While Slumdog Millionaire (SDM) basks in the glory of its recent Oscar glory, Delhi 6 got released in India on 20th Feb. I happen to see both the movies on consecutive days and could not help but think that both of the movies carried one common theme running between them, a strong social message relevant in the current times. While SDM gives the message to never loose hope and strong believe in Destiny, D6 on the other hand suggests to look for the devils inside us itself, and it is us ourselves who have to overcome them. Interestingly both the movies have a very strong background of India's 2 biggest metropolitan cities (Mumbai and Delhi). No prizes for guessing which which city sets the background for which movie. Both movies portray the power of Youth and how the young India can change the traditional stereotypes that have been with us for years now. SDM follows the journey of a Child from the Slums growing up and discovering his Country and in the process showing the harsh realities of the urban India. In D6, the main protagonist arrives in India to discover his country and grows as an Individual (not physically), learning and growing with his daily experiences. The director exposes the devil of Hatred and vulnerability that a common Indian carries underneath our secular and close community bonds. Both the protagonists challenge there surrounding and decide not to accept things quietly and lying down. While the objective of both the directors was to give a Social message, the modus operandi used by both of them is completely different. Danny Boyle in SDM has used the city of Mumbai as a story narrator and the daily events that change the lives of 2 brothers. ROM on the other hand in D6 uses his trade mark Metaphor way of story telling and uses Old Delhi and its residents as the medium to slowly proceed with the story. Danny Boyle has beautifully captured the essence and spirit of Mumbai, which makes you an instant part of his Movie. ROM on the other hand has used multiple Metaphors, Kala Bandar, The famous Delhi Ram Leela, the fact that Abhishek is half Muslim and Half Hindu also acts like a interesting Metaphor. His effortless ways of trying to get acceptance from both side and ultimately being abandoned by both the sides leaves a very interesting thought in the Viewers mind. Neither of the movies glorify the Cities they are based on, but they use certain key attributes for both the cities, which forms a great part of the overall story telling.
Moving on to the individual reviews of SDM and D6.
Slumdog Millionaire (SDM)
This British movie based on the Booker prize winning book "Q&A" by an Indian Author, beautifully captures the essence of a Hindi Masala movie, while retaining the sleek story telling ways of a Western movie. Reminds me of my visit to London. During that visit, I had gone to South hall with a friend. As South hall is primarily an Asian inhabited place, it carries the Soul of Asia and does not at all let an Indian feel home sick, but has the cleanness and planning of an European City block. I could not help but say to my friend there, this is the best an Indian City can strive to become, cleanness wise, design wise etc. In the same manner, SDM is the best possible amalgamation of a Hindi Masala story telling and Western style of Story telling. The movie starts with a Question and ends with an Answer, encountering lot of hope and the power of Destiny in between. Interestingly the whole theme of the movies seems to have flown out of the Reel life of the protagonists and into the Real life of the people associated with it. "Its Written" is the main theme used by Danny Boyle. Clearly the recent success and recognition this movie has brought to India is nothing short of "Its Written" or in other words "Destiny". Rumor has it that A.R. Rehman had made the tune of "Jai Ho" for the Subash Ghai produced "Yuvraaj". Subash Ghai dropped the tune, which AR took to Danny Boyle, who had an instant liking for the tune. He told AR that while there is no place for the Tune in the movie, he will make it part of the ending sequence of the movie. "Its Written" for AR to have gotten the tune into the Movie at the end. Another slice of Destiny is for Gulzar, to whom AR took the tune and asked to put lyrics around the same. Gulzar is said to have written the song in 15 mins, and look where that song has taken both AR and Gulzar. Both are famous with Worldwide recognition for the song. What can I say but "It was Written". Would you call this anything less than destiny that 3 kids were choosen one fine day from the Dharavi Slums and within 1 year were standing on the podium of Kodak Theatre in L.A. in the Oscar ceremony. In our entire history of Film production, one does not remember even the biggest of our film stalwarts having had that event. Even Satyajit Ray could not go to the Oscar Ceremony to receive his award. There might be a lot of people who might say, why make such a big deal about Oscar's, after all it is just an American awards. Well my response to that would be, why be so much proud about getting a Noble prize, or a Booker prize for the writers. Coming back to the movie, one takes an instance liking for Jamal Malik a small Slum boy and his struggle against all odds to unite with his childhood sweetheart. There is a flavour of the Hindu-Muslim conflict in Mumbai, to the Mumbai underworld and also the interesting take on our Tourism industry. As always, I will not get into the story of the movie and will leave that for you to see on your own. Would mention scenes shot by Danny Boyle. that deserve a special mention. There is a scene in which he slowly takes a aerial shot of the Dharavi Slums in Mumbai, slowly slowly going long after exposing the size of the Slums. The whole scene just makes it look so big, and in turn telling the viewer that the story of Jamal Malik is one of the million stories being written every day in Dharavi and not all end up being the Happy ending the way Jamal's ends. Surely this movie will provide a lot of hope to these people who are more depended on their destiny than help from Local authorities. The music score is catchy throughout the film and it enhances the movie effect. The whole ensemble of artists in the movie are so well fitting, that every just falls in place perfectly. No wonder everything just seems so perfect in the movie, even though the story is pretty straight forward.
Overall a fantastic movie, deserves all the coverage it is currently thronging. Definitely a dekho from my side, make sure you catch it on the theatre once at least. Would be a great collectors items once the DVD is out.
Coming on to Delhi 6 (D6)
ROM returns after Rand De Basanti, with lot of expectations and lot of marketing and surprisingly no controversy before the movie. These days it has become a fag that every big release needs to be preceded with a controversy, that is best avoided. ROM decided to stay away from any such publicity stunts, clearly he had full confidence on his story, characters and his ability to connect with his audience. First of all, lets not compare RDB with D6, that will not be a fair deal to ROM. While RDB was about Indian youth finding a vision in life and rising to see the issues from an insiders PoV, incase of D6 it is a Indian youth, born and brought up in US who returns to India, and what he discovers, giving an Outsiders PoV towards the social issues that have been there in our society for decades or rather centuries now. There are a lot of characters in the movie, lot of social issues running in parallel. There is the issue of Hindu-Muslims living like brothers together and suddenly the same people becoming enemies. There is an issue of 2 brothers having a family dispute and going after each other at every instance possible. There is the issue of untouchables in the modern day Delhi still being brought forward, and in all these parallel stories is our main Protagonist, Roshan (AB) who is stuck in all these happenings. He is amazed by the sheer chaos of Old Delhi when he reaches India from US and slowly slowly understands the fact that it is not India which works but its people who make it work. A strong message from the Director, India is going to remain a closely knit society as it is bonded by day to day issues of its people. These issues do not differentiate with people based on their Religion, Caste, Color or Creed and the fact, it is the people who need to change themselves in order to see any change in our great country. Frankly, not as difficult as it may sound. I will not get into the Story or the characters of the movies as always, but will refer to some interesting Metaphors that the director has used to show both sides of our society. One side where there is unity, strength and hope and on the other side of the coin, there is Hatred, suspicion and hypocrisy of our society. Lets face it, Indian society is Hypocritical, the same people who will sit and praise their God Rama from eating half eaten fruits by an Untouchable, these very people will stay away from a person from so call backward people who pick up our trash (untouchables of the society). So what is it that brings in that Hope factor in D6? The circumstances that these people face due to a Metaphor called Kala Bandar. ROM has used this phenomenon of Kala Bandar fantastically. Why are we calling Kala Bandar a Metaphor. That is because, even though there is a shape to this metaphor that is the same, the emergence of this metaphor happens at different circumstances for different people and for different personal benefits. And how this Kala Bandar slowly converts the once harmoniously living people into people who are thirsty of the blood of the very same people whom they called their brothers and sisters. The movie beautifully captures the strengthening of the Kala Bandar with the help of the internal demons of the people who are planning to kill him. The more the people think of getting rid of him, the more they become like him and the more powerful he grows. For Star war fans, its like saying, the more one plans to kill the Sith, the more he captures your mind and the more powerful he becomes. Roshan, here is the Master Yoda, who has an outsiders view to this whole thing and hence is able to think independently and see how fast this metaphor is overpowering the lives of these people and spreading negativity all over.
There is a love story brewing at the background as well, which sets up an interesting angle towards the end of the movie, but clearly that is not the main story line of the movie for most part of the film. From direction PoV, the overall story telling is quiet sleek, sometimes it does gets a little sagging, but then ROM has picked up the strings pretty quickly before he looses his audience. There is a fantastic scene of Jama Masjid where prayers are being offered, and the sheer enormity of the shot is so beautiful, it is worth a mention. Then there is this scene when Roshan comes to India and he enters the Chandi Chowk area, the traffic chaos, the number of people around on feet, along with Cycle Rickshaws, Auto Rickshaws, Animals, Hand carts and in between them the latest cars, just goes on to show the diversity called India.
Music wise the songs are quiet hummable. While "Masakali "will catch your attention quickly, it is 2 other songs, "Genda Phool" and "Delhi" that will stay in your mind for longer. Would not like to comment on the acting of the actors as that would not be fair on my part to do so. I never do that in my reviews, unless someone does a highly great or disappointing work.
The message of the movie is loud and clear, we as the people of this great nation, have to fight our internal demons to make a difference in our lives. We will encounter lot of Kala Bandars in different forms in our lives, it is up to us to see inside ourselves and choose the God within us or the devil. The essence of delhi though is not completely captured. The reason I say that, being a Delhite who has been away from Delhi now for 8 years, I did not feel very Nostalgic after watching the Movie, though a little nostalia did come over, but not something that remained with me for long.
Would recommend this movie to be watched in the Theatres once. Incase, you are not the kinds who like movies with heavy social messages, you can choose to see it on the DVDs once it gets released.
Moving on to the individual reviews of SDM and D6.
Slumdog Millionaire (SDM)
This British movie based on the Booker prize winning book "Q&A" by an Indian Author, beautifully captures the essence of a Hindi Masala movie, while retaining the sleek story telling ways of a Western movie. Reminds me of my visit to London. During that visit, I had gone to South hall with a friend. As South hall is primarily an Asian inhabited place, it carries the Soul of Asia and does not at all let an Indian feel home sick, but has the cleanness and planning of an European City block. I could not help but say to my friend there, this is the best an Indian City can strive to become, cleanness wise, design wise etc. In the same manner, SDM is the best possible amalgamation of a Hindi Masala story telling and Western style of Story telling. The movie starts with a Question and ends with an Answer, encountering lot of hope and the power of Destiny in between. Interestingly the whole theme of the movies seems to have flown out of the Reel life of the protagonists and into the Real life of the people associated with it. "Its Written" is the main theme used by Danny Boyle. Clearly the recent success and recognition this movie has brought to India is nothing short of "Its Written" or in other words "Destiny". Rumor has it that A.R. Rehman had made the tune of "Jai Ho" for the Subash Ghai produced "Yuvraaj". Subash Ghai dropped the tune, which AR took to Danny Boyle, who had an instant liking for the tune. He told AR that while there is no place for the Tune in the movie, he will make it part of the ending sequence of the movie. "Its Written" for AR to have gotten the tune into the Movie at the end. Another slice of Destiny is for Gulzar, to whom AR took the tune and asked to put lyrics around the same. Gulzar is said to have written the song in 15 mins, and look where that song has taken both AR and Gulzar. Both are famous with Worldwide recognition for the song. What can I say but "It was Written". Would you call this anything less than destiny that 3 kids were choosen one fine day from the Dharavi Slums and within 1 year were standing on the podium of Kodak Theatre in L.A. in the Oscar ceremony. In our entire history of Film production, one does not remember even the biggest of our film stalwarts having had that event. Even Satyajit Ray could not go to the Oscar Ceremony to receive his award. There might be a lot of people who might say, why make such a big deal about Oscar's, after all it is just an American awards. Well my response to that would be, why be so much proud about getting a Noble prize, or a Booker prize for the writers. Coming back to the movie, one takes an instance liking for Jamal Malik a small Slum boy and his struggle against all odds to unite with his childhood sweetheart. There is a flavour of the Hindu-Muslim conflict in Mumbai, to the Mumbai underworld and also the interesting take on our Tourism industry. As always, I will not get into the story of the movie and will leave that for you to see on your own. Would mention scenes shot by Danny Boyle. that deserve a special mention. There is a scene in which he slowly takes a aerial shot of the Dharavi Slums in Mumbai, slowly slowly going long after exposing the size of the Slums. The whole scene just makes it look so big, and in turn telling the viewer that the story of Jamal Malik is one of the million stories being written every day in Dharavi and not all end up being the Happy ending the way Jamal's ends. Surely this movie will provide a lot of hope to these people who are more depended on their destiny than help from Local authorities. The music score is catchy throughout the film and it enhances the movie effect. The whole ensemble of artists in the movie are so well fitting, that every just falls in place perfectly. No wonder everything just seems so perfect in the movie, even though the story is pretty straight forward.
Overall a fantastic movie, deserves all the coverage it is currently thronging. Definitely a dekho from my side, make sure you catch it on the theatre once at least. Would be a great collectors items once the DVD is out.
Coming on to Delhi 6 (D6)
ROM returns after Rand De Basanti, with lot of expectations and lot of marketing and surprisingly no controversy before the movie. These days it has become a fag that every big release needs to be preceded with a controversy, that is best avoided. ROM decided to stay away from any such publicity stunts, clearly he had full confidence on his story, characters and his ability to connect with his audience. First of all, lets not compare RDB with D6, that will not be a fair deal to ROM. While RDB was about Indian youth finding a vision in life and rising to see the issues from an insiders PoV, incase of D6 it is a Indian youth, born and brought up in US who returns to India, and what he discovers, giving an Outsiders PoV towards the social issues that have been there in our society for decades or rather centuries now. There are a lot of characters in the movie, lot of social issues running in parallel. There is the issue of Hindu-Muslims living like brothers together and suddenly the same people becoming enemies. There is an issue of 2 brothers having a family dispute and going after each other at every instance possible. There is the issue of untouchables in the modern day Delhi still being brought forward, and in all these parallel stories is our main Protagonist, Roshan (AB) who is stuck in all these happenings. He is amazed by the sheer chaos of Old Delhi when he reaches India from US and slowly slowly understands the fact that it is not India which works but its people who make it work. A strong message from the Director, India is going to remain a closely knit society as it is bonded by day to day issues of its people. These issues do not differentiate with people based on their Religion, Caste, Color or Creed and the fact, it is the people who need to change themselves in order to see any change in our great country. Frankly, not as difficult as it may sound. I will not get into the Story or the characters of the movies as always, but will refer to some interesting Metaphors that the director has used to show both sides of our society. One side where there is unity, strength and hope and on the other side of the coin, there is Hatred, suspicion and hypocrisy of our society. Lets face it, Indian society is Hypocritical, the same people who will sit and praise their God Rama from eating half eaten fruits by an Untouchable, these very people will stay away from a person from so call backward people who pick up our trash (untouchables of the society). So what is it that brings in that Hope factor in D6? The circumstances that these people face due to a Metaphor called Kala Bandar. ROM has used this phenomenon of Kala Bandar fantastically. Why are we calling Kala Bandar a Metaphor. That is because, even though there is a shape to this metaphor that is the same, the emergence of this metaphor happens at different circumstances for different people and for different personal benefits. And how this Kala Bandar slowly converts the once harmoniously living people into people who are thirsty of the blood of the very same people whom they called their brothers and sisters. The movie beautifully captures the strengthening of the Kala Bandar with the help of the internal demons of the people who are planning to kill him. The more the people think of getting rid of him, the more they become like him and the more powerful he grows. For Star war fans, its like saying, the more one plans to kill the Sith, the more he captures your mind and the more powerful he becomes. Roshan, here is the Master Yoda, who has an outsiders view to this whole thing and hence is able to think independently and see how fast this metaphor is overpowering the lives of these people and spreading negativity all over.
There is a love story brewing at the background as well, which sets up an interesting angle towards the end of the movie, but clearly that is not the main story line of the movie for most part of the film. From direction PoV, the overall story telling is quiet sleek, sometimes it does gets a little sagging, but then ROM has picked up the strings pretty quickly before he looses his audience. There is a fantastic scene of Jama Masjid where prayers are being offered, and the sheer enormity of the shot is so beautiful, it is worth a mention. Then there is this scene when Roshan comes to India and he enters the Chandi Chowk area, the traffic chaos, the number of people around on feet, along with Cycle Rickshaws, Auto Rickshaws, Animals, Hand carts and in between them the latest cars, just goes on to show the diversity called India.
Music wise the songs are quiet hummable. While "Masakali "will catch your attention quickly, it is 2 other songs, "Genda Phool" and "Delhi" that will stay in your mind for longer. Would not like to comment on the acting of the actors as that would not be fair on my part to do so. I never do that in my reviews, unless someone does a highly great or disappointing work.
The message of the movie is loud and clear, we as the people of this great nation, have to fight our internal demons to make a difference in our lives. We will encounter lot of Kala Bandars in different forms in our lives, it is up to us to see inside ourselves and choose the God within us or the devil. The essence of delhi though is not completely captured. The reason I say that, being a Delhite who has been away from Delhi now for 8 years, I did not feel very Nostalgic after watching the Movie, though a little nostalia did come over, but not something that remained with me for long.
Would recommend this movie to be watched in the Theatres once. Incase, you are not the kinds who like movies with heavy social messages, you can choose to see it on the DVDs once it gets released.
