Hollywood Bollywood – Slumdog Millionaire

It is the season of over-hype waves and things working by riding on them. An undeserving “Ghajini” becomes an all-time hit and now we have Danny Boyle’s saga of amchi Mumbai, “Slumdog Millionaire”, sweep awards all across the globe. Though the narrative of a slum-dwelling chaiwalla, Jamal Malik, holds your attention, haven’t we all seen better?

Boyle seems to have drawn his inspiration from Bollywood, which over the years has brought the poverty-stricken reality of Bombay/Mumbai on the screen through the likes of a “Salaam Bombay” or a “Satya”. The movie is a tell-tale of all that is wrong with India, only this time it is an outsider who brings to us the plight of slum dwellers, communal riots, the beggar mafia, the fleecing of foreign tourists, the prostitute business, the underworld, the abusive police alongside an eternal love and longing – all in Bollywood eshtyle!

I don’t understand the criticism that is being heaped on the movie about it depicting our country in a negative light. Boyle has presented what our filmmakers have been doing for decades. The film captures the darker shades of Mumbai but hasn’t everyone from RGV to Madhur Bhandarkar done it before. I would honour the director’s prerogative to not sugarcoat his subject, even if it means stringing in cliché after cliché.

Some of us have gone ahead and challenged the film for projecting India as a “Third World dirty underbelly developing nation”. In fact, I believe it is quite the opposite. Alongside all that is shown as wrong, there is an undercurrent of hope that flows throughout the film. The film manifests the much-talked about “spirit of Mumbai” through the resilience of the protagonist. The ability of the characters to survive against all odds, come what may, forms the fabric of the screenplay.

The premise of how a slum dweller knows the answers to all the questions in KBC (Who wants to be a Millionaire?) and goes on to win the show makes an interesting story. And it is in the answers that the story of Jamal’s life unfolds. Even though the film is in no way extraordinary, what is surprising is how Boyle churns out a potboiler that has Bollywood written all over it. In our typical “filmy” fashion, Jamal goes about finding his childhood sweetheart and expressing his love for her. I can’t believe a foreign director can see India this way! As an Indian, fed on a staple diet of Hindi cinema, this one barely seemed any different.

That the western audience has accepted the film in a big way and that critics are lauding it with awards is more to the credit of the marketing team behind the film. The publicists deserve every bit of praise for being able to package the film in a way no India-themed movie (no not even “Lagaan”, and I was too young to notice what stir “Salaam Bombay” created in its time) has ever been done before. I do hope it goes on to win the Academy Awards, at least for Rahman’s work (even though in the same breath, I should add that the musical genius has far better works that have gone unnoticed). 

And at a time when (borrowing a dialogue from the film) “India is at the centre of the world”, this is good news for Indian cinema. Going by the response “Slumdog Millionaire” has received, “the song and dance factory”, which Bollywood is commonly seen as by the world, can come up with crisper ideas and market them well to the world. Perhaps, a western audience is becoming willing to hear an Indian story, the Indian way!

THAT was Ghajini???

Ghajini only goes on to show what hype can do for a movie.

The movie may well be on its way to become one of the biggest grosser in Bollywood. But at best, it matches up to an above-average Sunny Deol flick. Had the movie not featured Aamir Khan it would not have been nowhere close to what it is now.

Bollywood has had a history where many a venture has sunk despite hype but what worked for Ghajini was a sustained and immaculately planned publicity campaign. That it was Aamir’s sole movie in the whole year, and was coming a whole year after his poignant Taare Zameen Par, already had the nation in good anticipation. This combined with the publicity given to Aamir’s (over-hyped) physique and supposed eight-pack took the hype to newer altitudes. The marketing team also made sure the bulked-up Aamir was visible in malls and public places. Days before the release, one could see the once-considered reticent Aamir giving interviews on every possible show on every possible channel. Newspapers and websites were flooded with Aamir’s 13 month rigorous training to get his look. Also, to engage a larger segment of the audience, romantic promos augmented the initial action-oriented posters.

The end result of it all had to be a bumper opening for Ghajini. Needless to say, all this wouldn’t have worked so well for another actor; but Aamir’s hysteria is unparalleled and his fan following spans all sections of gender, class and religion. The loose ends of Shahrukh’s “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” also proved beneficial for this film and the “thinking” audience thronged the halls to see if Aamir had fared better. For the rest, who weren’t really the star’s fans, they went anyways to see what all the hype was all about!

So how did I find it?

The film is loud and the background score louder. This morning I concurred with my colleague who told me that he left the hall with a heavy head after watching this film. Even the overall music, barring a song or two, is forgettable and below-average by Rahman’s standards. Majority of the songs stand out of the story and merely extend the length of the film.

If action happens to be your genre of choice, you will enjoy the punches and villains being banged on walls and windows. If not, then you’d be sitting at the wrong place for those parts of the movie. What however holds your attention is the narrative; the director manages to engage you through the entire film. When the gore goes heavy, a romantic flashback alters the tone and pace of the movie. In this regard, the editing is slick and crisp. So even if the film could put some of you to sleep, it won’t give you the opportunity to yawn!

In terms of performances, Asin wows with her refreshing act. She lights up the screen and (due apologies to Aamir’s fans) steals the thunder from right under the actor’s nose. It’s a pity she didn’t get her due with the superstar taking most of the credit. You wait for her to come on screen; be it simple acts of helping people around her or faking up her romance with the business tycoon – she portrays the character of affable Kalpana with élan. In fact, it is the flashback sequences in which she appears, that were most enjoyable.

It is surprising that Aamir, known for choosing his films very selectively, opted for this South Indian remake. Even though his character is central to the film, he doesn’t have too many dialogues. As a guy suffering from short term memory loss, he shows his frustration to a degree but doesn’t have much else to do than beat up anyone and everyone coming in his way. Perhaps, the director could have focused more on the confusion and tribulations he faced due to his problem. As the business tycoon in flashbacks, his witty act makes you laugh. But in one of the scenes when giving interviews to international media, he didn’t sound convincing as a magnate. All in all, his performance was satisfactory in the context of the film. He didn’t break any new ground with this, as some people claim. As for achieving the macho look, I don’t think with the support available these days it is such a Herculean task for an actor known for his sincerity and perfectionism.

As the bad guy Ghajini, Pradeep Rawat disappointed; he tried hard to mouth Haryanvi dialogues but was neither effective nor convincing. Perhaps, the movie would have been elevated to another level had the villainy act been more polished.

The cinematography by Ravi K. Chandran was par excellence. And be it the exotic locales of the Guzarish song or dark shots of the climax sequence, he has shot them all brilliantly. The action sequences have a South Indian influence even though some of them are executed well.

Ghajini, as a one time watch, was entertaining even for someone like me not particularly into action movies or Aamir Khan. But the cult status to which it has been elevated is definitely not justified. It is a clearly over-hyped and has garnered undue credit than what it is worth. I’m sure people had higher expectations from Aamir but for fear of being sounding different, no one wants to admit that.

India Divided

“India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters…” so went the pledge we took in school. But years later, I don’t see these thoughts resonating in our people.

In recessionary times like these, rumours and speculation are no longer confined to the corridors of IT companies; these half-truths become published as news on mainstream websites. It’s a pity that without adequate authentication or getting their facts right, panic and hysteria is being created.

This piece of news was as quickly circulated in our organization as it was published by rediff. But what is sadder is how our countrymen responded to it.

Now when I read a piece of news or an article, I generally browse through the comments section to know what other people like me feel about it. It helps to get a better and often varied perspective to the issue at hand.

A masala news as this was bound to get a lot of comments considering IT guys have ready access to the internet. I scrolled below to read the comments and was shocked to read how people had reacted to the posting. As if accusing Narayanmurthy and Azim Premji for recession wasn’t enough, the responses to the comments were no longer even in the context of the article; they had taken their own life.

People who negated the news met with brickbats and were asked for their employee id. Even though some of these comments were comic (increasing lines of code to fake productivity), others were downright abusive. As I moved to the next page of comments, the topic veered to religious conversions, Brahmins, Mayawati, Dalits, Devegowda and everything unrelated to the article.

It is heart-aching to see people in India condemn their fellow citizens at the slightest pretext. We often talk of racism against Indians, whereas in reality we ourselves need to set our act right first. By dividing India on the basis of caste, religion, state, region, we are doing more harm to us than a slowing economy or job layoffs can do.