Slumdog Millionaire...

It so happens to me that, many books in my personal collection and those that I have read have plots that form the storyline of a major blockbuster later. Be it Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Namesake' or Mariane Pearl's 'A Mighty Heart' or Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code' and many more. I don't know why but the words sinks in better for me or is it because after reading a book, I form my own framework and don't like it to be altered for good or for not-so-good.

Recently while reading an article on the internet, it freshened my mind that I had read something on similar lines, about a year back. What's that?

Well, those who have read the Vikas Swarup's spectacular debut novel, Q&A can read my mind. It's the story of Ram Mohammad Thomas, a (don't be surprised about the name, the book has more details.) poor orphan who can't read a newspaper and has never attended school but goes on to win India's biggest quiz show, Who Will Win a Billion? answering all twelve questions on dot to the point. Each chapter in this book untangles how an incident or episode in the deprived individual's life provided an answer to each question.

Plot is brilliant and it's the story of struggle between good and evil, a reality check by a very young boy who has no other choice in life but to survive.

Now from what I can make out from the plot line of Danny Boyle's 'Slumdog Millionaire' is that it has dotted link to Q&A's plot. I may be correct or in-correct in my view because I have not seen the movie, just guessing from what I have read so far.



The chief protagonists are Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), his brother Salim and Latika played in her adult avatar by Freida Pinto. The movie 'Slumdog Millionaire' is quickly finding a widespread audience and has been acknowledged world over though its casting list is a bit obscure for now, leave apart Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan. Freida Pinto who had made a few TV appearances and hosted a travel show is making her debut with this movie.

Pinto feels that "Slumdog" captures the Mumbai she knows better than any film she's seen, despite its having been directed by a Brit (although Tandan, who receives a co-director credit for the film, was apparently instrumental in making sure dialogue and situations were culturally accurate).

As for her own work, Pinto says, "It was literally like I'd put in 22 years of research, just everything I'd seen in my life, without knowing I would ever do a film like "Slumdog".

You know, my name is Latika.



The frames marvel of color and music and life in Boyle’s Mumbai. The scenes of kids running, jumping, scaling trash heaps expresses the existential climate that thrives in one part of the metropolis. That's reality and you and I know that. The music is downright Rahmanistic. Isn't it, try it yourself.



The movie is already out there in theaters, and methinks I will go and watch this movie in the cinema hall. Are you going too?

Keep reading and remain connected.

Rajni, Rajni, Rajni...

I guess, by now everyone would have heard about Rajni's blockbuster Sivaji:The Boss and the kind of hysteria it created among the fans. I even read in the newspapers that some die-hard enthusiasts actually flew from Chennai to New Delhi just because all the tickets were sold out. That's the power and the trademark of this man, Rajni, the second highest paid actor in Asia after Jackie Chan and highest in India.

His films, which are famous for their tastelessly showy and flashy costumes, humorous locutions, jhakas on the fly rustic punch lines and best are his hallmark tricks, that would even put the Hollywood sci-fi flick directors to shame. And not to mention his stunts, that defy the laws of Physics out rightly. A few of those out of the world mind-boggling tricks, which are big money grossers, are here. But whatever be the case, this chap rules the emotions of the people and is given the stature of a demi-god. Put in a direct way, it is best to freeze your incredulity in the grotesque and ludicrously odd actions and simply surrender to the amusement of the scenes.

Hey its not that his stunts are goosy, trite characterizations, he applies the laws in a way that we would not have thought about. If you don't believe me, just check the snapshot below for an abstract application of the famous Pythagoras Theorem.


I have not seen many of his movies but what I hear is that in Rajni's movies, reason sleeps. So what? It's the same in many of the Hollywood and Bollywood movies too. That they never get the science right is almost beside the point, movies are a mode of entertainment and art and if this medium succeeds by tapping the power of transcend to explore the relationship between human beings and technology and provides amusement to the target audience, that's perfectly Ok. Methinks so.

Rajni is an accomplished craftsman and what most distinguishes him from his contemporaries is his imagination, his vision to fuse all the disparate elements of filmmaking into whole new worlds and most importantly his ability to understand his target audience and touch their hearts.

If you do not believe me, check this.


Keep reading and remain connected.

Kish ne Kish ke LEE....

For those interested in cricket with this lack luster World Cup going on, in the Caribbean Isles, Australia continues to kick ass all the teams but lets hope all is not over yet. This World Cup produced some unexpected surprises in the very starting. Or those surprises were expected?

But there is this brilliant chap, Brett Lee who missed the World Cup as he was suffering from an ankle injury. After missing World Cup, Brett Lee didn’t leave his attitude of keeping the 'batsmen-ass-on-fire' even when he was off the field and planted his ass on a safe turf for a successful post-retirement career.

Lee, who penned, sang and appeared in the romantic duet 'You're The One For Me' along with Bollywood singer Asha Bhonsle, has plans to cut his album in India by the end of this year.

But Lee's journey from cricket will not take him into the television commentary box, but instead the sprawling studio lots of the world's biggest and most lucrative movie industry.The 29-year-old self-confessed Indophile was offered a lead role in a lavish Bollywood production when he visited Mumbai on his way home from Australia's tour of Bangladesh this year.

The notion was floated by none other than Amitabh Bachchan, or the Big B as he is more widely known, one of the biggest and most recognisable stars in India's huge film and television industries.

Source: Australian News.

Lee knows he can rake in the maximum moolah in India, so he left no stone unturned in his preparation. Lee is busy doing lot of AD's for many luxury products and business houses also. Fundu and timely action, with all the advertisement houses no more running after the 'Men-In-Blue' after their jhaakas performance in the World Cup. So Lee is bang on target, definitely more bang than he can take.

Keep reading and remain connected.

Can Turbulent "Water" Make It.

Bringing Water to life has been a painful voyage both in real and in reel life. The recent Cauvery Tribunal verdict caused some amount of uproar and there is more to come. As one of my blogmates, Aaman points probably the roots of the English words 'river' and 'rivalry' stem from the same source. Somewhat like swimming through turbulent waters marred with protests, violence and even death threats, Deepa Mehta who has a reputation for liking hot potatoes made it to the shore with a film.

Yes, yes a film named "Water" [ don’t you feel even the words 'water' and 'war' are linked in a deceptive way.] that is being hailed as her best in the trilogy by critics. "Water" is the third part of an elemental trilogy starting with "Fire" which tackled lesbianism, and then "Earth", covering a sensitive subject of India's partition.

To talk about the movie in short. It’s a period piece on the Indian widows in the 1930s. It begins with eight-year-old Chuyia being sent to a home where Hindu widows must live in penitence. Chuyia's presence affects the lives of the other residents, including a young widow, who falls for an idealistic young man. A neat analytical review of the movie and the story line can be read here.

Why suddenly "Water" has come to limelight now ?

Because, with Oscar awards just round the corner [25th Feb’07], speculation over Deepa Mehta's "Water" winning the Oscar is high in the Best Foreign Language Film category. After "Rang De Basanti"'s dis-qualification Indians have set their hope on "Water".

But Deepa’s movie is now a Canadian entry for the Academy Awards. Canada, is the country where Deepa, a director of Indian origin is based, chose "Water" as its Oscar contender. It is the first time a film in a language other than French that Canada has chosen for the Best Foreign Language Film category from its side. Water was shot in Hindi.

Now the question comes a movie shot in Hindi by a director of Indian origin, based on an Indian storyline but still how come Canada is projecting it.

Mehta began filming "Water" in India at Varanasi in 1999, but was forced to stop after an outcry from local leaders and nationalists who smashed sets and threatened the crew on grounds of making a film on a very controversial issue. The Uttar Pradesh government withdrew the film's location permits as mobs stormed the ghats along the Ganges, destroying the film's sets and burning effigies of Mehta.

But Deepa was not to be deterred.

She looked at many places but found Sri Lanka closer to what she was looking for. The same kind of lushness and the water ponds but the only thing lacking was the ghats. The production designer and his team did an incredible job in creating the ghats. Because of the changing dates and all this brouhaha, even the original cast got changed. Seema Biswas of “Bandit Queen” fame replaced Shabana Azmi. John Abraham and Lisa Ray took over the roles originally marked for Akshay and Nandita Das.

The director's Indian origin and cast of Indian stars like Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas and John Abraham have evoked patriotism and support from the 'desis' junta round the globe and lets see if “ Water” can clinch the award. Keeping fingers crossed.

The other four in contest for the same category are "After The Wedding" (Denmark), "Days Of Glory" (Algeria), "The lives Of Others" (Germany) and "Pan's Labyrinth" (Mexico). Do you know that even the movie “After The Wedding” has an Indian connection?

Though born and raised in Denmark, Jacob Peterson made a life for himself in India, where he runs an orphanage for homeless children. While Jacob cares little for money, raising funds is part of the responsibilities of his position, and when he learns that Jorgan, a wealthy Danish businessman, is willing to donate four million dollars under the condition that he meet with him in person, Jacob grudgingly hops a flight back home. Once in Denmark, Jorgan insists that Jacob attend the wedding of his daughter the next day; at the celebration he meets Jorgan's wife, Helene, whom he recognizes as someone he knew many years ago. As Jacob finds himself revisiting a past he would prefer to forget, he discovers that Jorgan has an ulterior motive for bringing him to Denmark -- the wealthy man is in poor health, and while the donation will help ease some of his guilt over a life of avarice, he's also looking for someone to take over as Helene's husband after he dies.

[ Source : New York Times ]

Be it Cauvery Water, Roger Waters[ did anyone attend the concert in Mumbai. ],irrespective Water is a stir.

Don’t miss the Academy Awards on the 25th Feb’ 07 night.

Keep reading and remain connected.