EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY….SLUMDOG’S WAS AT THE OSCAR’S!

While the world recovers from the recently contracted “Slumdog” fever, the topic of the film getting 8 Oscars is fast becoming a favourite discussion topic. Much has been said in appreciation of the film, but the number of those who deny to attach any importance to the incident(it winning so much at Kodak theatre in LA) is too large to be ignored. I have not talked about this before even if I’ve seen the film myself, but that’s just because it wasn’t such a big deal then.Its basically a rags-to-riches story, the meaning of the phrase being completely literal! The direction is undoubtedly good, but at its core, it is just a drama. Just the perfect blend of that perfect filmi masala that the audience, not only in India, but all over the world savour to their hearts’ content! It is its story which has been responsible for the film’s major success, and no-one can take away credit from the original script author, Vikas Swarup.
Now, to be frankly speaking, I didn’t expect the film to get to the Oscars at all. And I can bet, that 99.99% of the people who saw it before it became such a larger-than-life thing, will share my views. So then we must ask ourselves, how did it happen? Was it really that good and we didn’t even notice it? What was that X factor that made things work for it in California? And the answer I get, from myself, and almost all of whom I’ve discussed it with, is that because is director is a foreigner, and it is a foreign film, it succeeded. Now one of my friends has just written much about the same topic just before 2 days on her blog. Many more ppl have talked about it….I’ve just enlisted the crucial points….

We should not appreciate a film which shows India in such a bad perspective.
The film just shows the gruesome side of India. Its as if it’s a land of sins. How can this symbolize India?
The film is basically by a foreigner, made for foreigners. Indians appreciate it because it’s the common impulse of the much exploited Indian mind to copy whatever has been done in the west.

I’ll handle one point at a time. Now the first view is quite ridiculous. Lets enlist a few “hit” films which have been appreciated by us. Company, Vaastav, Page 3, Traffic Signal, Water ,…the list will go on. Now I don’t think that these films showed India to be a land of sages at all! Didn’t all of them had the gruesome realities in the country? Then what’s wrong with Slumdog? Basically, it just shows the side of India, which we won’t like to see at all. The reason why we get upset is that we DON’T WANT to see that side. We are afraid. We like the monsters to remain in the closet……
As far as symbolizing India goes, its just a classic case of hypocrisy. In a scene in the film, it shows a foreigner lady giving money to the boy, saying, “This is America”……Don’t you think that the director has very cleverly shown the mentality of the two countries by just one effective incident? To understand my point just try to remember the previous line in the scene…..the taxi driver says , “ this is India madam…” after he sees that the car has been dismantled and parts stolen……Isn’t this a fair summary by the man? Do we treat foreigners in our country fairly? Lets take our very own(!) rickshawvalla’s….anybody heard of a rickshaw driver taking 500 Rs from a foreigner for a journey that takes a minute and a half? Or ask the mother of the girl who was murdered in Goa after she was raped……And as far as the America part in that scene, there’s no need for us to get angry, for this is the way Uncle Sam thinks he can do anything in the whole damn world! Its just a low blow!
I think the 3rd point is also not that correct. For 1 thing, the original concept is by an Indian. So patriots, take a chill pill! As for the Indian mind is concerned, its not correct to make such a sweeping conclusion for all people, for this country has the world finest people!

Now that doesn’t mean that I support Slumdog winning the Oscars. I think it was a fluke that it got the coveted knight. But as a single entity, the film’s fine! And as far as Rahman winning the award is concerned…hats off to you man! Finally the world has known what India knew when that man gave us the magical tracks of Roja, Bombay, Taal, RDB….that he is the best. He had to get it sometime!!!! So cheers Slumdog team, you’ve won damn big rubber this year! This may be the year of your lives!

A "Capital" Disappointment!

Hey guys....am back after a long long time....its just that life had kept me busy, and all the contact I had with the world of the internet, was the ocassional checking of my inbox, which due to my complete apathetic attitude, was filled with trash, spam and junk! But now I'm back and ready to dazzle all of you with my supreme intelligence!(I know this is cheesy...but what the hell....its good to be back to blogging!)
It so happened that after the systematic and periodic torture that our college had planned under the pretence of "Mid-Sem" examinations(!!!), we friends decided to go to Delhi-6 on the day of its release. Looking at the promos and the star cast and the crew, we had high expectations, to say the least! I mean can't we expect even a good film from a man who made RDB? The answer came to us after sitting through two and a half hours of quite boring, seemingly unriveting drama, which neither had the story to nudge the interest of the viewers, nor any titanic performers or performances. To cut a long story short, Delhi-6 is a huge disappointment. The topic, the life in Delhi 6,Chandni Chowk, has a lot of potential. But it is surprising how unskillfully it is handled. There aren't any mind-numbing scenes to rattle you, nor any instances that will intrigue. There are some humorous moments, but most of them are a result of the situations and not the story. And the biggest failure is the script. It progresses at literally at a snail's pace in the initial part. The middle part is ok, but the writer has lost it completely in the end. I mean, it just doesn't appeal you. The black monkey thing, and the media coverage, with people's reactions and the stupid discussions on the subject by ignorant minds, is the most bearable part.
As for the cast, Abhishek does well, but nothing worth remembering. I mean, don't even dare compare Aamir in RDB with him. Sonam Kapoor looks beautiful, and has acted OK. Atul Kulkarni's talent has been wasted in my opinion. The rest have acted their parts with due efforts. Rehman's music fails to rescue the Delhi-6 ship, which has been badly damaged by the story. "Masakali" , may be the year's best, but people can just download it or whatever!
All in all, it boils down to this...DO NOT see in thetres. Maybe a dvd...if you have to see Sonam/Abhishek(!). Take my advice...just get the music.....this one's isn't worth all the trouble!