The most over-rated movie of 2008

Rating: 5/10 (30 March 2009)

Over the past few months, I've been hearing a lot of praises for this movie. And the Oscar achievement added more to that. Congratulations to everyone associated with the movie. But I seriously feel its 'much ado about nothing'.
I agree that the concept of the movie - the basic plot - is a fantastic one. But all said and done, the movie still doesn't work (at least for me it didn't). Its the screenplay that has been a let-down.
I haven't read the actual book. But the movie-plot is full of holes. The major one is the language. I feel the makers were forced to use English as a medium of dialogue, obviously because this was a Hollywood movie. The so-called 'Slumdog' Mumbai kids talking in English is something I cannot digest. It was quite good at the beginning when the kids conversed in a dialect of Hindi which was very similar to the actual one used in slums of Mumbai (including the swear words). But then we find the teenage Jamal, Salim and Latika conversing in fluent English. That's simply unrealistic, especially after what they had gone through in their lives. The villain Mamman too switches over to English while talking to the teenage Jamal and Salim, while he was talking to them in Hindi a few years ago.
The way in which the events in Jamal's life were connected to the answers to the questions, failed to impress. Most reeked of poor research. Almost all of them were unrealistic and unbelievable. Trust me, I can guarantee this, no boy from slums would call a revolver a 'Colt'. And how does a blind kid looking for alms know about Benjamin Franklin? The communal riots sequence could have been good connection, but how does a boy disguised like lord Rama turn up in an area of total chaos, and is just standing there absolutely relaxed.
At the end, watching Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto dance in the railway station to the tune of Jai-Ho made me roll-over laughing. It was hilarious. The dance moves seems totally disconnected to the lyrics of the song. And Dev Patel's two left feet were not much help either. In fact, it would have been better if there was no dance at all. But hey, after all, its a Bollywood movie, and every western director who wishes to direct an Indian movie always wants to direct a song-and-dance sequence. But this one here has beat many Hindi movies in terms of the ridiculousness of a song.
About the performances, the kids did an absolutely marvellous job. Anil Kapoor, Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto did a nice job too. Irfan Khan has been wasted in a forgettable role. AR Rehman rocks as usual, but Jai-ho is certainly not his best.
Overall, I think this movie was a loose interpretation of the Mumbai slums, the people there and their lives. Its a confused movie, which just stops somewhere in middle of making a feel-good movie suited to the sensibilities of the western audience, and going for a total 'indianization' of a Hollywood movie. It should have rather sided one end.