English (A)
Cast: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan
Director: Danny Boyle
Ten Oscar nominations and four Golden Globes! Looks like everyone whose opinion counts has spoken. That’s the penalty a delayed release levies on reviewers - a predisposed audience. So we better like it or have serious grievances and iron-clad defendable points.
That isn't my problem because I LIKED IT, this dark, quirky yet romantic movie.
‘You’re on your own’, says Prem (the mean-spirited game show host played by Anil Kapoor) and so you are, as you follow the travails of a boy who goes from living in a slum to becoming a millionaire. A ruthless, but touching story about two brothers, Salim and Jamal Malik, who make it big chasing their individual obsessions. Salim, ‘eldest of the family’, wants money and power while Jamal wants to reunite with Latika, his childhood sweetheart.
In their determined pursuits, the boys take us through slums alongside railway tracks; through communal riots, brothels, gang wars and gameshows. Danny Boyle does India no favours in his portrayal of a cruel, danger-ridden Mumbai, but he tells no lies either. The story has everything we have grown up watching – sinister villains, gallant heros, brothers pitted against each other – and in the middle of it all – a desperate love story. So dont be surprised if this UK stuff pales in comparison to our home-grown Bollywood drama. I was more 'emotionally' invovled watching Jab We Met than this. But then I am a drama queen in real life. I wont take it out on Danny boy if he didn't make me cry.
There are a few inconsistencies, however, such as 18-year-old Jamal’s Scottish accent, Salim’s sudden change of heart and the one-crore game show being converted to a 20-million rupee, ‘live’ one. Why did the movie suddenly switch to forced English second half. Clearly this movie wasn't intended for Indians, we're just a by-the-bye bonus. Hurrrmph. But it thoroughly entertains, nonetheless. As Irrfan Khan, who plays the role of a police inspector interrogating Jamal, summarises – ‘It is bizarrely plausible’.
Music by Rehman lends satire and pathos, perfect in its seamless integration with the narrative. But again, dont expect to be 'blown' away. We, who've been heard everything from Roja to Rangeela to Yuva, know this man is capable of much more. Yet, it makes me very happy he is getting recognition like he is now. (As an aside, Rehmad so represents diverse India. He is a South India singing in Hindi, a Hindu converted to Muslim. Love strange stuff like this.)
The cast looks and plays each part adequately, particularly Madhur Mittal as the older Salim and Anil Kapoor. If Dev Patel as Jamal is convincing at all (which he barely was), it is thanks to the younger actors (Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) and their astounding control over a wide range of emotions, who give context to their older counterparts.
Boyle’s direction is understated and it is something akin to a thrill to catch his genius in a cinematically perfect shot, in dogged chases, in an opera seen between the audiences feet or in a flashback played backwards (when Jamal traces Latika's scar).
The fast, rivetting pace of the movie has rightly earned the editing team an Academy nomination. The movie would never have worked if not for editing team. It made a very predictable plot interesting. In fact I wasn't particularly excited by the screenplay. I am sure the book was very boring. And Jamal should not have won in the end. If you haven't seen if and are mad I spoilt it for you, I dont care. Shame on you, actually.
With so much talent coming together to create this piece of good cinema, ‘Best Picture’ is the most telling of all nominations.
Rating: *** 1/2 and maybe even ****. It's long since I saw it, nearly three weeks.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment