CHA WALLA HERO IN UK FILM HIT (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)
January 21, 2009
After hearing so much about the film from friends, l decided to go and see Slumdog Millionaire. And boy was it a treat, fully living up to its word-of-mouth reputation.
Slumdog Millionaire is a very rare combination of British social realism with the escapism of Indian cinema. The British realism meant that it dealt with the lives of folk in the slums of the mega-cities of South Asia, something South Asian politicians ignore at their peril and which Indian cinema has singularly failed to address. At the same time the film offers some hope in the form of a bit of Indian escapism with the central character winning a TV contest worth millions of rupees.
The film has a novel way of telling the story, with our hero Jamal Malik being asked to explain to the police how a common cha walla like himself could have won the TV contest in the first place, and each question answered involves an episode in his life. In my family we use the term cha walla as a term of endearment to encourage a fellow member of the family to make tea for the rest of us after a meal. Here it is used as a term of abuse and a means of keeping people like our hero Jamal down.
Slumdog Millionaire also broke some of the other rules of commercial cinema, with its use of subtitles which are generally discouraged, and by not having the narrative of the film explained by a white character, as would usually have been the case before in such films set in India. It not only failed to fit the Bollywood formula but Hollywood turned it down as well. Well their loss is certainly our gain.
So director Danny Boyle has done it again, with a film that is the equal of his earlier social realist portrayal of life on a Leith estate in Trainspotting. And Slumdog Millionaire can certainly look forward to winning more awards from the film world and beyond. For Boyle’s next project I would suggest a film adaptation of The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth, a novel in verse based in San Francisco.
Filed under: Film
18 Comments Leave a Comment
1.
Ahsan | February 24, 2009 at 1:58
very good reflection….in short…thank you
2.
sachin | February 25, 2009 at 6:35
nice movie…………………………………..mumbai aamchi
3.
aaron | February 27, 2009 at 1:25
this was a great movie
4.
ov suresh | February 27, 2009 at 8:06
not only see the realism but also their casting…
5.
Ahamed jakke | February 27, 2009 at 15:43
This was very interesting movie.
6.
Laura Conroy | February 28, 2009 at 21:59
Can’t wait to go see it!
I only read a little so I wouldn’t spoil it
7.
elif | March 2, 2009 at 10:39
I enjoyed it .. love it
8.
ketan | March 2, 2009 at 11:31
very nice picture
9.
soraya | March 3, 2009 at 21:50
I LOVE THIS MOVIE! it was amazing, and so real
10.
Ana Alexandra Andrade | March 4, 2009 at 12:34
I absolutely love this film.
This film shows how much people suffer and how much they want to have a normal life but most of the time they cannot do that because they don’t have the money to survive.
Ana x3
11.
Luiza | March 15, 2009 at 21:32
i think the film was great and has a great message but it has an end which was typical for american movies
i don’t say that it isn’t good but if salim doesn’t win the money i think i would be better than it is!!!!
12.
sydney conrad | March 17, 2009 at 9:02
that was fantastic…….thumbs up
13.
Smoquay | March 17, 2009 at 18:11
This movie really touched the lives of many people in west africa, nigeria precisely. It’s absolutely good
14.
Swapnil Sen | March 18, 2009 at 7:19
A film that touches heart and analysis that compels to shed tears
15. Slumdog Millionaire &laqu&hellip | May 14, 2009 at 21:38
[...] Mayo 14, 2009 · No hay comentarios CHA WALLA HERO IN UK FILM HIT (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE) [...]
16.
Investment in Property | October 9, 2009 at 1:54
Slumdog is a very good film, great to see stuff that is different, and all so real. A very good watch for any move fan.
17.
dee dee | November 16, 2009 at 5:27
how poor !
18.
diaa | December 17, 2009 at 20:06
The film has many moment of great such film should be at the core of realety
Leave a Comment
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
TrackBack URL | RSS feed for comments on this post.