How absurd that Jamil, main character of Slumdog Millionaire, gets back to his life-experience to find out the answer everytime his host asks him a question in the biggest gamble TV show! And he gets it right too.
The depiction of Indian underbelly that emerges in the process is not exaggerated or unnatural, though not wholesome. The champions of 'India shining' brigade may have problem in accepting them, but it's unfair to say that the director Danny Boyle had any ulterior motive in showcasing this reality.
What I liked about the film is the director's taste, and sense of restraint. He could have made some scenes sleazier or sensual, but he didn't.
The film centres around a fantasy, and it's not easy to build up a believable plot on it. It's mainly for this lapse that the film suffers. And it's entirely an entertainment film.
But the lobotomized audience will love it. The top dog Warner Brothers of course had its hunch right. Slumdog, its first Indian venture, is quite OK for it.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
How was George W Bush?
Expectedly, the debate has already started. Here is Vinod Meheta's take in Outlook newsmagazine.
"To see the exiting George Bush as a harmless, blundering idiot is grossly unfair to the man. He was, in fact, a dangerous, blundering idiot who inflicted (probably) irreparable damage on America and the free world. In the United States, the debate on how history will judge George W. fluctuates between—is he the worst president in the last 50 years, or is he the worst president ever? In his eight years at the White House, he successfully managed to destroy the twin pillars of the great American story: the blessings of democracy and the invincibility of free market capitalism...
"To see the exiting George Bush as a harmless, blundering idiot is grossly unfair to the man. He was, in fact, a dangerous, blundering idiot who inflicted (probably) irreparable damage on America and the free world. In the United States, the debate on how history will judge George W. fluctuates between—is he the worst president in the last 50 years, or is he the worst president ever? In his eight years at the White House, he successfully managed to destroy the twin pillars of the great American story: the blessings of democracy and the invincibility of free market capitalism...
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Thanks, President Obama
If his inaugural address is any indication, President Barack Obama is on the right track. It takes guts to repudiate the Bush era and its foreign policy, with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney sitting just a few feet away from him. And he has not really minced words. He said turning around the limping economy was his first and top priority. And he would withdraw troops out of Iraq in 16 months.
But what would earn him praise from across the world is his order to stop all trials of "terrorists" of the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison - the ghastly legacy of Bush regime. This is a positive step on his way to keeping his promise of closing the prison for ever.
Rightly, Obama puts his stamp on his Presidency on the very first day.
But what would earn him praise from across the world is his order to stop all trials of "terrorists" of the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison - the ghastly legacy of Bush regime. This is a positive step on his way to keeping his promise of closing the prison for ever.
Rightly, Obama puts his stamp on his Presidency on the very first day.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Capitalism =adventure + amorality?
THE WORLD of tumultuous capitalist growth is a monstrous and complex thicket. The survivors in that jungle are often truly adventurous scoundrels, who harness their highest levels of ambition to create commercial juggernauts. Adventure and amorality are, in a sense, inextricably linked in the very DNA of capitalism.
Dilip Cherian, columnist and business editor, has an interesting article in Tehelka newsmagazine.
Dilip Cherian, columnist and business editor, has an interesting article in Tehelka newsmagazine.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
India's nasty industrialists
Ambani brothers - Mukesh and Anil-, and Sunil Mittal have rooted for Narendra Modi as next PM. Their argument: in Modi, they find a leader with a vision and the ability to convert the vision into reality.
Now, Narendra Modi is not really a respectable fellow. He is associated with Gujrat genocide, and though he dons a clean, fashionable makeover in his appearance these days, he's a dirty soul. Gujrat under him may have improved industry-wise, but he is a stifler of dissenting voice, and he's a dictator.
So, why are these industrialists behind him? In 1933, the German industrialists backed Adolf Hitler and his nazi regime. This is just an Indian version 2009.
Now, Narendra Modi is not really a respectable fellow. He is associated with Gujrat genocide, and though he dons a clean, fashionable makeover in his appearance these days, he's a dirty soul. Gujrat under him may have improved industry-wise, but he is a stifler of dissenting voice, and he's a dictator.
So, why are these industrialists behind him? In 1933, the German industrialists backed Adolf Hitler and his nazi regime. This is just an Indian version 2009.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Second novel after 35 years!
PW: Which was harder to write, the first novel or the second?
ES: The second novel was tougher because I knew a lot more. I think without the life experience of a couple of decades between the two books, I couldn’t have written The Disappearance. The first novel had a great setting—it was very pictorial and very plot driven, but when I compare those characters to the characters I labored over for The Disappearance there’s no comparison. It took a lot of life experience to be able to create characters that had a real feeling to them. Getting inside their heads was the key to finishing the novel and convincing someone that it could be published. Also, the second book took a lot of imagining of what would a person not that different from me in background would feel like—and to take that simple story idea—a child disappears and no one Efrem Sigel, whose second novel, The Disappearance, will be knows why—into a novel that really explores what this means for a couple, their relationship and the rest of their lives and whether they can rediscover a purpose to life out of this terrible tragedy. I didn’t just want to write a thriller—a child disappears, they look for him, eventually they find out who did it and bring the culprit to justice. I wanted to do something more complex than that.
Efrem Sigel writes his second novel, The Disappearance, after a 35-year hiatus.
ES: The second novel was tougher because I knew a lot more. I think without the life experience of a couple of decades between the two books, I couldn’t have written The Disappearance. The first novel had a great setting—it was very pictorial and very plot driven, but when I compare those characters to the characters I labored over for The Disappearance there’s no comparison. It took a lot of life experience to be able to create characters that had a real feeling to them. Getting inside their heads was the key to finishing the novel and convincing someone that it could be published. Also, the second book took a lot of imagining of what would a person not that different from me in background would feel like—and to take that simple story idea—a child disappears and no one Efrem Sigel, whose second novel, The Disappearance, will be knows why—into a novel that really explores what this means for a couple, their relationship and the rest of their lives and whether they can rediscover a purpose to life out of this terrible tragedy. I didn’t just want to write a thriller—a child disappears, they look for him, eventually they find out who did it and bring the culprit to justice. I wanted to do something more complex than that.
Efrem Sigel writes his second novel, The Disappearance, after a 35-year hiatus.
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