anil Kapoor has played the quiz master. He doesn’t have much of a role but whatever little he has done, is done well. In the end as a masala Hindi movie goes, Jamal meets Latika and everybody goes home happy. (and dancing – literally)

 

AR Rehman’s music is the best thing about the movie. The soundtrack is better than most Hollywood films of late. After all, he was nominated along with Hans Zimmer and managed to beat him to win the Golden Globe award.

 

I don’t think this is Danny Boyle’s best film, though. Trainspotting cannot be compared to this movie. I don’t think he has shown poverty to get mileage. Lovleen Tandon and Danny Boyle deserve a pat on the back for doing such good work, and I think they will get more awards too. The film has appealed to the audience and the jury members to no end. I’m not surprised. The Indian film makers should take a clue from the movie about what the international audience likes. We cannot keep sending movies with eight songs in them and expect awards.

 

If I am not mistaken, Amitabh Bachhan issued a statement saying that had it been an Indian director, the film wouldn’t have done this well. I agree with him completely, not because Danny Boyle got preference being a Britisher, but because no Indian director is capable of taking the risk of keeping a film clean without unnecessary songs and dances. 

 

If you notice I have written this review not in a straight script format (if you know what I mean – I mean all over the place). That’s exactly how the films screenplay goes. Overall the film is good ( not the best ever as critics have said across the world). It’s entertainment guaranteed. But it will surely make you think off and on whether it deserves all it has already got. I mean awards.

 

RishiO Review Meter – 3.9/5

Kandahar – Movie Review

Kandahar – Movie Review

The best part of Kandahar is that it has been shot so realistically, one doesn’t quite keep in mind that it’s a movie and not a documentary. Not for one moment while watching did I feel any hatred towards anybody, although it succeeds in bringing forth the harsh reality that the people have to face.

The movie is about a Canadian woman of Afghani descent, who wants to return to her country of origin. Her sister, who was left behind when she fled Afghanistan, has threatened to commit suicide when the next eclipse rolls around. In the course of her long, lone journey to Kandahar, the story of people she meets along the way and the difficulties they face, is unravelled. The move explores the appalling condition in which the Afghans live and you feel helplessly frustrated at their plight.

The cinematography is brilliant, but the music could do with some improvement. Also, the Iranian director, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, fails to engage one’s attention as much as he could have — with such a powerful subject he could have definitely done much better. The dialogue delivery is a bit weird. The actors seem very uncomfortable in the language. This has hampered the flow of the script.

Having said this, the screenplay of Kandahar has saved the day for Makhmalbaf. The movie has managed to win awards at film festivals (the ones which matter, I mean) around the world. Definitely worth a watch. But it’s not a popcorn flick, so stay away if you don’t appreciate real art.

RishiO Rating – 2.9/5

Burn After Reading – Movie Review

Burn After Reading – Review ( English Film )

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity

– Charles Mingus

 

Burn After Reading is Joel and Ethan Coen’s first movie after their Academy award-winning No Country For Old Men. A black comedy set in an urban neighbourhood, the directors have woven a simple story with a bit of a twist and of course, morbidity — a Coen trademark.  

 

The cast is absolutely star-studded, with John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton. Osbourne Cox (Malkovich) plays a drunkard CIA analyst who decides to quit after being demoted (almost fired) by his boss. His idea of penning his memoirs doesn’t go down too well with his wife Katie (Swinton), who thinks of her husband as a nincompoop. She plans to divorce Osbourne and at the behest of her lawyer, copies several documents from his personal computer onto a CD.

 

Things go haywire when the lawyer’s receptionist accidently leaves the CD at her gym. Physical fitness trainer Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) gets a hold of it and along with his co-worker Linda Litzke (McDormand), decides to blackmail Osbourne. The funny part of it all is that when Osbourne refuses to co-operate, the naïve duo decide to hand over the CD to the Russian Embassy.

 

In the meanwhile, Katie is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (Clooney), a married womanizer who works as a treasury agent. Harry meets Linda on an Internet dating website and starts dating her too.

 

The CIA, in the meanwhile, is keeping tabs on the Cox household to make sure Osbourne does not prove a serious embarrassment to them — and the complicated plot takes a radical twist with the death of Chad in Cox’s apartment.

 

I won’t reveal any more because this is one of the movies where any kind of explanation fails to do justice — but I assure you its worth a watch. All the actors have done brilliantly well, especially Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand. Burn After Reading is pure entertainment with an added dash of zest. The background score, according to me, is apt and sometimes delightfully deceitful. It’s not another No Country For Old Men, but it’s certainly a classy, light version of the Coen magic. Keep smiling and prepare to be surprised.

 

Rishio Rating – 3.9/5

 

 

 

 

Dasvidaniya Review

 

Big budgets don’t make a good movie — good scripts do.

 

This review is going to be short. Dasvidaniya is brilliantly directed and the actors have done their job to the fullest.

 

If I had to hear the script without seeing the movie, my thoughts might have been a little different. But the good part about Dasvidaniya is that a very simple (mostly inspired) story has been executed exceptionally well.

 

It is simple yet touching. The protagonist (Vinay Pathak) gets to know that he is dying of stomach cancer and decides to make a list of the things he wants to do in the short time he has left. Eventually, he fulfills each and every one of his desires.

 

The movie has nothing that one hasn’t seen before, but it still manages to hold the viewers’ interests. The chemistry between the actors is noteworthy. Ranvir Shourie and Rajat Kapoor both have miniscule roles, but they leave a mark.

 

They, along with Sarita Joshi, have done justice to their respective characters. Neha Dhupia (who up until now I thought was quite a dud, where acting is concerned) has delivered a surprisingly noteworthy performance.

 

Overall, Dasvidaniya is worth a watch – it’s the complete entertainment package.

 

RishiO Meter – 3/5