Cast: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor
Direction: Danny Boyle
Hats off to the director for making such a realistic, heart-wrenching movie.
This is definitely one of the must-see films in your life. If you haven’t watched it yet, please read this blog after u have watched the movie.
This Movie exposes the dirty underbelly, which I am sure exists in all countries, not just India. So all you people who are whining and crying that its shows India badly, please don’t have such a narrow view of the movie . I strongly feel that people should be exposed to such bitter truths which exists in life, for their own good.
Ok , now coming back to the movie , we planned to go to this movie just 1 hour before the show started on 26th Jan night. Good we didn’t have any second thoughts about it , because this movie is just simply brilliant.
Every actor in this movie has done a great job. I don’t want to spoil the review by writing the it badly. So I have taken a few points from Rajeev Masand’s review of CNN-IBN. So here it goes - - -
18-year-old Jamal Malik (played by Dev Patel) is an orphan who has spent his life scavenging on the streets, until he lands a spot as a contestant on Kaun Banega Crorepati, where he makes a killing. The host of the show (played by a bullying, bellowing Anil Kapoor) mocks Jamal for his low-class roots, and has him arrested on suspicion of cheating – after all, how could an ordinary chai-wala know the answers to all these tough questions?
Sitting there tied up and being thrashed around by the cops, Jamal reveals how each question corresponds to a specific life lesson from his tragic past. His is a horrific tale of watching his mother being killed in front of his eyes, narrowly escaping mutilation himself, and losing his childhood friend to a prostitution ring.
The characters hold you spellbound by their interactions, particularly the film's three protagonists – Jamal, his older brother Salim, and their childhood companion Latika.
Ayush Mahesh Khedekar as little Jamal is a face you're unlikely to forget anytime soon; he's the lifeblood of Slumdog Millionaire and he's complemented perfectly by Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali who play Salim and Latika with just the right mix of vulnerability and street-smartness.
Dev Patel as the all-grown-up teenage Jamal has a charming presence, even if his London accent grates when he responds to the game-show host's repeated taunts about his humble origins. Madhur Mittal brings a kind of Bollywood flair to the part of the older Salim, and Freida Pinto plays the teenage Latika with such wide-eyed innocence.
Slumdog Millionaire wouldn't be half the film if it weren't for Anthony Dod Mantle's breathless, dazzling cinematography which brings alive the slums and indeed Mumbai city too.
Much credit must go to AR Rahman for contributing a sumptuous soundtrack which proves a worthy accompaniment to the film's crackling narrative, which ends with the big item number at a railway station no less.
Ten Oscar nominations and four Golden Globes aside, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire is an enjoyable flight of fantasy, a modern day fairytale if you like.
Ok, so you want my rating? Its definitely 5/5.
Atleast now go and see the movie if you haven’t watched it. Enjoy !
