Rahman's music in this movie is a rip off. The song Ringa Ringa...is a lift off frm the famous Khalnayak number 'Choli ke piche kya hai ' ..listen to it carefully.
Re: Music is rip off
by Saikat Chakraborty on Jan 21, 2009 06:44 PM
Yes genius that's a much publicized fact! And quite prominently acknowleged on the CD cover. Which is why the original singers of Choli Ke Peechhey, Ila Arun and Alka Yagnik were roped in to perform Ringa Ringa.
Perhaps you illegally downloaded the music off the net and never had a chance to read the CD inlay?
Or did you just wake up this morning to discover the similarity? Well, in that case here's more news for ya... the song Aaj Ki Raat in this album is ripped from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's Don. Now go and file a plagiarism suit or whatever at your nearest Chhinchpokli Police Station and let us be at peace!!
We as a nation are primarily hypocritical. We cannot face the truth. We expect to be pampered. We cried foul at Satyajit Ray, Mira Nair, Arvind Adiga, and now it is Boyle. I've always wondered at the thought processes we as Indians adopt. Why are we so insecure? If it's not trashing the geniuses like the few above, it is our insecurity about our faiths. We crib, whine, and quarrel on forums that our faiths are being colonised, or slammed, or what not! I've never understood for the life of me why we are so insecure. Even a legend like Bacchan has this inferior, trampled-upon, whining streak. Alas!Why? Do we as a race not have the courage to face up to reality? Do we not have the aesthetic sense to appreciate a masterpiece, be it ray, Adiga, or Boyle.
My dear friends, it is not teh Westerners or the Goras who are trying to demonise us. It's we who are unable to soul-search. This is art. Art will never lie. Art will never do what we expect or want it to do. Art has nor morality pretensions. Art is honest and clean and unbiasd. Art for art's sake. Appreciate a thing of beauty as it appears. Do not dissect, and submit it to an autopsy. If we don't havethe courage, let's resolve to build it in us, and see truth right in the eye, rather than squirming and screaming and making absolute a$$es of ourselves on an international forum.
I have little respect for Raja Sen, but I still read his reviews and articles with an open mind(at least I try) While I admire his writing style, the substance in it is always full of contradictions. First argument-You fall in love with something despite its shortcomings. What an argument !!! I fell in love with Singh is King despite its predictability, why did u pan it Raja ? As a reviewer shouldnt you look at something more subjective. There are many bollywood movies which have been lapped up by masses and these same reviewers point at the predictability and stereotypes and the technical flaws to bring it down. This rags to riches story has been shown a million times in bollywood with its own set of baddies thrown in. Still we like the movie if we can connect with the character and that is why everyone loved the kid avatars in the movie. The teenage part was totally cooked up which didnt look realistic at all, something which this movie claimed to be. Benjamin Franklin is one of the two non-presidents who have their picture on a dollar bill and let me tell you many Americans who have gone to school, read their history books dont know that. Why will it be asked in an Indian quiz show and how come a blind beggar knows the answer. Now Colt-65 is another joke, we get desi katta in India. OK it can be co-incidence but why will someone guess the million dollar question when phone a friend didnt help him. Because in bollywood we have happys endings which is what this movie is.
Unarguably one of the best movie reviews I'v read in the recent years (still counting those numerous Nikhat Kazmi's lambasting articles on recently released crappy movies)! You deserve applauds buddy. However, encomiums be showered to Danny Boyle to have been able to successfully AND responsibly taking out and portraying a reality of India. There's no chance of raising a question about howsoever Mumbai comes across in the movie. That's perfectly true, rather I personally feel it was mellowed down a bit to suit the aesthetics. True it was shameful too. Not because the dark side of Mumbai (as a matter of fact) India was audaciously portrayed, but, it came out from a person who has not got chance to live in India for so long. How would I be incorrect when I say that noone of us was moved enough to have captured this till yet! Lets exclude Madhur Bhandarkar from this for the time being and give him credits for having made-Traffic Signal. The movie moved people, atleast I was moved. I still am. The message is clear: WE NEED MOVIES LIKE THIS to be able to break our hibernation and hesitation to come see and act on truth.
Re: Best comes out through candor; Raja, you did it man!
by golfdude on Jan 21, 2009 11:06 PM
I dont know much about bollywood movies ( rang de basanti, swades ) but down south ( especially in tamil ) every other movie is about poverty, corruption, social injustice etc. There is a director called Shankar who has reached mega-director status just by making movies on corruption...nobody has the guts to do something abt it after leaving the movie theater...because we are scared, self-centered and insecure...no guts no glory...
Re: Best comes out through candor; Raja, you did it man!
by Sane Guru on Jan 21, 2009 04:56 PM
Ajaz Khan is actually Raja Sen posting with a different name. And also lambasting fellow reviewer Nikhat Kazmi
Re: Re: Re: Best comes out through candor; Raja, you did it man!
by Ajaz Khan on Jan 21, 2009 05:03 PM
Hahaha, no my friend. Though cheers to your creative cynicism ;)
Re: Title not suited
by raja nisha on Jan 21, 2009 04:46 PM
international award seeking movies will have this type of Titles.Title with " a poor millionire" will not win awards abroad.
Re: Title not suited
by Saikat Chakraborty on Jan 21, 2009 06:50 PM
Oh yes and your valuable advice reminds me of the American Education Board who found The Old Man and The Sea a very politically incorrect title for a literary masterpiece. They reasoned, Old is biased, it should be senior; Man is gender unequal, it should be person; inland students wouldn't have much concept of the Sea...
U spelt it out yourself Raja sir. Its really a choice right??!!! Choice of what you or I or any judgmental audience member wants to believe. Mr. Cameroon wanted to sink the ship, he did and we believed. For mercy's sake Todd cut throats and sang and we loved it. I bet half the buggers didn't even imagine Edinburg existed till they saw Ewan Mcgregor go down potty and pills, whichever came first. The complain is about why the hell does everyone talk of India's 'underbelly' (curse the guy who made that word, makes me hungry),why does the world perceive us a country where elephants still walk the streets and snake charmers still walk the roads with malls(for heaven's sake,do they know we have them here too).Whats the obsession with slums and street urchins anyways?Makes them mother teresa among their folks is it, parading us like that? Kind of makes you disrespect your progress right? We need something to look upto, not something we can turn and feel helpless of. Again choice: I wouldn't want to think my country is 'that' sad. I respect Boyle for His honesty, applaud him too for the,I repeat,HONESTY. But that's exactly what he wants you to believe. Take her home please, but I bet mom still won't approve of a slum kid dancing with feaces all over him, Jai ho, Ringa Ringa or whatever. Noone's disputing the brilliance of the movie, they are just disputing the fact that this movie just becomes the damn lens, and mind you the ONLY lens, the 'westerners'want to see us in. Choice again!
Is the film so feted because it shows the vicious underbelly of Mumbai? Please let me know what exactly is so good about it? even the music is not superior to Rahmans music in say Jodha Akbar or Previous Lagan or Swadesh, where his full range was so visible. Off course, as they say love is blind, so anyone can fall in love with anything. For me personally, it was a sheer torture for 120 minutes. Give me A wednesday or Mumbai Meri Jaan any day.
Re: Slumdog Millionaire
by Uday Nair on Jan 21, 2009 04:56 PM
people from mumabi will never like slumdog because it shows the reality of mumbai. Just answer one question all bladdy hipocrats hating slumdog - What is the first thing you see when you land in mumbai international or national airport? Its slum right? if mumbaikars were not able to do any thing for people of dharavi why are they shouting foul when it si shown as reality in film . This is the reality which people see when they land in mumbai. Danny boel had the guts to go inside slums stand on shit and direct a movie like this . Our bollywood directors (the yash raj camp) can only dream of making such move. candy floss movies with blady romantic themes shot in exotic location. Its time to wake up and appreciate good movies
Re: Slumdog Millionaire
by peacislam on Jan 21, 2009 05:42 PM
exactly what i am saying. This movie is good but it got an award or two because a westerner made it and it showed what they wanted to see about india. Some so called south mumbaiyaa elites or self proclaimed realists are calling it a good film because it reaffirms their inferiority complex & their habit fo licking anything white in colour.
Even if 1 thing wud have been shown positive about India, I would have accepted but now i feel like protesting....very bad of makers to show only negative in the movie.
Jeez! Here we have this guy who professes to be the be all and come all of global cinema - how obnoxious can one get! To the extent that his love for artistry in cinema completely eclipses whatever small bit of pride he once might have had for his country. Get real dude! Can you not see how this movie specifically focuses on the darker and poorer side of Mumbai? How this movie is going to be seen my millions across the world? Okay, we are poor. We are still a third world country (even though there are some people with their heads in the sands who would still deny it). But that does not mean that we should be proud in flaunting our poverty! Or cheer from the rooftops when some foreigner does so. What is maddening is that this same Doyle fellow condescends to state that the film celebrates the joy of the poor in Mumbai or some such balderdash! Do some soul-searching bud. If you seriously do so (without convincing yourself otherwise), you should feel a tinge of shame deep down inside. Shame that some foreigner exhalts in our poverty. By the way, why did this guy not shoot the same movie in harlem with some black impoverished negro as the central character?
Re: Re: What a supercilious snotty sod!
by abhisek bhaduri on Jan 21, 2009 04:11 PM
Film is made on society...In a lot of movies the darker side of the society has been protrayed...Its true even for Westerns movies...There are many of them which portray poverty, violence, religious fanaticism in stark reality...You cannot always hae Karan Johar type movies coming up - full of superficial luxury and wealth and utter ninsence wrapped in a glamorous cover...
Re: Re: Re: What a supercilious snotty sod!
by Arnab M on Jan 21, 2009 04:25 PM
Have you ever seen dark poverty yourself? Have you ever personally delved into the dark world of professional beggars? Have you ever visited a dark hovel in Dharavi yourself? If you want to see poverty and the darker side of the city, you are free to so so. Just don't glorify it through cinema! People go to movies to escape everyday drudgery once in a while. Is there anything wrong in watching a Karan Johar movie, knowing fully well that a large part is fantasy? You seem to have a visceral hatred for anything hinting at wealth! If you want to see squalor and filth, just go to the poorer sections of Mumbai - why insist on showing the whole world what it is about? I do not think that such poverty is anything to be proud of! This guy Raja Sen is living in a make believe world detached from reality - he is completely submerged in the concept of cinematic artistry and seems to have mentally blanked out the vibrant relation between cinema, real life, nationality, sense of pride which every human being has for his country and the natural reticence that people have in showing off things that shame us (such as our poverty)
Re: Re: Re: Re: What a supercilious snotty sod!
by cynic on Jan 23, 2009 01:58 PM
"People go to movies for escapism" If that were the case, I guess theres' no point in watching Pather Panchali, or Taxi Driver or any of the several other such movies that are there. Go stick to your Karan Johar/Yash Chopra movies. The very subject of the movie is about a guy who rises out of the slums; what else do you expect to see there? People cavorting in the Taj Hotel?
And speaking of national pride, if ours is so fragile that all it takes is a movie to shatter it, what do you suggest we do? Look the other way and continue watching the commercial turds injected down our throats by the same bunch of directors??
Re: What a supercilious snotty sod!
by Precambrian on Jan 21, 2009 04:28 PM
Well said mate. Raja Sen thinks he is the best reviewer in India, and is a unashamed hypocrite. All he does is intellectual bulsshting (intentional misspelling). SDM was not even near the perfection of a Lagaan or a Swades.
Re: Re: What a supercilious snotty sod!
by Arnab M on Jan 21, 2009 04:33 PM
Yeah, as an Indian, one feels good after seeing Lagaan or Swades - inspite of the fact that these moveies also showed some poverty. What makes them feel good is that they show some very good sides of India as well instead of just glorifying poverty.
Re: Re: Re: What a supercilious snotty sod!
by Suman A on Jan 21, 2009 06:21 PM
Your are right that you go for cinema to escape everyday drudgery once in a while and most people in India do the same. If violence filled Ghazini, Company can be made, why not a cinema which shows the poverty. But cinema is also a medium of expression and medium which can reach and connect with more people. That is why smoking and drinking have become so popular and spoiling the country. If Aamir sports a new hair style it becomes a rage among people so is any costume worn by actresses. Take Karan's movies recently you will see he explores extra-marital affair, gay relationship do you think these are things you would like to watch and would like to watch your son, daughter, or parents. They will have songs where girls would dance with bare minimum cloths(Cheap pleasure). These stupid directors(with due respect to other good ones) are exploring cheap pleasures to please the viewers and do not have the guts to make movies which could touch the people in positive way. Forget that Slumdog Millionaire is directed by a non-Indian and think it is by Indian author Vikas. Though it portrays poverty this movie ends with positive note for the poor people which would give confidence to those poor or any. But if you watch Karan's movie people would get confidence that they can look for extra-marital affairs n gays.
