Of irks and jerks

Recently there has been this massive hue and cry about the impropriety of the film "Slumdog Millionaire". Reportedly, why do "we" need a "British" director to point a finger at what stares blatantly at everyone's face? Why is such a negative image of India being projected to the rest of the world? Couldn't the movie show our India shining? Why does the protagonist have to be a muslim? So on and so forth. Scan your regional dailies and for sure, you would see a wholehearted bashing of this flick, by anyone who proclaims to be a film critic, including some imbecile and incipient actors.

what most of them don't gauge or fail to do so is that, this film is primarily about SLUM kids. While our well groomed friends pooh-pooh the miseries of the children with idyllic waves of their well manicured fingers, these kids do have inhuman treatments meted out to them. Yes, orphans are blinded in this country to make beggars out of them. Yes, child prostitution and abuse is rampant here, and in most cases, they go unnoticed. Probably because of that, elite echelons of the society have developed an indifference to those.. or else, they are too busy to build the facade of shining glam and glitz beyond which the real face of our country lies. If one dares to tarnish that facade, out comes the claws and fangs.

The fact that this films shows miraculously tight editing and a nearly flawless screenplay goes unnoticed, or admitted grudgingly. A.R.Rahman has done a brilliant job with the score indeed.. however, one reviewer in a Bengali daily said that without the score, the film would have been flat and dull.. a polite question to you sir- what do you think the purpose of a score is? Appreciation of good work notwithstanding, passing accolades for a job that serves its purpose well seems a bit of overkill to me.

Like every other film, this one also has its shortcomings. For one, Freida Pinto and Madhur Mittal are both gigantic disappointments. Pinto is nothing but a glam showpiece in a role which deserved better handling. Mittal on the other hand, fails to convince the audience of his duality.. his performance lacks the intensity of a man who can mutilate a girl in one scene and ask forgiveness from her in the next. His voice is also extremely high pitched to the point of being effeminate for a goon who is as tough as rhino hide. For another, the huge phillum style song and dance sequence at the end of the film is a huge overkill. The ending could have been way better. But then, Loveleen Tandon has to do it in style. (Remember Monsoon Wedding?) And in this hysteria about Dev Patel (who, by the way IS quite good in the film) the child artists are being sidelined, while their performance makes this film what it is. Anil Kapoor's performance deserves special mention- he is impeccable in his role, playing big B with his mannerisms intact.

But at the end, if one could just revise what a film is all about. Admittedly, the form of this film has captured my attention, more than it's contents. There could be a magnum debate about which is more important in a film. However, nothing can undermine the brilliance of this script and tying the ends together by shotgun editing. kudos to Boyle for handling a complicated multilayered script with such elan. He happens to be British, which probably is his biggest crime towards Indian media. Unfortunately lauding this film becomes a "colonial hangover". In the end, I have just one question myself- why do some people have such difficulties in admitting truths? But then, people have said Ray sold poverty of India in his films, without an inkling about the impact of Ray's work. :)