tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833411083213663905.post8410019255427691189..comments2023-10-25T03:20:00.692-07:00Comments on Eternal Sunshine of the Thoughtless Mind: Slumdog Millionaire - The ReviewSudipto Basuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00272783734959529945noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833411083213663905.post-7668904473237659152009-01-19T04:32:00.000-08:002009-01-19T04:32:00.000-08:00Oh! That won't be necessary at all, Sudipto. There...Oh! That won't be necessary at all, Sudipto. There are not many who get their point across as effectively as you do.Sayan Dattahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01975519770920793055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833411083213663905.post-71624048802702460062009-01-18T20:34:00.000-08:002009-01-18T20:34:00.000-08:00Dear Sayan da,From your point-of-view, you're abso...Dear Sayan da,<BR/>From your point-of-view, you're absolutely right about the movie. <I>Slumdog...</I> has no new perspective to offer-- even to a story that's essentially been recycled and re-used scores of times. It has nothing novel to say and does nothing to enrich the viewer's philosophically or emotionally (and therein lies the gap between this and <I>Forrest Gump</I>). What it does have is loads of energy and enthusiasm-- one of the few redeeming factors of this film, and perhaps the biggest. Personally films like <I>Aamir</I>, <I>Mumbai Meri Jaan</I>, <I>A Wednesday</I> (all three regarding terrorism) and <I>Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!</I> (never mind the seemingly stupid title) all beat <I>Slumdog...</I> easily in the race for the best Indian movies list of the previous year.<BR/><BR/>But then, why did I review this, you may ask? That's because I precisely wanted to say that the film has nothing on all the hype that surrounds it. The review was only to dispel the disfiguring publicity that adorns a "just-good" proletarian film.<BR/><BR/>P.S.-- I wonder if I should start rating films...Sudipto Basuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272783734959529945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833411083213663905.post-33375397554224520282009-01-18T10:31:00.000-08:002009-01-18T10:31:00.000-08:00And regarding that line under 'Note' that you have...And regarding that line under 'Note' that you have written, where you have wondered whether you have any reader - I do believe you have many. Only that you write a little less frequently nowadays.<BR/>Sayan DattaSayan Dattahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01975519770920793055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833411083213663905.post-39721924010782848462009-01-18T10:15:00.000-08:002009-01-18T10:15:00.000-08:00There are many important factors that go into the ...There are many important factors that go into the making of a movie, not least of which is the thought process and inspiration of the maker. From that view point, I do not think the maker bothers too much about the realism, surrealism or unrealism content of a film. He is just happy to give a shape to his thoughts in an art form he has chosen to. In any case, a good film, like a good book cannot be worried into being. Issues like cultural stereotyping, though important, are irrelevant. What I mean to say is that if a certain storyline requires a certain setting then nothing else should continue to be a factor. Salman Rushdie, in a recent interview said that an author, after a certain point, must let his/ her book find it's own way in the market. Likewise the film maker has to let the viewers and the reviewers and the social activists and the sponsors sort out the thousands of issues for themselves.<BR/>For the person who feels 'Slumdog....' is a disgrace to Mumbai, I can only say - he is like the student who doesn't find it improper to fail, but the teacher is at fault who asks - "Why didn't you study hard enough?" Similar accusations about Tagore were indeed quite prevalent. A blithering idiot had once claimed that Tagore wouldn't have been as famous had he written his name as 'Thakur' (the logic being he wanted to please the Brits!!).<BR/>For me to watch a film it has to fulfill either of the three criteria - <BR/>1. It must provide an entirely different line of thought; one that I had previously been unaware of.<BR/>2. It must reaffirm one or some convictions of mine (that is selfish, I know. If it is contrary to my convictions, I am most likely to discard it as unimportant), but with a certain degree of sophistication without being clichéd. The theme can be a perennial one but it has to be fundamentally enriching in a way that it does not seem repetitive.<BR/>3. It has to be open ended but also make a point.<BR/>‘Slumdog…’ from the reviews and the trailers doesn’t seem to meet my expectations. I know you will say that I cannot watch a good proletarian film with elitist expectations, Sudipto; but if I can go without watching a movie, I will rather not watch it. I will go with Suvro Sir on this one. And having literally watched scores of films, I can easily tell which ones I should go for. For instance I would have lived a perfectly sane and happy life even without watching ‘Titanic’, but I cannot say the same about ‘Matrix’.<BR/>The one film I have been looking forward to for some time now is ‘Australia’.<BR/>Sayan DattaSayan Dattahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01975519770920793055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833411083213663905.post-86613129029150858322009-01-17T01:23:00.000-08:002009-01-17T01:23:00.000-08:00http://greatbong.net/2009/01/17/of-ray-and-boyle/M...http://greatbong.net/2009/01/17/of-ray-and-boyle/<BR/><BR/>May I request readers to go through the above post. Offers a refreshing and off-beat take on the film, and gets its point across very effectively. This is what I exactly meant when I used the phrase "proletarian film" in the comment addressed to Suvro Sir.Sudipto Basuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272783734959529945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833411083213663905.post-45370492998725613422009-01-17T00:01:00.000-08:002009-01-17T00:01:00.000-08:00This issue of cultural stereotyping has been put f...This issue of cultural stereotyping has been put forward because there is more than an fragment of truth in it, Supra. From what I've heard of Indian migrants to the US of A, there is a still an inherent tendency to bracket off all people from the Indian subcontinent as either beggars who've shifted to America in search of better fortunes (that includes students doing Ph.D.-s, too!) and terror-suspects. (Forget about Indians, is it not a wonder that the Americans never had a coloured president before Obama, given that African-Americans have been a part of their society since the 19th century!) Given this background, it is understandable that some people lament the possible cornering of India as a country of slums, unspeakable filth, begging rackets-- maybe catalysed by the widespread publicity this film is receiving. Not that the idea is a completely misleading one; but, as I said before, it is not the absolute truth either (which, the media-fed American populace will not possibly realise).Sudipto Basuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272783734959529945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833411083213663905.post-71506886464714464542009-01-16T12:11:00.000-08:002009-01-16T12:11:00.000-08:00From the time the movie has released I haven't hea...From the time the movie has released I haven't heard anything else but praise for the movie.A movies truly speaks out about itself, the way its been directed and the way the actors has performed their respective roles.<BR/>The much created hype about the movie is what convinced me to see the movie and trust me the time spent in watching the movie was worth it.<BR/>It very beautifully shows how Jamal[the main character] relates every situation that has happened in past and gives answer at the game show.<BR/>I am not here today to give a movie review,you have already done that,Sudipto.I'm here to highlight a fact which happened today.Was just going through a new papers and I saw a person talking crap about the movie.<BR/><BR/>Ok his exact words were "its a Disgrace to Mumbai" For few seconds I thought the printing must have been goofed up and a wrong title would be given to the below matter but it was not the case.<BR/><BR/>Some how that person overlooked what the movie was based on and he started criticizing about how Mumbai is not only about slums and how the movie was a disgrace to Mumbai.<BR/><BR/>I am sure most on us would feel that the locations and the background was very apt to the story line unlike our very own Hindi main stream cinema where the hero heroins go to foreign locations to sing songs and blink of the eye they change clothes and move from one place to other<BR/><BR/>It made me infuriated.But deep down inside a cord struck me.I had read somewhere that in a survey it was found that most Indians tend to highlight the negative factors more than the positive.At that time it dint make sense to me.<BR/><BR/>But today when I read this it actually made sense,yes it is true that based on few examples i cant conclude that we think -ve.But if we look at the larger picture we wil find many people who give importance to -ve things.<BR/><BR/>As the movie name suggests Slumdog Millionaire,it is bound to have more contents about ideas and visuals near slums.Now really was that chap who wrote this comment in the news paper actually expecting that the movie would be shot in places like Colaba or Bandra,right?Suprahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13676730695432521534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833411083213663905.post-67090675954101043152009-01-15T06:01:00.000-08:002009-01-15T06:01:00.000-08:00Sir,Inspite of having likened Slumdog Millionaire ...Sir,<BR/>Inspite of having likened <I>Slumdog Millionaire</I> to <I>Forrest Gump</I>, mind that I never compared the two in terms of which is better. The similarity, as I pointed out, is that both films require a certain suspension of disbelief to be enjoyed. And, both were shamelessly aimed at the awards (not that it makes any film inherently unworthy of a watch).<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I made my point sufficiently clear in the post itself (my verdict was open-ended, you see!): if you do not mind a certain compromise in the reality-quotient of the plot and can turn a blind eye to the cultural stereotyping, this is worth a watch. Do NOT expect anything extraordinary, though. Good proletarian film, that is all.<BR/><BR/>P.S.-- Yes I do lay off the elitist in me once in a while. And, personally speaking, I like Forrest Gump a lot more.Sudipto Basuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272783734959529945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833411083213663905.post-29373774119417052682009-01-15T01:50:00.000-08:002009-01-15T01:50:00.000-08:00Couldn't help raising an eyebrow, Sudipto. You men...Couldn't help raising an eyebrow, Sudipto. You mentioned <I>Forrest Gump</I>. Now that's a movie I adore, hae watched many times, and would love to do so again. Are you telling me or aren't you that I should watch <I>Slumdog...</I> with the same kind of expectations? Because otherwise I'll give it a miss. As Khushwant Singh has said about books, I realise as I keep getting older how many movies I need never have watched at all, and I want to use my remaining time better!<BR/>SirSuvro Chatterjeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01027202980259279420noreply@blogger.com