Me & The Dog

Walking affords one of the greatest pleasures. Meeting new people. And animals. Really.

I started having conversation with one of the dogs that I came across yesterday. On being asked what his name was he said I could call him ‘Anything But Tommy’. I said “Great,  so ABT so what’s up?”

ABT said  “Nothing much. What’s the latest on Slumdog Millionaire”. “This is great, even you have started to follow the news about Slumdog…” I said.

“What do you mean?” answered ABT, “I was the first one to have an objection even before Big B made his views open on his blog. Too bad I cannot blog or I would have beat Big B to it.”

“Okay, so what is your stand on it and why are you piqued with Slumdog Millioniare?” I asked.

“H.H…I take offense to the title itself , what do they mean by “slumdog”, its an offense to the dog fraternity….you know.”

“Now, come on ABT, don’t be so square…it is just a phrase…like the dark horse or the underdog…know what I mean”.

“Ok, Ok, if that’s what you say it is…. again, I do not know why so much noise has been made out of this movie internationally.”

“Well, ABT, you will have to watch the movie to decide for yourself but I can tell you one thing… there must have been something in it for the international fraternity to have taken a fancy to it.”

“Oh, don’t tell me master, the international crowd is very weird. They must have liked the poverty and the miserable living conditions shown in the film. They are known for doing that, lapping up stuff like that… have you forgotten Ray’s “Pather Panchali”, Mira Nair’s “Salaam Bombay” ooops I must say Mumbai here, that Raj Thackeray guy is a force to reckon with nowadays. Also, don’t you think, A.R.Rehman has done tremendous stuff on sound and music earlier.”

It’s Written… :D

I remember the first time I saw it. Slumdog Millionaire that is.

I am sure you know about Slumdog Millionaire right? NO? Where the Hell have you BEEN, my friend? Stop yanking my chain! Ofcourse you know about it.

Movie:

Slumdog Millionaire inspires awe and is truly a great movie and well-deserving of all the accolades it’s received this awards season.  I highly recommend it, with one very strong caveat — you must have a very strong constitution to view this film, especially Indians.  Several scenes depicting the conditions in the poorest parts of India are absolutely awful to watch, especially early in the movie. For the average Indian who thinks that nationality lies in making sure that the other side of ‘shining India’ is not seen, the scenes are not very palatable.

Director Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Trainspotting) does a masterful job handling an intense subject and the young Indian actors make the most of their performances.  But it’s the writer, a British guy named Simon Beaufoy who has adapted a novel by Vikas Swarup, who shines.  Slumdog Millionaire opens with a police inspector in Mumbai aggressively interrogating Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), a former street child. Jamal is a contestant on the game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati (the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?), hosted by Prem Kumar (noted Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor). Jamal has made it to the final question, but the police are now accusing him of cheating.