This movie is so full of it. The teenage kids can't act, the stereotypes are beaten to death and the juxtapositions are ridiculous. Life in the slums could not have been exaggerated, romanticized and yet contradicted into a weird concoction worse than this movie has.
The only way to watch the movie is to not take it seriously (as Boyle does sporadically); even though it deals with communal riots, child abuse, gangsters, sexual violence, poverty, social prejudice etc. After all, it dares to break into a self-mocking song and dance in the end of it all. "Hey, they are just celebrating the spirit of the youth and the triumph of the underdog! Just chill, will ya?" Sure.
I wonder what people like Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay) and Dev Benegal (Split Wide Open) have to say about this clueless caricature that deals with topics that are too many even for a quiz-game show.
PS. I liked the background score, though.
Posts
9 comments:
I agree with your review.
The movie is escapist and very poorly acted. Because of the former, I could not take it seriously and because of the latter, I did not find it entertaining.
Coming to think of it, this movie is like a poorly made Shankar movie. The "grisly scenes showing social evils in India" are quite analogous to Shankar-film-flashback-scenes.
I was initially surprised by the critical acclaim this movie received. But, I think I understand why -- To put it simply, it matches with the reviewers' mental model of India.
kaasu kuduthu paathaya illa usual torrent ?:)
The torrent is not out yet (DVDSCRs perhaps). I saw this movie a month ago in a theatre. I didn't feel like the money was wasted or anything, but the recent hype got to me.
danny boyle in an interview here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Jpuqz98wc
-dinesh
you didnt like?? This means it must be a good movie
Happy New Year wishes to you!
Eagerly waiting for your roast on Vaaranam Aayiram :)
Hi Suresh,
I recently happened to listen to ur podcasts in Podbazaar. It was good and your receipe videos too. keep up the work.
Yeah, just saw the film. The stereotypes are surely beaten to death. I mean, in how many films have we seen the famous 'train scene' where somebody comes running last and gets left out? Oh, there's just so much to complain about in the film. The first half-hour, I though, made for some decent entertainment. A theme like this, I thought, could have been handled more intelligently and realistically. The same thought I had after watching Ghajini. And its slightly embarrassing that the film has been nominated for an Oscar.
Thank you Thank you Suresh. I finally found a mind that thinks like I do.
What an absolute waste of everyone's time!!
Idha poi periya mayiraattam kondaadi...adhukku virudhu kuduthu...make it seem like the world has not seen anything like the poverty porn shown in this movie....
Except A.R.Rahman's work...there is nothing left in this crock full of shit....M***Pudinginga...
Vellakaara attitude is...any movie that orgasm-atizes their bleeding hearts will be given an oscar....
Any event that orgasm-atizes their "anti"-anti-semitism will be the most sensational thing(26/11(sic))....
Post a Comment