Slumdog Millionaire - Commodification Of Poverty

Do you want to know what all are the problems that exist in India? Then, go and watch Slumdog Millionaire(SM). The director has packed the movie with poverty,religious riots, poor sanitation, theft, beggary, mafia and prostitution. As reality bites, the movie does create a depressing hangover. But the substance of the movie is the same like that of our usual bollywood movies.

However,the screenplay is strikingly refreshing. How Jamal got all the answers right is conveyed through a series of incidents from his own life. The author of the book Q&A (from which the movie is adapted), Vikas Swaroop should be appreciated for the gripping screen play. Another novel aspect in this film is the Hindi dialogues are not shown as sub-titles. Instead, the translation of the dialogues are shown near the characters that deliver the dialogues. However, for no reason all the characters start speaking English, abrubtly( from their adolescent period). I understand that the director,Donny Boyle could have included the Hindi dialogues in the beginning to retain the nativity. But it would have made a big difference had the movie been made in Hindi completely.May be the director want the English-speaking audience to be much receptive to his film.In my opinion, if the substance of the movie is good, the audience will give a damn about the language in which it was shot.Had the director used Hindi completely, the movie could have been much more authentic and credible.

In the same way, some of the scenes in the film appeared to be too dramatic.For instance, in a particular scene, Jamal looks for Salim's name in the database, which will lead to the reunion of the brothers. How did he manage to find his brother in the database of a call center? Similarly, the sudden and unexplained change in the attitude of Jamal before the climax.

On the other hand, whatever is said and done against the movie, not a single day passes without a news about it. Armed with many prestigious awards and the much coveted Oscars, SM is undoubtedly the most happening movie of this millennium, not only in India but, in the whole world. But if you have still not watched SM and planning to watch it with your expectations soaring high , then it might certainly fall short of your expectations. Against the popular beliefs, the director has not bombarded or hyped the situation in the slums in India. But has mercilessly exposed the murky side of Dharavi in Mumbai.He has presented the suituation in the slum without refining or rather I would prefer to say, giving a raw feeling to it.We cannot deny that they do not happen. They certainly happen.But, Donny Boyle could be blamed for communicating that Dharavi and India are the one and the same. The westners could deem the condition of Dharavi as the condition in India, which is certainly not.

Beyond the begging bowls and hunger pangs, the movie has a soulful love story.However, again, the love between Jamal (Dev Patel) and Latika (Frieda Pinto) is not anything new that our Bollywood movies have missed.It is again the same love story in the back drop of poverty and crime. The only saving grace is that there is no duet of Latika and Jamal, supressing the flow of the movie, instead the duet(Jai Ho) is placed at the end of the movie along with the moving credits. The music is definitely not the magnum opus creation of Rahman, however, it compliments the film. Can he add pepper to the milk sweets? He has given his best within the scope of the movie.

The director should be appreciated for the perfect casting. In particular, the youngest Latika, (Rubina Ali) and the youngest Salim (Azharuddin Mohammad Ismail) perfectively fit their roles.
It is very surprising to know that both Rubina and Ismail are actually from the slums. They have handled their roles with a touch of professionalism. Even other actors such as Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto, and Anil Kapoor have done a good job. Similarly, the cinematography is excellent. The cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle brings the filthy atmosphere of the slums alive.

With this, I complete my review of the much coveted and Oscar-award winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire. No matter whether I liked the film or not, I am happy to have witnessed an Osacr award winning Indian movie in my lifetime.