|| Slumdog Millionaire | Danny Boyle | Dev Patel ||

[lancelot]

This film is getting rave reviews everywhere Inga eppa release aagumo

international release is in November i think, so.. will have to wait til next year to get the DVD... damn!!!

hehe

[senthilv.com]

Hi Guys:

SlumDog millionaire review:

SOME SPOILERS:

I saw the film in Toronto International film festival on the last day screening for People choice award. The theater had a capacity of 1400 and it was full.

This is it. After all the talk about Indian film crossing over. I think we have a WINNER. Only ironic thing it is a Hollywood production!

This is mainstream film. It is not apologetic about it and pushes every available buttons. It works at so many levels and I think is freaking awesome.

Before I go into the film. ARR score is brilliant. He clearly understood the energy, tempo and pace of the film and has given an excellent score. I think working with Shankar and Maniratnam would have enabled him to smoothly transition into this type of film. I actually did not know the score is by ARR when I walked in but soon it became very clear that it is him.

ARR & Danny have used M.I.A "The Paper planes" song to an awesome effect! Danny Boyle(Director) said he couldn't have gotten ARR in millions years but was lucky to get him on board.

There are couple of songs in the film that I can remember. There might have been more but played only for short amount of time.

The Romantic/love song and the final song by Sukhwinder won the hearts of the audience. There was actually too much roar too totally feel the song so I will have to listen to it again to form a definitive opinion but the music went great with the film.

Ok coming back to film...

This film is almost all Indian cast and is total Indian-Bollywood-Kollywood-Tollywood masala. The even speak HINGLISH!! The main difference is it is directed by Danny Boyle but what a difference it made! The screenplay is actually bit worse than our filmmakers can come up with but it is was good enough for Danny boyle to exploit it to the hilt. For Tamil audience the film can feel like Maniratnam film meets Shankar film and I'm not kidding!!

Here's where it differs from "normal" Bollywood films.

1) Well acted/itched characters. Realistic performances. Especially the kids (they are the star of the film!)
2) Although it can feel repetitive towards the end, the structure of the film is innovative (helps hide some bad part of the screenplay)
3) Nice, clever, engaging dialogue.
4) Excellent Direction by Danny Boyle. I'm sure our directors will scratch their heads after seeing the film thinking.... I could have done that. But the beauty of the film is the realistic performance that Danny Boyle got out of a totally melodramatic story. Also his idea to tell the slum boys story from slum guys point of view rather than with a pity OMG-POOR-slum-kids outlook totally kicked the movie to a higher realm.

I'm not even gonna go into his shot conception and narration but I can safely say Danny did his homework watched Indian directors works. I'm guessing he watched Maniratnam's "Bombay" tons of times. I couldn't avoid noticing the imprint of Mani's signature especially in some of the scenes involving the kids! He also seems bit influenced by RGV.

Bottomline, the film tries to tell a melodramatic story realistically except for the final song! IMO, Western audience is gonna love the ending song more than Indian audience but I might be wrong. After all, for them what's Bollywood movie without a song and dance right? Most of them were clapping and dancing at the end of the movie. It was a bit surreal and electrifying to see a western audience respond to an Indian story like that.

More western audience is going to love it and I think Indian audience is gonna love it too. I highly recommend it.

[directhit]

Before I go into the film. ARR score is brilliant. He clearly understood the energy, tempo and pace of the film and has given an excellent score. I think working with Shankar and Maniratnam would have enabled him to smoothly transition into this type of film. I actually did not know the score is by ARR when I walked in but soon it became very clear that it is him.

ARR & Danny have used M.I.A "The Paper planes" song to an awesome effect! Danny Boyle(Director) said he couldn't have gotten ARR in millions years but was lucky to get him on board.

There are couple of songs in the film that I can remember. There might have been more but played only for short amount of time.

The Romantic/love song and the final song by Sukhwinder won the hearts of the audience. There was actually too much roar too totally feel the song so I will have to listen to it again to form a definitive opinion but the music went great with the film.

WOW

[Querida]

I've read "Q & A" by Vikas Swarup...so am quite curious on how movie is going to be like....M.I.A.'s music also I have heard some songs before...not an avid fan enough to recount song titles and all that...i have seen sunshine...it was amazing...still one of my fave movies...watched it on the airplane and had a good cry...

[littlemaster1982]

SenthilV, you made my day

[A.ANAND]

simple and powerfull review by senthilv

[Ramakrishna]

Has our thalaivar scored even the BGM for this film?

[littlemaster1982]

[littlemaster1982]

Another glowing review

Telluride Review: Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire

Alex Billington

Do you believe in destiny? Last night I caught the world premiere at Telluride of Danny Boyle's latest film, Slumdog Millionaire, and it was an absolute blast. I haven't been this thoroughly entertained at a film festival since I saw The Escapist at Sundance in January. At its core, Slumdog is a love story about a boy who just won't give up, but it's wrapped around his short life story about winning the Hindi version of the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" game show. The film is a two hour lesson on Indian culture taught vividly by Danny Boyle and adorned by beautiful cinematography and an incredible music selection. However, it's still one of the most excitingly cultured mainstream films that's all about life, love, and destiny.

Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), an orphaned child from the slums of Mumbai, India, who is one question away from winning "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" When the final question is pushed to the next day, Jamal is arrested on suspicion of cheating and questioned by the police to explain how he knew all of the answers. The film then proceeds to tell his life story, from the time he was a little kid until that very moment, explaining that experiences throughout his life helped him specifically answer every last question - destiny. We discover in the end that he just never gave up in his pursuit to find a girl who he has been in love with all his life, Latika (Freida Pinto).

This film was a pleasing combination of the realism of City of God, the comedy of Darjeeling Limited, and the style of Danny Boyle. There was never a dull moment throughout the entire thing, compliments of Mr. Boyle, whose filmmaking I already love. Boyle is something of an acquired taste, although I wish he wasn't. Like Guy Ritchie, he's got a very distinct and unique style to his films that some will enjoy, others will despise. I think Slumdog Millionaire can definitely push its way to mainstream success and it will be greeted with open arms, all because it's such an entertaining, fun, and upbeat movie.

That style which I speak so highly of involves very colorful cinematography, fast-paced action, songs and a score that add even more energy to many moments in the film, and a storytelling style that differs from almost every other indie filmmaker. If you can appreciate this kind of style, mixed into one of the most uplifting and charming stories all year, despite it's riddled with the occasional torture or riot, you'll end up loving Slumdog Millionaire as much as I did. I've never even really liked Bollywood either, but by the credits at the end, where the entire cast breaks out into a dance number, even I was enthralled by this wonderful finale. Slumdog is another wonderful film from the creative genius of Danny Boyle.

Telluride Rating: 9 out of 10

[littlemaster1982]

TIFF Review: Slumdog Millionaire

John Allison

You will not hear me say this often when it comes to a review of a movie but I do not believe I can do Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire justice in a review. I could star listing of hyperbole after hyperbole and I would not be exaggerating one bit on how I feel about this movie. This is the movie that has made TIFF worthwhile by itself for me and I can’t recommend it strong enough.

The movie starts with Jamal, played by Dev Patel being tortured by a Irfan Khan, the police inspector. He wants to know how someone from the slums could be able to answer so many questions correctly on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. After Jamal is unwilling to admit to cheating during the torture they put him in front of a TV and one by one they go through the questions with him explaining how he knew the answers. Using this premise Danny Boyle is able to provide the audience with one of the most truthful, heartfelt stories that is so much more than the simple romance which it could have been.

One by one Jamal explains how he grew up with his brother Salim in the slums and how they became orphans and how they were taken in by gangsters who had the worst of intentions when it came to the young boys. We see time and time again Latika played by Freida Pinto come and go from Jamal’s life. All of his life in the slums of India have lead him to this point has lead him to where he is today. And each flashback gives beautifully told glimpses into the life of the poor in India as well as being a wonderful story.

I have yet to see Millions but I had heard before going in that Danny Boyle had a knack for getting the best out of child actors and I now fully believe it. Question by question we see Jamil, Salim and Latika age in front of us. We see them during their times of happiness and during the moments in their lives when everything has been turned upside down on them. Never once did I question the emotions and the acting of any of these children. Each and everyone of them were near perfect in their roles. Never once did question the love Jamil had for Latika nor how Salim could end up on a dark path.

It has been a while since a movie has touched me like Slumdog Millionaire did and from the reaction of the audience I am not alone. The applause for it was thunderous and I have never seen an audience clap along with the music in the closing credits. Danny Boyle has truly succeeded in creating a pitch perfect wonderful optimistic yet truthful movie that I am going to watch over and over again for a great many years.