Review - Slumdog Millionaire: Emotions - all in one

There are very few times that you go to watch a movie and you get to smile, feel sad, excited, dreamy and fall in love all at the same time. Slumdog Millionaire gives you all that and much more. In a unique setup the movie is so close to real life and at the same time takes you on a fantasy flight.

It’s fast paced and touches upon big issues (like poverty, slums, religious riots, beggars of Mumbai, young criminals) in bits but still succeeds in making a huge impact on the viewers. The brilliantly shot chase sequence at the start sets you right into this fast moving story. The brilliant background music sets the tone for rest of the journey. I loved the way Hindi is used in the start of the movie to bring the authentic experience for the viewers.

Smart use of background score helps you in shifting to completely different scenarios with ease. There are very few movies that can make you feel the pain, joy and emotions as the scenes flip by but Slumdog Millionaire does that with simplicity. The work put into making the movie be it script, story, screenplay or the music shows. All of this has been backed by excellent direction and brilliant acting by everyone. I tried hard to find a weak character in the movie but failed.

Though it walks through some of the most complex situations yet it is a very simple movie and I believe that is what you would experience while watching it. The switch from Hindi to English comes as a bump on a road but again you are eased through the change with help of good background music. And for those who think that an illiterate kid on Indian streets cannot speak English you surely haven't been to Mumbai. The climax will give you a heightened sense of achievement, winning, content, sacrifice and excitement; and just like the rest of movie, all at the same time!

Director Danny Boyle has pulled of an absolute peach of a movie. I am sure Co-Director Loveleen Tandan has helped him in capturing the right kind of Mumbai setup for the movie, which is the essence of the story. Another thing that makes Slumdog Millionaire a unique experience is the brilliant screenplay, thanks to Simon Beaufoy. All the actors look in control of their character be it Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Tanay Chheda or the kids Azharuddin and Ayush. Anil Kapoor pulls off his role brilliantly. Remember he was supposed to fill in the shoes of Amitabh Bachhan and Shahrukh Khan as game show host, but then he twists it around and adds his own touch to the character. Convincing you that being in Bollywood for more than 2 decades he knows his business. The real star of the movie is A R Rahman with his superb background score especially the pieces "O Saya" and "Latika's Theme" which you will end up humming long after the movie is over.

Thinking about the movie on my way back to home I was caught up in confusion if it is a movie about dreams, hope, sore relations, the reality of life of a slumdog or is it about the luck of a random boy. I am convinced that it is about all that but more than that it is about love. Yes it is a love story.