A retrospective....Slumdog Millionaire

More and more members of the audience go into the theatres looking for an experience to transcend the runtime of the movie. Slumdog Millionaire does succeed to leave an after-taste in your mouth, but it is refreshingly different not bitter, not sweet but more abstract and as critics would have it lacking in tangibility. Here is to the taste of a film 15 million Dollars in the making garnering 140 million in sales world wide.
This movie is unconventional in its NARRATIVE than most other Hollywood films with their preachy and sometimes “I art Holier than Thou” sermons that it almost is a breath of fresh air. But it is not much removed from the narrative of some commercial Bollywood films, this film does present some very controversial social and Human topics but remains neutral in the presentation of the same. The narration is so gripping to make one forgets the very central theme of the film which according to critics is “sort of cliched”. The film moved away from the cliché and the journey that was undertaken by the characters, the Relationships forged, and did not remain just about Questions and Answers. Many events told in a sort of a timeline. It is the juxtaposition, and at time collision of so many events that had made the narration of this film the way it is. Also the way in which these facts are presented the audience feels as helpless as protagonists in the film to change or do anything about their situation. Reality in film, Reel to real and back again has been a tough truth for many to gulp down.
As novel as the style of narration and presentation of the film is, it almost no different than a well packaged Indian commercial or mainstream film, therein rises another burning question of relevance of such a film in a international landscape and also would it have been the same if the film was produced and directed by an Indian cast and crew. The answers are as controversial as they are true. The Academy known primarily a western body of Judges catering to Western sensibilities and of western views. But the academy considers all films having an international appeal for its highly prestigious awards. So it is very unlikely that commercial potboilers will be considered. Indian Commercial Cinema, a grandiose Much ado about nothing to most foreigners- A world of unreal fantastic song and dance sequences.....but to Indians it is a very extension of our dreams People go to forget their sorrows and drown themselves in powerful emotions so as to escape their own complexities for a few hours inside the cinema hall. So it is unfair to compare commercial cinema of our country to something that might Provoke thought like the likes of Salaam Bombay. But strangely Slumdog Millioaire shares its genealogy with much of the Bollywood generic Films. It seems almost intentional on the part of the director to give it the ubiquitous Masala flavour of Indian Cinema. It is so very funny to see that many of the people who cringe at the very listen of Bollywood thus to be in praise of this movie, which according to detractors is a Parody of Bollywood, and according to the other group an Homage to Indian Filmaking.
The stark and unforgiving the surgical fashion this film has cut through the very gilded historical image and the fairly new and fragile crystallized image of a new Technocratic India. The film through its multitude of avenues that has treaded has shown the daily conflicts and collision courses between the strata of existence in India. It is a very sad but absolutely undeniable fact that many in India live in abject poverty which is showcased uninhibitedly attracting gall and Hemlock from many quarters. But then The Phantom Of this Opera is Poverty. The ghost of the Don't Haves haunt the stage for the entirety of the film.
It is strange that so much was experienced of a movie not much was expected of. It is almost miraculous the amount of controversy generated not by the movie as much by the recognition of the same. The movie as it is quite a mix of multiple talents in a sort of raw edged fashion to create a very lush and full-bodied taste on screen. The soundtrack is so very unintrusive that we seem to overlook it as a discrete part of the film. It has been the fashion of the score to compliment the emotions of the characters or the Vastness of the landscape or the speed in movement of the city. But some will also say that the score sounds very Masala and almost Bollywoodish in execution. But that the score is very instrumental in creating the audiovisual treat that captures the pungency of the Indian landscape. The only dampener and detractor from the realism and stark unforgiving nature of the narrative was the final score, but overall a very well complimented audio treat to a decidedly rich visual tour of superb contrasts great tonalities and just correct amounts of brightness.
Not without its share of doubts without its share of criticism the Slumdog Millionaire Has proved how one roots for the under-dog and finally identifies themselves with the triumph of said unlikely winner. It is strange yet somewhat fulfilling to see the amount of thought that goes into analyzing and surgically removing the layers upon layers of questions opinions and messages that is a film. A film that has Won 8 out of the 9 academy awards it was nominated for is a film that is thought provoking to say the least.