Read all those negative reviews about the movie. Decided to wait till the DVD version comes out.. Heard the soundtrack. Was impressed and decided to watch it in the theatre..and I came out of the theatre wanting to watch the movie again..
This movie’s case is like the man with a crooked nose. He would have seen his nose a million times in the mirror. But when someone else points it out, he feels offended. That’s the case with us. We turn a blind eye to all the poverty, slums and corruption around us. But when a foreigner mirrors it we are agitated.
It’s important to watch this movie with a neutral frame of mind..and you will be treated to a visual buffet of colour, resilience, guts and glory..a story that truly personifies a Rising India.
The movie is about a man, or rather boy who is not an outright winner but someone who doesn’t give up. Jamal, a Chaiwala from the slums of Mumbai is one question away from winning the biggest prize money ever, in WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE..and he is arrested for cheating.
He tells his interrogators how his own life has the answers to the questions asked in the show. And every incident that has an answer is peppered with so much of energy and passion. It is all about the steely nerves of a guy who grew up in the streets. The cast particularly the real slum kids and lead actor Dev patel have done a good job.
I seriously doubt whether the movie would have been as energetic as it is, if anyone other than AR Rehman had scored the music. It is his music that is the masala or rather the most important ingredient that holds the movie together. Srilankan born MIA’s already released songs add the much needed pep and international flavour to the music.
I think this whole issue of India being misrepresented was started by Amitabh bachan’s blog. The character played by Anil Kapoor ( host of the show) has striking resemblance to the way Amitabh used to confuse contestants in KBC. Maybe Amitabh got agitated because the character has shades of grey. “ Mr. Amitabh, no one can take away what you have achieved so far, as an actor or anchor.. Plz stop being insecure”
The only debatable point may be the climax or the answer to the last question. Everyone would have expected Latika to help Jamal answer the question, but the director has other plans..maybe he wanted to prove that luck or rather destiny has taken Jamal to his jackpot rather than a gameplan or intelligence.
The one major difference between this movie and others in the same genre like Salaam Bombay, Pather Panchali, etc, is the positive energy that runs all through and also in the ending..
Born to Lose..Destined to Win