British director Danny Boyle captures the Mumbai I remember, in all it's gritty detail through the colorful montage of street life.
The cinematography is so spectacular, you smell the air and taste the grime. I remember coming out of the movie theatre feeling like I had lost something.
Growing up in Mumbai and seeing all the slum life first hand, desensitizes you to it all. It's all wallpaper.
Now after almost 10 years in the US, seeing the 'West Side' of Mumbai once again in it's all it's raw detail, I felt about it the way a 'foreigner' feels. I gasped along with an American audience, at the horrors, trials and resilience of the slum children.
Based on the novel “Q & A” by Vikas Swarup, you get to know Jamal (the british actor, Dev Patel), the protagonist,through the framework of the questions he answers, in the local TV version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire".
The premise itself is gripping. How did a street kid get there? How did he know the answers that got him to hit the jackpot of 20 million rupees?
You can't help but keep wanting to know more. While the story is a rags to riches theme, finding true love is it's main motivation, with destiny interweaving the threads.
Bollywood actor, Anil Kapoor plays the game show host in an unconventional role and new comer Freida Pinto plays Latika, Jamal's lost love. Irrfan Khan, as the police inspector plays a pivotal role, as our feelings towards the protagonist vary with how he sees Jamal's revelation of how he came to be on the show.
Jamal's life takes him to Agra and the Taj Mahal, featuring a humorous section on the fleecing and preying on overseas tourists by the locals. Some parts of the film do make an Indian feel like it is made for a western audience. But by and large even for the 'desis', it does ring true.
A.R Rahman's dynamic soundscape seamlessly merges a modern global India and the India (Mumbai actually) of Jamal's boy hood days. He creates musical magic with Latika's haunting theme, and creates an auditory India with indian classical sections interspersed with remix sounds, and everyone I know, left the theatre with the "Jai Ho" of his bollywood - like composition ringing in their ears!!!
British director Danny Boyle captures the Mumbai I remember, in all it's gritty detail through the colorful montage of street life.The cinematography is so spectacular, you smell the air and taste the grime. I remember coming out of the movie theatre feeling like I had lost something.Growing up in...
British director Danny Boyle captures the Mumbai I remember, in all it's gritty detail through the colorful montage of street life.
The cinematography is so spectacular, you smell the air and taste the grime. I remember coming out of the movie theatre feeling like I had lost something.
Growing up in Mumbai and seeing all the slum life first hand, desensitizes you to it all. It's all wallpaper.
Now after almost 10 years in the US, seeing the 'West Side' of Mumbai once again in it's all it's raw detail, I felt about it the way a 'foreigner' feels. I gasped along with an American audience, at the horrors, trials and resilience of the slum children.
Based on the novel “Q & A” by Vikas Swarup, you get to know Jamal (the british actor, Dev Patel), the protagonist,through the framework of the questions he answers, in the local TV version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire".
The premise itself is gripping. How did a street kid get there? How did he know the answers that got him to hit the jackpot of 20 million rupees?
You can't help but keep wanting to know more. While the story is a rags to riches theme, finding true love is it's main motivation, with destiny interweaving the threads.
Bollywood actor, Anil Kapoor plays the game show host in an unconventional role and new comer Freida Pinto plays Latika, Jamal's lost love. Irrfan Khan, as the police inspector plays a pivotal role, as our feelings towards the protagonist vary with how he sees Jamal's revelation of how he came to be on the show.
Jamal's life takes him to Agra and the Taj Mahal, featuring a humorous section on the fleecing and preying on overseas tourists by the locals. Some parts of the film do make an Indian feel like it is made for a western audience. But by and large even for the 'desis', it does ring true.
A.R Rahman's dynamic soundscape seamlessly merges a modern global India and the India (Mumbai actually) of Jamal's boy hood days. He creates musical magic with Latika's haunting theme, and creates an auditory India with indian classical sections interspersed with remix sounds, and everyone I know, left the theatre with the "Jai Ho" of his bollywood - like composition ringing in their ears!!!
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