Slumdog Millionaire

This Saturday we went to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire after almost a week of its release. I already had the knowledge that the movie had been a hit, but still did not expect much because of its off-stream story line, low-profile casting and lack of publicity. So we entered the hall intentionally late assuming that it won't be hard to find a good location to sit, but contrary to our expectation the theater was full with a curious blend of Indian and non-Indian faces. The beginning of the movie already indicated that it was based on a very strong and non-mainstream idea with an equally powerful screenplay. Most of the time (except for a while in the middle and near ending) the movie was very griping and entertaining as well. The inherent happiness in slum's life in spite of their constant pinch of poverty and struggle has been portrayed beautifully. There are some parts, though few which I did not like, for example the ending of the movie became evident even half-an-hour before it finished. Nevertheless I have not seen such a solid story and its implementation into movie in my recent past.

The funny part of the whole event occurred at the end. Now-a-days most of the Indian movies have an item song at the end where the casts participate in dancing and their names appear one by one. As those songs have no connection to the story, the audience starts to move out by that time. Despite this movie being a Hollywood production, the director injects the same idea of an item song at the end. Me and my friend, being used to this subject started to leave but found that the rest are still sitting and enjoying the song assuming it is a part of the story. First time in our life we did the same. The whole audience was so moved by the movie that they were reluctant to leave even when names started to scroll down on the black screen.