Slumdog Millionaire / Potty Dive

I decided to watch Slumdog Millionaire yesterday — since it’s about Mumbai & had won the critic’s choice award at the Golden Globes this year.

Well, the movie has great screenplay… It was gripping enough for me to watch it without wondering about time. Pluses would include good acting & a realistic portrayal of the dark & violent underbelly of Mumbai. But the plot has quite a few holes which I didn’t expect from a highly rated movie (#40 on the IMDB list). Also I am not sure what I should be taking away from the movie. Jamaal’s story, if it was about an underdog triumphing against all odds wasn’t inspiring enough. It tells us about poverty, crime & their unholy nexus but we already know about it. Also some scenes being shot in English while others in Hindi didn’t go too well for me. Why not completely in Bambaiya Hindi (at least as a version for the Indian audience)? I cannot say much about the music since Rahman’s scores were fleeting during the movie & would require separate listening.

This movie might well appeal to the West as they can see poverty, slums, filth, crime & prostitution alongside posh call centres & reality game shows promising millions. The proverbial – India with all its contradictions! Was I expecting more from the movie? Definitely since it is being billed as a contender for an Oscar or two!

Anyway, I think I’ll remember the movie the most for young Jamaal’s potty dive. It deserves 10/10 for its gross factor. The scene goes -
Young Jamaal is in a make-shift rickety public toilet attending to his business when he hears a frenzy building up outside, where, apparently Amitabh Bachchan is arriving in a helicopter. Since the door seems to be locked from outside, he decides to make his way out from the only accessible opening – the one below. He holds a dog-eared photograph of Amitabh (which he was carrying to the loo) high above his head & covers his nose with the other & dives into the pool of shit. The photograph survives the ordeal while Jamaal goes head deep. He wades out, covered in shit & runs into the gathering crowd which hastily gives way on being elbowed by shit boy. Unchallenged, he triumphantly runs upto to ‘Amitabh’ & gets that dream autograph on his only clean possession!

I daresay this scene promises to became as infamous as the ear cutting scene from Reservoir Dogs. I am wondering – is it the ‘dog’ moniker which invites such scenes to movies!?

Go watch

Update: I read that the Indian version is called Slumdog Crorepati (WTF?) & is completely in Hindi. The movie (both versions) releases in India on Jan 23, 2008.

Chennai: First impressions

Ho hum I’ve landed in Chennai & been here for almost two weeks; here are some first impressions -

1. The weather is not as bad as I made it out to be (This is not saying much since it’s Winter & the papers say that some ‘coldest day’ records are tumbling!)
2. People on the streets are helpful & even go out of their way to assist you
3. Public transport seems to be good. Bus service is regular & connects plenty of places. There are dedicated shared rickshaws (the big four-stroke variety running on LPG) which join nearby points.
4. The city gives the impression of being only a big South Indian city & not a metro. It is still behind Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad & Chandigarh in terms of impact value.
5. Real estate & food are not as cheap as I thought. Same as Bangalore perhaps! (Cost of living going up)
6. The working population is largely Tamilian. I was used to the Mumbai mix…
7. Any random guy you meet & want to address is a ‘Saar’(sir). I have had educated middle aged men addressing me in this fashion

That’s all I can think of. More as i go along…