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.
13 comments:
achcheeeeeeeeee koshish :P
Amen to the post.
Amen to the post scriptish post.
Shame on DB to have let down a die-hard fan! Are you gonna change your blog name now? :P
Akshay,
Knew you would get it :)
N,
Nope, no name-changing. He still made that one, no one can take it away from him. And DB? We're that pally-pally with him? :)
Oooh, oooh, can I add:
- I thought they never established a reason for Anil Kapoor's character's actions. His character seemed random. Also I think a few things are never possible with reference to him: A game show host would never be so mean on air to a participant, especially one like our man. A game show host does not have the kind of power to arrange for a participant to get kidnapped and interrogated, especially when there are probably so many other people in the production house. Also, there is no way that a game show will have a break before the participant gives the answer rather than after. It's just not done. And even if that were to happen, the participant can't just happily go to the loo and have chit chat with the host. There would just be too many ways to cheat.
- The characters suddenly speaking such perfect English: They could have had them speaking English from the beginning. That way, the audience can take it as a dramatic illusion that the characters are actually speaking in their native language. That's the way Indian novels in English work. They're written in English, but we assume that the characters speak the native language.
- The whole call centre sequence was also a bit hard to buy. How come everyone was so friendly with the chai wallah? How was he adept enough to do the job? And why was that teacher randomly flirting with him? Pseud!
- I thought the fact that Latika knew how to drive and could just take a car and get out of that guy's house in the end was hard to believe. I mean, if it was that easy, she would have escaped before.
- I thought the brother's major remorse and sacrifice and killing self business was hajaar inconsistent with his character.
Okay, that's all I can think of now.
Manasi,
First three is what I said. With brevity. Driving couldn't happen till she had the key, but the ramdomaaaax character-flip of the brother... trippy, to say the least.
acha koshish is hindi no?
Berhael made my point :P
honestly I didnt even notice the soundtrack when I saw the movie in theatre. AR has done much better.
Obba da!
He is namma good friend Deebee now that he's performed for India on the academy front. I heard he's been spotted hanging out at potti kadais. Deebee with a beedi.
Berhael and Dharik,
No. AchEEE Koshish, is Hindi. Acha Khosish (khosees, to be more correct), is Tamil ;)
N,
What sort of a name is N? And ya, I think we can accept Danny Boy as one of our own now. Like we always do when someone gets an award.
The sort that conceals as much as it reveals? N paeru. :P
N,
That's al fine, but this is the age of revealing, and open source and all that. So, reveal.
The whole movie is over-rated.
Kaber,
Yep, that's the basic message.
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