Slumdog Millionaire – A Must Watch

This past week, I had a chance to watch Slumdog Millionaire. Though I heard a lot about it, I was a bit skeptical going in as I am more than aware of the hype Indian movies generate and seldom do they actually deliver...But I could not have been more surprised.

Slumdog Millionaire follows Jamal Malik, a teenage orphan from the ghettos of Mumbai who is one question away from winning 20 million rupees on the Indian version of the trivia game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The movie starts off with Jamal getting tortured to get him to confess how he cheated, to his appearance on the show. The cops simply can't believe a kid who grew up on a garbage heap would know anything about anything, and tortures the kid in the hopes of getting a confession. The only snag is Jamal isn't lying and he didn't cheat. We learn the history of Jamal and the other principal characters in flashbacks, as Jamal answers questions on the TV show not from book knowledge — he has none — but his own life experiences. The movie takes you back to the various events and phases throughout his youth that led to him to really knowing the answers to the questions.

The scenes that take place in the slums are so real and it shows a level of poverty and misery that's almost beyond our imagining - and yet so real. The only let down is that by a wild coincidence, the quiz show's questions, taken in order, correspond chronologically with traumas in Jamal's young life and not to mention a fantastic actor like Irfan Khan has been wasted in an insignificant role. But the movie as a whole is a compelling piece of entertainment and is a modern version of the Cinderella story with some spicy food. The other surprising element about the movie is the music. AR.Rahman has given a smashing soundtrack and M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” is prominently featured in the film. Only after seeing the movie did I connect the dots.

The movie is filled with humor, romance and suspense, and is easily one of the best films I have watched this year. I highly recommend it.

Where are you Mr.Raj Thackeray?

Where is Raj Thackeray and his hoodlums who claim to own the city when the city is burning?

It is indeed ironic that Raj who claims to love Mumbai, was nowhere in sight as Mumbai was attacked. I am not trying to start an argument or create any animosity but rational Indians will understand that the plain truth of the matter is people like Raj Thackeray can only survive by resorting to the 'Divide and Rule' politics. He is maintaining silence when terrorists have attacked Mumbai, but he roars with political speeches against North Indians and resorts to killing, starting riots over petty issues, throwing stones and breaking public transportation because a board has not been written in Marathi. When Mumbai has been hit by a real confrontation and faces a very real issue, he has gone into hiding. Why? Well, simple...When the people unite he loses and has nothing to say.

Not only Raj, but all the politicians from Mumbai have proved to be a pathetic lot in this crisis, right from Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his Deputy R R Patil. Deshmukh was in Kerala and it took several phone calls for him to finally realize the gravity of the situation. On his part, his Deputy did even worse. Asked how could such a big incident happen in Mumbai, he said, “In big cities, such small incidents do happen.”

Coming back to Mr.Raj, I want to know what he is going to say to the NSG commandos who fought the terrorists. Should they not have been allowed into Mumbai because they are all from the North and South India? Mumbai was not saved by his marathi goons rather it was saved by Indians. Raj Thackeray has clearly proved that he is a politician, and a cheap one at that...definitely NOT a leader.. All he can do it taunt the innocent and poor people who come to Mumbai to make a decent living.

The whole country has come together to support Mumbai Mr.Raj...Where are the son's of the Marathi soil hiding? Are you abroad on holiday or unwell? Or are you missing because the election dates in Maharashtra haven't been announced as yet? You are not scared of terrorist gunfire and bullets, or are you? Come out and pay homage to the people who laid their lives fighting the terrorists and by the way, none of them are Mumbaikers...