Slumdog Millionaire


The name of the movie has two parts – ‘Slumdog’ sounds more like a Hip-Hop band and the second part ‘Millionaire’ does not gel with the first part. Well, the movie too in many ways has two distinct parts – the reality show “Who wants to become a Millionaire’ and how the whole game is linked to the life of a ‘Slumdog’. The movie based on a novel ‘Q & A’ by Vikas Swarup and is directed by Danny Boyle who made critically acclaimed movies like – Trainspotting, The Beach…But If what you are looking for is life and its ways in the slums of Bombay, the movie you are looking for is ‘Salaam Bombay’ by Mira Nair. Released in 1988, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, is by far an intriguing account which is bound to capture your imagination. Slumdog, runs into some cliché sequences, which I do not blame completely on the movie, because it’s a limitation of the novel from were its adapted. The OST for Slumdog Millionaire does deserve a special mention which has won at the Golden Globes, USA.



































The Secret of the Grain/LA GRAINE ET LE MULET – French, Arabic and Russian

Acclaimed movie the year by director Abdel Kechiche, also rated as the best French movie of the year. More than anything else it’s an insight into the lives of the Arabic community (North African immigrants) at port of Sete’ and their place in the society they adopted, the French society. Its quite an interesting movie from many angles, first of all I am quite sure that the screenplay in its original language would have a greater affect on the audience who can understand the language and nuances w/o the subtitles. Also, equally interesting is the camera work and sequence of events. The climax is very subtle, the movie operates on multiple levels, very beautifully revealed during the course of time. The movie pays very close attention to details just like a book, in fact the party organized by Slimane’s wife, there is so much focus on how the various members chew and eat their food. So was the case with the belly dancing by Rym. The actors look very much their characters, nothing forced…My personal favorite performances were by Slimane and Rym(Hafsia Herzi).