Serving God's Purposes in Our Generation (Acts 13:36b)

Slumdog Millionaire – Reflection

Slumdog Millionaire - View The Ground Realities In India

As an Indian I am proud to know that Slumdog Millionaire has brought laurels to the country. Danny Boyle the director with Loveleen Tandon has produced a master piece.   A.R. Rahman deserves full praise and commendation for his world class contribution.
 
The script writer Simon Beaufoy has woven the story in a very attractive style that the audience are not bored but taken along the narration.  The film has brought the stark realities of India before the global audience.  The elite of the country has spoken against the movie as it brings the other side of India, which is not IT superpower urban India but real India. 

Slumdog Millionaire Jai Ho Full Video - Oscars Best Original Song - Thank You Anil Kumar190184

Slums:  25 to 40 per cent of urban population in India lives in slums.  The movie brings out the pathetic life in slums.  The narrow streets, lack of health and hygiene, tin roofs, open sewerage, garbage heaps …etc.

Lack of human dignity:  Jamal (Dev Patel) who appears in the Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who wants to be a millionaire) is ridiculed by the anchor Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor).  It is shown as selling tea is ‘mean’ job and publicly ridicules him.



Children:
  Children do not have opportunity for education.  In fact, they are kidnapped, maimed and sent to beg on the streets.  The money that is collected by begging is taken by the gang leader Maman.  ‘Missing children’ in India mostly end up as child beggars in big cities.
Children  and starvation:  The starving children steal food in a moving train, roughed up and thrown from the running train.  Miraculously they escape.  The way the children are treated for this crime is horrific.

Human trafficking:  The stark reality of human trafficking especially of woman is also brought out well in this movie.  Women, exploited to be dancers and sex slaves is open fact in India.
Violation of human rights:  The hero Jamal is picked up when he comes out of the show and is tortured to know the truth.  How did he know all the answers when more educated could not even the first few rounds.  Police are brutal and violate all laws of the land.

Attitude of Upper Class:  Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor) informs the police that Jamal could have cheated because he wanted no body in the show to win.  He could not tolerate a socially lower class (caste) boy winning the prize of million rupees.

Riots:  riots are a common feature in India.  Minorities are attacked with impunity, with the help of law enforcing agencies from time to time.

Underworld:  The mafia gang operates in cities like Mumbai with impunity.  They could violate human rights, bribe police and escape.  Many teens are getting attracted towards these elements.

Karma: At the opening scene, a title card is presented: "Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 Million rupees. How did he do it? A) He cheated, B) He's lucky, C) He's a genius, D) It is written." At the end of the film, the answer is given as ‘D’ - written.  This promotes the idea of ‘karma’ where everything is predetermined and nothing could be changed.
 
Thus the film has opened the window to view the ground realities in India.  Instead of contesting the portrayal, leaders should work to address it.

Rev. Dr. J.N. Manokaran, Managing Director,
Trainers of Pastors International Coalition (TOPIC)

Slumdog Millionaire YouTube Credits to ThinkDifferent



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BELOW PREVIEW

Slumdog Millionaire Preview And Slumdog Millionaire YouTube Credits to BlackTreeMedia



The jumble and hustle of modern-day India provides the steamy, energetic backdrop to Danny Boyle's electrifying new feature, Slumdog Millionaire. The film is an eloquent and moving account of a boy...

The jumble and hustle of modern-day India provides the steamy, energetic backdrop to Danny Boyle's electrifying new feature, Slumdog Millionaire. The film is an eloquent and moving account of a boy who attempts to become a millionaire on a television game show, rediscovering the love of his life in the process. Boyle uses this extraordinary premise to paint a kaleidoscopic portrait of a society built around survival of the fittest, where betrayal is commonplace and greed and corruption lie just around every corner.

In a picaresque tale worthy of a Henry Fielding novel, this Tom Jones is Jamal, a poor, bright-eyed youth mischievously getting in and out of scrapes with his even more rambunctious older brother, Salim. In a horrifying turn of events, the two youngsters' lives change in front of their eyes when their mother is viciously killed during a riot. Alone, they turn to the streets, becoming slumdogs. A ray of sunshine comes into their lives when they befriend another orphan, the feisty young girl Latika, and soon the three are inseparable. Adventure follows as the trio learns to survive the cutthroat life of contemporary India but at least they have each other. Or do they?

Years later, Jamal appears on India's version of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Amazingly, he finds himself in the position of winning more and more prize money as the answers to the questions keep tumbling his way. But how can a slumdog with no formal education know the answers to these questions? Suspicions are raised, and Jamal quickly learns that the game show will be his biggest life test.

Boyle's film is a cinematic rollercoaster ride. Above all a romance, it is played out in a world where social, economic and political issues are never far away. The young cast is superb, but it is Boyle's dramatic smarts and feel for the heat, sweat and street life of Mumbai that transforms Slumdog Millionaire into a compelling and gripping cinematic experience.

Danny Boyle was born in Manchester and worked in theatre and television before he began to direct for the cinema. Shallow Grave (94), his first feature film, was highly acclaimed, but it was with his second feature, Trainspotting (96), that he achieved cult status. His feature filmography also includes A Life Less Ordinary (97), The Beach (00), Strumpet (01), Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise (01), 28 Days Later (03), Millions (04), Sunshine (07) and Slumdog Millionaire (08).




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