Slumdog Wins Best Picture Oscar
(For GK, Gandhiji & his many avatars, The Gora & Terraferrous)
All ye Bollywood curs, hang your heads in shame because the Slumdog is soon gonna expose you.
An Oscar-worthy gem and the finest movie made in India this century, Slumdog Millionaire (based on the novel Q and A by Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup) is coming to India in January.
Naturellement, as fine a movie as Slumdog Millionaire can’t be from a Bollywood director (although plenty of Indians do feature in this English movie directed by British filmmaker Danny Boyle, produced by Christian Colson and distributed by Fox Searchlight).
Outstandingly executed, Slumdog Millionaire is the riveting life-story of an 18-year-old Mumbai ‘slumdog’ and chaiwallah Jamal (Dev Patel) who happens to win the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire much to the bafflement and chagrin of the program’s host (Anil Kapoor).
Jamal is a slumdog, with his roots deep in the bowels of Mumbai’s slums. Ergo, he must be cheating in some way to get at the right answers. Right?
So this young man is promptly dispatched to the police station where Jamal undergoes what thousands of Indians unfortunate enough to enter the precincts of a police thana experience everyday across the country – merciless thrashing.
When the beatings don’t work, the police inspector (Irrfan Khan) ups the ante telling his underling Srinivas (Saurabh Shukla a.k.a. Kallu Mama of Satya) – A little electricity will loosen his tongue. Give him.
But even the electric shocks administered by Srinivas don’t yield a confession of cheating from the young boy, who resolutely maintains - I knew the answers.
How does young Jamal know the answers to difficult questions that would stump even the most educated Indian. Like for instance, whose figure adorns a $100 bill?
No, we won’t tell you how Jamal knows the answers to some of the most difficult questions.
All we’ll tell you is that Jamal goes on to tell the police inspector an incredible story that is brought to life in an extraordinary manner rarely seen on the big screen in India or elsewhere. Continue reading »
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