Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Rating: 3.25/5

I think that if I had not read the book that the movie is based on (Q&A :Vikas Swaroop) and had seen this movie prior to the Oscar Hula Hype .. I would have been inclined to rate it much higher.

Overall: A must watch. Tight gripping script, terrific screenplay and editing, love the cast ..and stellar performances by everyone. Shows Amchi Mumbai in all its shades, grey, pink, red, yellow, black, white .. this movie is a treat for those with an artistic eye.

Light moments: None - whatsoever

Need a box of tissues: Yes. Not during the movie. But afterwards. When the story will hit you. Please dont plan on doing anything immediately after. Especially if you live in Bombay. You will never look at a traffic signal with little street kids the same way again.

Overall Theme: You cannot change what you were born with, but you can change who you become. Two boys, brothers, gripped by communal violence find their meagre lives uprooted and taken on the whirlwind of a journey. Both make completely different choices at each juncture. Jamal is unable to let the worst kind of adversity extinguish the flame of hope and goodness in his heart. Salim chooses to wear an armor of steel to protect himself.

But even the toughest kind of metal melts when engulfed in the flames of love.

Afterall - It's written.

- This movie above all was a love story. Of the worst kind. The kind of love that we all secretly hope for. Jamal embraces the kind of love that most of us only dream of .. impossible, random, fueled by an old promise and completely mad. And then he decides to stick with it. No matter where life leads him, he keeps coming back ..and knocking at the same door ..till it finally opens.

50 Cents:

What does it really take to make us happy ?

There are 2 kids - living in the worst kind of poverty, who grapple with life threatening situations on a daily basis ...but wear their hearts of their sleeves and live life the way it is meant to be lived. Truly. Madly. Deeply.

No amount of money or education or support system can compensate for lack of that inside us which has the will to survive and be happy.

This movie also shamefully brings to light the worst kind of social exploitation and human rights violation that exists in countries like India. And make you feel much lesser of a human being for just standing back and leeting it happen.

I drove back from the movie in a blur and stopped at the same traffic light outside my house.

Dozens of little children, begging,selling chinese made everything and being bullied by older stronger children and goons. And when the light turned green - I just drove on.

Those of us who stand back and watch and say things like "you cant change the system" and "whats can one person do" are as much responsible for the fate of little kids like Jamal and Salim as those that perpetuate that fate physically. Its brutal - but its true.

Would I watch it again: Nope. I dont think I'll lose this lesson ever to warrant another watch.