Just saw this year's golden globe nominations and Slumdog millionaire got 4 cruical nominations. Danny Boyle's this feature is my this year's favorite. A boy growing up in slums of Mumbai becomes a millionaire through a reality show - how does he do it against all odds? That's the beauty of the movie. It captures 2 Indias - One that's developing at rapid pace and the other which is still in dark and abject poverty. A love angle, fabulous music and some great locations make the whole movie a treat to watch.
The essence of movie lies in it's unique story telling which somehow captures the current state of India. A country with over billion people still stuggles to provide basic necessities to millions but has all the money and brains to build satellites to send to moon. A country where many people in rural areas still plough lands using cows and bulls has some of world's best IT schools. This is the same country where over 80% of the population doesn't speak english but has largest network of call centers catering to english speaking population of the western world. A country where illiteracy rate is over 50% but has over 1000 different newspapers (in over 30 different languages) circulating all across the nation.
Almost synonymous with the term bollywood, the country now needs to live up to its fun and frolic image. Long gone are the days of yogis and Gandhi. The present country is capable of exporting much more than just spiritual thoughts. It's the time of TATAs and Mittals to show the might of Indian enterpreneurship at world stage. A flawed democracy it may be, but it has all the channels in place for people to raise their voices for better equity. With over hundred news media channels and some thousand (or many more) entertainment channels, people are well connected to the world.
This is exactly what slumdog millionaire captures and that makes it a delightful watch.
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