Slumdog should havent won ..Must Read

[esumitkumar]

VERY VERY TRUE..I agree fully..WTF today's TOI is going gaga over Slumdog ..A BRITISH FILM ...on our country's slums !

http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20090224...-have-won.html

It shouldn't have won
Sandipan Deb
Tue, Feb 24 04:45 AM

Frankly, I don't think Slumdog Millionaire deserved the Oscar for best film. And even more frankly, I don't think Resul Pookutty should have invoked "my country and my civilisation" in his acceptance speech for best sound mixing. India was not up there in the Kodak auditorium for approval. It was a British film financed by the indie subsidiary of an American studio which happened to be set in India and as a result they could not help but involve Indian actors (including Indian-origin Britishers) and shoot it in India. We crave too much for international recognition. A bit too much than is seemly. Even as all of us go around strutting, pretending to be a superpower.
Other than Slumdog, I have seen only one film out of the other four nominated. But I've read about all of them. The one that I saw is The Reader. The subject is far more intellectually challenging, emotionally moving and morally disturbing than Slumdog can ever hope to be. Not since A Last Tango In Paris has nudity (both male and female) been so necessary to a film's narrative, and so non-titillating and so touching. A film which stretches over 30 years and with essentially only two characters, and yet a film that is as gripping as a thriller. It's a film that, as my friend told me, demands and requires to be seen in one sitting, with no interruption by commercials and visits to the loo.

But look at the themes of the other movies that were nominated this year. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the love story of a man who is born as an extreme geriatric and keeps getting younger and dies as a newborn. Only for a brief period of time are the man and his beloved around the same compatible age. Of course it's an impossible concept and completely unbelievable, but it's a high concept. Milk is about the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States; Frost/Nixon about the first interview disgraced US President Richard Nixon gave, to has-been TV journalist David Frost. For both of them, it is a chance for redemption, for a somewhat sane life. These are all big themes. I am not doubting Slumdog's quality as a film in any way. Danny Boyle is one of the most talented directors around. But comparing Slumdog to The Reader is almost impossible. It's like comparing A Christmas Carol to Great Expectations.

Scrooge won, little Pip lost. But that's the way it has been with the Oscars. Sometimes the nominations reflect the mood of America's liberals, sometimes the winners reflect political correctness. In 2006, the following five films were nominated: Good Night and Good Luck, Brokeback Mountain, Crash, Capote and Munich. Good Night and Good Luck is about a TV broadcaster who took on the McCarthyist witch hunt in the 1950s; essentially about freedom of the press. Brokeback Mountain deflated the entire mythology of uber-macho frontiersmen by portraying a deep homosexual relationship between two cowboys. Crash interlinked several stories to study racism in all its forms and in startling ways. Capote was about the gay writer Truman Capote who travels to the South of the US to write a book on two multiple murderers. Munich told the story of the Israeli agents who hunted down the Black September terrorists who killed Israeli athletes during the Munich Olympics, and asked the question: To take revenge, do we become as base as the men who are our targets?

There's a clear pattern: anger over the Iraq war, the stifling of the media, the stranglehold of neo-conservatism, the contempt for minorities. The denizens of Hollywood were simply reacting to their world as they saw it. The other major critically-acclaimed movies of that year were Transamerica, about one man's battle to change his gender, and Syriana, which told Americans that their nation's policies were largely responsible for Islamist terrorism.

Then there's political correctness. Gandhi won Best Picture over ET. The Academy decided that the biopic of a great and influential leader was more "important" than the woes of a cute alien stranded on our planet. (This incensed Steven Spielberg so much that he decided to give the Academy the "important" films they felt comfortable with, and made The Colour Purple - which didn't win any Oscars - and Schindler's List - which raked them in.) Tom Hanks won his first best acting Oscar for Philadelphia, as much for his acting as for being the first major star to portray a gay man suffering from AIDS. In Hollywood, that's called "courage".

So The Reader can't win. After all, its female protagonist is a former Auschwitz guard who let 300 Jews burn alive in a locked church. The film's position on morality is too nuanced for the general Academy member to grapple with with any success. But Kate Winslet can be given the award for best actress. By taking this controversial role and baring her body so naturally for the purposes of art, she has shown "courage". Milk is about homosexuality, so Sean Penn gets the statuette for "courage", but not the film. Benjamin Button, which was co-produced by its star Brad Pitt, is probably seen as too much the case of an actor showing off, while being aided by more-than-state-of-the art visual effects. Frost/Nixon? Who's interested?
So Slumdog has won, and we should really rejoice for the six children who acted in it, for they are the real stars of the film. We should rejoice for AR Rahman, though the music he has got his two Oscars for is not even of his average quality, forget his sublime and exhilarating stuff. But the Academy has decided. But I really think it's a bit too much if we take this as a victory for Indian cinema. It's a non-Indian film which happened to have an all-Indian cast. We shoot entire films abroad nowadays, especially in the US, remember?

[iNFiNiTE]

/me agrees.

[thewisecrab]

/me agrees too.
IMO, Slumdog was an average typical bollywood pot-boiler set in the background of Mumbai (ie. the REAL Mumbai)
Frost Nixon, TCCOBB were better movies, ahead of Slumdog in terms of thought, ideology, and ofcourse, script.
I'm happy for Slumdog only for A R Rahman and Resul Pookutty's oscars (Rahman's work was not his best, but he certainly deserved it for all his accolades since Roja)
I wouldnt say that is that "British Film" which depicts India in a bad way. Face it, Slums (as depicted in SM) do exist in Mumbai, there is no use crying foul over reality.
I'd say that atleast a film like SM (for whatever reason you may think of) has showcased the talent of Rahman and others, thereby setting up a greater platform for Indian artists

[unni]

Man, I think you spoiled The Curious Case of Benjamin Button's ending. I haven't seen it, so don't know.

Not only me, all of my friends who saw this film said that there is nothing special about this movie for the hype it got. May be Americans got so tired of watching all those teen/college/horror movies which seem to be a major chunk of movies produced in Hollywood. Any ways, I like one thing in particular. In the movie, the American lady gives the kid some dollars when somebody steals the car tyres and says something like "This is the real America".I don't think it applies to the present America any more.

[manishjha18]

am with you--it should have been reverse--milk and The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttonshould have won 8 oscars--.

[amitash]

I dont agree... I think its a very good film which is being tainted here by ppl who think it shows the "bad" side of india... I mean face it, there is a bad side and the movie showed it... Its a hit everyehere but in india cus here ppl are offended by it... I honestly dont care, I like i the movie, but it had poor acting...

[thewisecrab]

Originally Posted by manishjha18

am with you--it should have been reverse--milk and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button should have won 8 oscars--.

I beg to differ.

Cinematography of Slumdog was Awesome. every aspect of the slum, streets, studio was captured with complete precision.

As far as music goes, Rahman has come up with better albums, but this is the first time the West is getting a decent exposure of Rahman's work, and considering that they have not heard about his work before (other than Bombay Dreams which was available to a select audience), this is pretty decent.

If not this, he surely deserved the Oscar for his immense contribution to Indian cinema (since '93)

Resul Pookutty also played a laudable role in Sound editing (Imagine the movie without a good blend of city traffic, rains, camaderie and dialouge. All hell will break loose )

So that's 4 Oscars

[talkingcomet]

Originally Posted by thewisecrab

Cinematography of Slumdog was Awesome. every aspect of the slum, streets, studio was captured with complete precision.

As far as music goes, Rahman has come up with better albums, ....
If not this, he surely deserved the Oscar for his immense contribution to Indian cinema (since '93)

Resul Pookutty also played a laudable role in Sound editing

Sure I agree.. But placing SM with the likes of Gladiator, Titanic, LOTR, Braveheart.. *faints*

[RMN]

i found it a good movie but no way Oscar worthy!

[gopi_vbboy]

@topic +infinity
totally agree

i had this in my intuition...someone at least came out with some of my valid opinions

[6x6]

IMO TZP was far better than Slumdog... but affsos it was not made by british/american

[thewisecrab]

Originally Posted by 6x6

IMO TZP was far better than Slumdog... but affsos it was not made by british/american

TZP was a lame piece of cr@p compared to other movies competing in Best Foreign Film: (I found it highly monotonous and cliched. Darsheel was overacting too )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Departures_(film) [won the Oscar]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltz_with_Bashir
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revanche_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Class_(2008_film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Baader_Meinhof_Komplex

[iinfi]

I Have A Strong Message To Convey Here.
First Things First. I Dont Watch Movies. Couple Of Movies A Year On An Average.
Do You All Know Why India Is India Today. Majority Of We Indians Dont Have The Attitude To Shine At The Global Stage, Leave Alone Have The Talent To Do It. Some Indians Who Do Have The Talent Are Bogged Down By People Who Make Stupid Remarks, Media Being The Frontrunner. Very Few Understand That More Than 80% Of The Media Channels Are So Below Average That They Need To Stoop Dirty Low To Get Into The Limelight. Thus The Talented Shaded Away And Phased Out.

[Liverpool_fan]

Originally Posted by thewisecrab

I beg to differ.

Cinematography of Slumdog was Awesome. every aspect of the slum, streets, studio was captured with complete precision.

As far as music goes, Rahman has come up with better albums, but this is the first time the West is getting a decent exposure of Rahman's work, and considering that they have not heard about his work before (other than Bombay Dreams which was available to a select audience), this is pretty decent.

If not this, he surely deserved the Oscar for his immense contribution to Indian cinema (since '93)

Resul Pookutty also played a laudable role in Sound editing (Imagine the movie without a good blend of city traffic, rains, camaderie and dialouge. All hell will break loose )

So that's 4 Oscars

I agree to this...

[comp@ddict]

The film was above average no doubt, it was good very good, but there are better films, and AR has done better music.

[IronManForever]

I agree to the fact that the movie is good, above many movies that bollywood churns out. BUT no way did it deserve what it is getting. Ironies, Ironies.. I'm sick.

[SunnyChahal]

The only reason that the movie won Oscar was that it was made by an American. Taare Zameen Par was much better than this pieca crap. Why don't Indian movies get Oscars despite being so good? Look at Lagaan,Rang De Basanti and Taare Zameen Par. They're just too good. There has been better music than Slumdog Millionaire. Much better!
This is pure partiality,nothing else.
I agree,Slumdog shouldn't have won.

[eggman]

Movie is good. First half is brilliant. but second half is a cliche' pile which is shown in every second bad bollywood film. I dont care about weather it portrayed India in bad light or not.I don't even care about the poverty porn stuff either. A film which is filled with cliche and some big plot holes(host talking to contestant ??? wtf??? )winning oscar seriously made me lose my interest in oscars.

[ring_wraith]

Totally agree. I saw SM and I really didn't get the reason behind the hype.. Especially the music. Sure its good, but I can narrate lots of songs off the top of my head that surpass "Jai Ho" in every aspect, and a lot of them are from Rahman.

I personally feel that Dev D is waaaay better than SM. Its just such a refreshingly different movie. Even the music just destroys all conventions. Brilliant. The cinematography, script writing, acting everything was better than SM. Yet, by very virtue of the fact that it was made by a relatively "small" director, I'd like to see what accolades it gets. Hopeless, complete bias.

[R2K]

Originally Posted by Sunny1211993

The only reason that the movie won Oscar was that it was made by an American. Taare Zameen Par was much better than this pieca crap. Why don't Indian movies get Oscars despite being so good? Look at Lagaan,Rang De Basanti and Taare Zameen Par. They're just too good. There has been better music than Slumdog Millionaire. Much better!
This is pure partiality,nothing else.
I agree,Slumdog shouldn't have won.

++1

[red_devil]

Originally Posted by eggman

Movie is good. First half is brilliant. but second half is a cliche' pile which is shown in every second bad bollywood film. I dont care about weather it portrayed India in bad light or not.I don't even care about the poverty porn stuff either. A film which is filled with cliche and some big plot holes(host talking to contestant ??? wtf??? )winning oscar seriously made me lose my interest in oscars.

agree to this 100%.

but the problem is, these are cliches for all of us who've been used to watching stuff churned out by BOLLYWOOD... but those guys who are the jury at OSCARS wouldn't be as used to it as we are...then one could argue that there were better cliched stuff competing at the oscars... but the problem was that none of them were made by an Amreican and thus were in the running for the "foreign language" category where again our movies had a lot more competition [and probably the jury were also fcuked up watching so many movies so weren't concentrating enough ]

[Faun]

go suck balls oscars

Honestly I never cared about Oscars sh!t in my life !

[Ecstasy]

I tried saying this on the other thread and someone defied it. -.- That is why i was congratulating Rahman and not the movie.

[anurag_bhd]

I think Slumdog was a brilliant movie and deserved at least a couple of Oscars. But 8? I had never expected it sweeping all of those this year. Benjamin Button was also a good movie and could have got a couple more of those awards in my opinion. But certainly, Slumdog deserved at least the best film, director, and song awards, if not more.

IMHO, most of those articles despising Slumdog to the fullest that are popping up now are no more than dirty tricks to catch media attention / popularity. It was not that bad.

[phreak0ut]

Originally Posted by iinfi

I Have A Strong Message To Convey Here.
First Things First. I Dont Watch Movies. Couple Of Movies A Year On An Average.
Do You All Know Why India Is India Today. Majority Of We Indians Dont Have The Attitude To Shine At The Global Stage, Leave Alone Have The Talent To Do It. Some Indians Who Do Have The Talent Are Bogged Down By People Who Make Stupid Remarks, Media Being The Frontrunner. Very Few Understand That More Than 80% Of The Media Channels Are So Below Average That They Need To Stoop Dirty Low To Get Into The Limelight. Thus The Talented Shaded Away And Phased Out.

Are you running a script to capitalize each word's starting letter? I completely agree with the OP.

The judges probably didn't review the other nominated movies before selecting this for Best Picture I guess

[Coool]

Its a good movie but not GREAT movie.....

[gopi_vbboy]

i heard thers a movie on satyam episode called millionare slumdog to come soon

[unni]

Originally Posted by gopi_vbboy

i heard thers a movie on satyam episode called millionare slumdog to come soon

Are you joking or seroius?

[Coool]

Originally Posted by gopi_vbboy

i heard thers a movie on satyam episode called millionare slumdog to come soon

[anurag_bhd]

Originally Posted by gopi_vbboy

i heard thers a movie on satyam episode called millionare slumdog to come soon

Hehe, that would be amazing to watch.