No, the title is not a very-clever nod to the two most popular ways by which alcohol is referred to in Tamil. Milli (which is more of a measure, but clearly, one does not drink milk in millis. Ask Dhoni). And neer. Which means water. Which means thanni. You get the idea.
For the more discerning amongst you, the reference to a recently-release, massively-overrated movie would have been inescapable. And funnily enough my post on Overrated Things is just the previous post on this blog (that is to say, I thought I had written reams and reams of unimaginably funny prose after that, that this post would have gone deep into the December archives. It is still in the December archives. It's the only one there. There isn't even a January archive). Coming back to the point, I only regret that I couldn't title that post Slumdog Millionaire. Would have been so much more appropriate.
I will not talk about the sudden English-knowledge gaining of the slumdogs. I will not talk about the Chaiwala answering Call Centre calls (now you see why there's all those complaints about foreign callers being rude to our poor hard-working call centre people? Would you like the tea boy to clarify what the 2.03% additional charge on your credit-card bill is?). I will not talk about a random love story which starts when the kids are 5 (Oh pleeeease!!). I will not talk about the total lack of premise of the host wanting to trip up the upstart (It's not even his bloody money!) or his downright rudeness. I will not talk about the sacrilege about a movie with Anil Kapoor being ranked above A Clockwork Orange (and so many others). On top of it all, I will not talk about the Danny Boyle level-drop (Yes, today is my say-everything-in-brackets day. And hyphens)
I will talk about the background score. Quite lifting and racy, it's the one part of the film which deserves all the noise surrounding it (pun totally unintended). I will talk about the screenplay, because it takes quite an effort to stitch together what is basically a non-existent story into some sort of coherence. Though the premise that is provided for why he knows some of the answers is really quite well-tried (also known as 'acha koshish' in Tamil). I will talk about the kids, and their awesome bonding, after whose exit, you really can close your eyes and just tap your feet to the music alone. I will talk about... gosh, I really am out of other things worth mentioning.
It's not like I have an inherent problem with movies signifying 'hope' and 'spirit' and all that. I like movies with spirit. Like, Devadas, so much spirit in that (reference to title, my, I'm on a roll). It's just so crass an attempt to reach out to the 1.1-Billion market that India is in these times of recession . Once this becomes the basic idea, there simply had to be so much artificiality to just make it happen - an English film about India. There's no reason the movie can't be set in any of the Latin American countries and be called Millonario del tugurioperro. Spanish is quite popular in the US as well. For that matter, if it's supposed to be a stretched-reality movie, for those who don't want to call it fantasy, might as well have made an animated version of it. and released it with a PG rating. At least that way we're spared Dev Patel and Anil Kapoor staring at each other confused about who the villain is and who the hero.
You can see how the book would be nice (haven't read it though). The whole movie is made that way, flipping through page after page. That's ok in a book, the perceived screenplay in your head is the only screenplay. A movie with so much of the 'real deal' words used... really?
I think I would've actually liked the movie if it weren't for all this hype.
As it turns out, I think the only Indian movie that Danny Boyle can feel proud of as of now is Dev D. What. A. Totally. Unapologetic. Movie. Now that, is showing something no one knows, in a totally new, slightly psychedelic, new light. Since this is a post about Millineer, there shall be no further mention of Dev D. But, you know, it's brave. Absolutely brave. Too bad there's only a 'Special Thanks to Danny Boyle' in that. The man who made Trainspotting would've been proud of it. The man who sold out to make Slumdog, maybe not.
For the more discerning amongst you, the reference to a recently-release, massively-overrated movie would have been inescapable. And funnily enough my post on Overrated Things is just the previous post on this blog (that is to say, I thought I had written reams and reams of unimaginably funny prose after that, that this post would have gone deep into the December archives. It is still in the December archives. It's the only one there. There isn't even a January archive). Coming back to the point, I only regret that I couldn't title that post Slumdog Millionaire. Would have been so much more appropriate.
I will not talk about the sudden English-knowledge gaining of the slumdogs. I will not talk about the Chaiwala answering Call Centre calls (now you see why there's all those complaints about foreign callers being rude to our poor hard-working call centre people? Would you like the tea boy to clarify what the 2.03% additional charge on your credit-card bill is?). I will not talk about a random love story which starts when the kids are 5 (Oh pleeeease!!). I will not talk about the total lack of premise of the host wanting to trip up the upstart (It's not even his bloody money!) or his downright rudeness. I will not talk about the sacrilege about a movie with Anil Kapoor being ranked above A Clockwork Orange (and so many others). On top of it all, I will not talk about the Danny Boyle level-drop (Yes, today is my say-everything-in-brackets day. And hyphens)
I will talk about the background score. Quite lifting and racy, it's the one part of the film which deserves all the noise surrounding it (pun totally unintended). I will talk about the screenplay, because it takes quite an effort to stitch together what is basically a non-existent story into some sort of coherence. Though the premise that is provided for why he knows some of the answers is really quite well-tried (also known as 'acha koshish' in Tamil). I will talk about the kids, and their awesome bonding, after whose exit, you really can close your eyes and just tap your feet to the music alone. I will talk about... gosh, I really am out of other things worth mentioning.
It's not like I have an inherent problem with movies signifying 'hope' and 'spirit' and all that. I like movies with spirit. Like, Devadas, so much spirit in that (reference to title, my, I'm on a roll). It's just so crass an attempt to reach out to the 1.1-Billion market that India is in these times of recession . Once this becomes the basic idea, there simply had to be so much artificiality to just make it happen - an English film about India. There's no reason the movie can't be set in any of the Latin American countries and be called Millonario del tugurioperro. Spanish is quite popular in the US as well. For that matter, if it's supposed to be a stretched-reality movie, for those who don't want to call it fantasy, might as well have made an animated version of it. and released it with a PG rating. At least that way we're spared Dev Patel and Anil Kapoor staring at each other confused about who the villain is and who the hero.
You can see how the book would be nice (haven't read it though). The whole movie is made that way, flipping through page after page. That's ok in a book, the perceived screenplay in your head is the only screenplay. A movie with so much of the 'real deal' words used... really?
I think I would've actually liked the movie if it weren't for all this hype.
As it turns out, I think the only Indian movie that Danny Boyle can feel proud of as of now is Dev D. What. A. Totally. Unapologetic. Movie. Now that, is showing something no one knows, in a totally new, slightly psychedelic, new light. Since this is a post about Millineer, there shall be no further mention of Dev D. But, you know, it's brave. Absolutely brave. Too bad there's only a 'Special Thanks to Danny Boyle' in that. The man who made Trainspotting would've been proud of it. The man who sold out to make Slumdog, maybe not.
