Another Oscar worthy foreign film I have watched recently, I first had this interest of watching the film after seeing the blog of Bryan, I missed the screening in Dubai International Film Festival, so my only way of watching it is either go to Bombay or Delhi or London, missed the showing also at Sydney so the last resort I had is Bangkok, true enough! Crew control gave me Bangkok flight yesterday and after arrival, just fixed myself and went straight to the red light district of Patpong, searched the whole stretch of DVD and CD vendors and Viola! My own copy of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE!
So when I came back to Abu Dhabi, without enough rest, I inserted the disc to the player & watched it! There was laughter, tears and fear after watching the film. I love it!
Realistic, Heart-warming & Very Disturbing!
This is an inventively told movie written by Simon Beaufoy from the novel by Vikas Swarup and directed by British Danny Boyle that uses the Hindi version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” to show what life can be like in modern India.
Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is orphaned with his older brother, Salim (Madhur Mittal), when a child. They hook up with another orphan, a young girl, Latika (Freida Pinto), and the way they survive is brutal. Jamal tells the story to a police detective who doesn’t believe that he can know the answers to all the questions on the show and tortures him before the final question to get him to admit he’s cheating. So he tells his story of his life and his experiences, explaining how he got to know the answers to each of the questions, and that is the basis of the film.
The plot really isn’t whether or not Jamal is going to win the money, it’s about how and why he got where he is. All three characters are played by three different actors, all at different ages.
This is a pretty interesting film, interestingly told, although I thought the first hour was ponderous and difficult to endure. It did pick up during the last hour when all the people had achieved adulthood and we weren’t dealing with small children. Jamal’s infatuation with Latika is a little hard to buy, considering the minimal contact that we are shown them having. However, he made a good pick because by the time she turns into Freida Pinto, she is beautiful.
The best part of the movie is the way it shows what life is like in India for those unfortunate enough not to have much money. What happens to Jamal, Salim, and Latika is gruesome. Many of the viewers who are not from a Third world country won't believe that the series of events in this movie happens in real life. Life is not fair!
In addition to its many accolades, "Slumdog Millionaire"also won the Best Cinematography award from the National Society of Film Critics as well as nominations for Best Film and Best Director from the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.
Noted Indian music director A.R. Rahman has won a Golden Globe nomination from Hollywood Foreign Press Association and a Satellite Award by the International Press Academy for Best Original Score for his music in the film.
The film has also earned three other nominations for Best Picture-Drama, Best Director for Boyle and Best Screenplay for Simon Beaufoy for 2008 Golden Globe Awards besides two more annual Satellite Awards for Best Picture-Drama and Best Director for Boyle.
British Indian actor Dev Patel, who plays the protagonist Jamal as a teenager, has won a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a male actor in a supporting role from the Screen Actors Guild Awards along with nominations for Outstanding Performance by a cast in a motion picture.
"Slumdog Millionaire" has also tied with "WALL.E", a computer-animated-science fiction-romance film, for the Best Picture award from the Boston Society of Film Critics, besides winning the Best Editing prize.
Earlier, "Slumdog Millionaire" won two awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association - Best Director for Boyle and Best Music for Rahman. It also won the runner-up prize for Best Cinematography for Anthony Dod Mantle.
Golden Globe and Oscar Awards is just around the corner, Best of luck!
This is an inventively told movie written by Simon Beaufoy from the novel by Vikas Swarup and directed by British Danny Boyle that uses the Hindi version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” to show what life can be like in modern India.
Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is orphaned with his older brother, Salim (Madhur Mittal), when a child. They hook up with another orphan, a young girl, Latika (Freida Pinto), and the way they survive is brutal. Jamal tells the story to a police detective who doesn’t believe that he can know the answers to all the questions on the show and tortures him before the final question to get him to admit he’s cheating. So he tells his story of his life and his experiences, explaining how he got to know the answers to each of the questions, and that is the basis of the film.
The plot really isn’t whether or not Jamal is going to win the money, it’s about how and why he got where he is. All three characters are played by three different actors, all at different ages.
This is a pretty interesting film, interestingly told, although I thought the first hour was ponderous and difficult to endure. It did pick up during the last hour when all the people had achieved adulthood and we weren’t dealing with small children. Jamal’s infatuation with Latika is a little hard to buy, considering the minimal contact that we are shown them having. However, he made a good pick because by the time she turns into Freida Pinto, she is beautiful.
The best part of the movie is the way it shows what life is like in India for those unfortunate enough not to have much money. What happens to Jamal, Salim, and Latika is gruesome. Many of the viewers who are not from a Third world country won't believe that the series of events in this movie happens in real life. Life is not fair!
In addition to its many accolades, "Slumdog Millionaire"also won the Best Cinematography award from the National Society of Film Critics as well as nominations for Best Film and Best Director from the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.
Noted Indian music director A.R. Rahman has won a Golden Globe nomination from Hollywood Foreign Press Association and a Satellite Award by the International Press Academy for Best Original Score for his music in the film.
The film has also earned three other nominations for Best Picture-Drama, Best Director for Boyle and Best Screenplay for Simon Beaufoy for 2008 Golden Globe Awards besides two more annual Satellite Awards for Best Picture-Drama and Best Director for Boyle.
British Indian actor Dev Patel, who plays the protagonist Jamal as a teenager, has won a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a male actor in a supporting role from the Screen Actors Guild Awards along with nominations for Outstanding Performance by a cast in a motion picture.
"Slumdog Millionaire" has also tied with "WALL.E", a computer-animated-science fiction-romance film, for the Best Picture award from the Boston Society of Film Critics, besides winning the Best Editing prize.
Earlier, "Slumdog Millionaire" won two awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association - Best Director for Boyle and Best Music for Rahman. It also won the runner-up prize for Best Cinematography for Anthony Dod Mantle.
Golden Globe and Oscar Awards is just around the corner, Best of luck!
