Not another slum love story!

I kept putting off watching Slumdog Millionaire. You see, I’m an Indian who grew up on a staple diet of prancing heroes and heroines on the screen. The thot of yet another love, story even though this was mainly in English, put me off.

What about the awards, you see? Geez, I stopped trusting their judgment eons ago. There have been many a time I’ve wanted to bill those guys for my pricey cinema ticket, parking, petrol for cruising around looking for a parking lot, time wasted snoring through another crappy movie, etc. all thanks to their seal of approval.

When my sixteen year old nephew from JB said he wanted to watch Slumdog Millionaire, I was quite taken aback. He wanted to watch a “love movie”? Plus he’s at that stage when he tries to portray a cross between being cool and macho. Surprise, surprise. When you only see your nephew once in a very blue moon, you tend to be very agreeable to whatever he wants to do (at least most things).

Quite frankly, the movie took me aback. Perhaps it’s my age showing. After a while (or a long while in my case) you pay scant attention to reviews and don’t really bother to read up the usual battery of promo pieces that appears in the local papers. So, I didn’t know what the movie was really about.

I admit that I was captivated by the storyline. Weaving it in and out of a famous game show was pretty remarkable. The two little rascals who played the lead for half the movie were simply captivating. They were spot on portraying young lads who snatch as much pleasure out of life as possible. I could imagine many a boy in their situation making the same sharp, observant comments that reveals their acceptance of their current station in life, yet there is that spark that says they are not willing to stay down for good.

The bit that I wasn’t too crazy about in the movie was the whole beggar part . I had shut my eyes and cringed when they used the spoon to ….. If you don’t know go find out.

The whole portrayal may be true to some extent but I felt this “beggar syndicate” theme was suddenly being overused. Reason being I had recently just watched another movie (Tamil – Nan Kadavil) that used way too much of violence to depict how the totally heartless beggar syndicates work in India. But then, there are certain people who enjoy these scenes.

What about the love story, you ask. Well, that was, in my opinion, just humdrum. I’m willing to forgive them for making me watch that bit as the rest of the movie was good.

The love aspect just proves what an obsessive individual the hero is. It was pure infatuation all the way. As for the heroine, in retrospect, her lines weren’t that terrific. With or without her, the movie would have been great. On another note, the directors would have had my respect if they had had the guts to use a woman who was not half as attractive. I’ll just continue to dream on.

There is a short dance number that comes on just as the credits are rolling. My knowledgeable 12 year old nephew says it was highly rated by Mat Salleh standards. But he didn’t think so. By my Indian standards, it was a real yawn. Thot both hero and heroine were stiff and the moves were so terribly common. Did they get someone off the streets of Bollywood to teach them that one?

Am now wondering if I should read the book on which this movie was based. Has anyone got any recommendations?