An Intelligently directed & well scripted movie but portrays India in a bad taste. (Part One)

Rating: 6/10 (21 February 2009)

It's the most appreciated movie in the last few months (2008), winning several awards at various film festivals all over the globe. So I was excited enough to the see it, expecting another movie which will be added in my "Movies to See Before You Die" list. No doubt it is one of the best movies of recent times but sadly I didn't find it worth adding my "Must See Movies" List and I will surely give you my reasons for that here in the end.
Firstly talking about the movie, an interesting observation is that if the viewer is not told about who directed this flick, then, he is bound to take it as a movie made by an Indian or a person with an Indian origin. But surprisingly it is directed by "Danny Boyle" of 'Trainspotting' and '28 Days Later' fame. Though he has done a brilliant job but in my opinion he selected this subject and directed this movie keeping in mind the festival circuit and attention he would get because of the Indian touch and feel of the movie. You might get my point more clearly after watching it and reading my points at the end of this review.
The story of this movie is about a young teenage boy winning millions at a TV Show (KBC of Indian Television) and how each question asked by the anchor has a relation to his past life. He knows most of the answers as all the questions have something similar to the circumstances of his real life. So the anchor at one point of time doubts that he may be cheating in the show. In order to investigate his loyalty, he is handed over to the police for one night, but nothing is found against him and he is allowed to play the game, the next final day.
Each question put to him in the game show has a sequence attached to it in the screenplay which is well written and enjoyable. The growth of the children from a small age to their teenage youth is well executed. But the thrill which should have been there regarding the game is missing. May be it's because from the title itself you already know that the contestant is going to win. Moreover, the narration of the movie is more towards an artistic offbeat film (like that of "Salaam Bombay"), which reduces its chances of becoming a big hit in the Indian circuit (But may do well in multiplexes).
Performances wise everybody does a fine job especially Dev Patel and all the child artists featuring in the movie. Their expressions and dialogue delivery has been directed perfectly and they never seem to be acting. Anil Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Saurabh Shukla & Mahesh Manjrekar are just fine doing their parts with nothing extra-ordinary to talk about. But they are lucky enough to get this project which has become world famous by now. One thing i couldn't understand was that why Anil Kapoor did not want the slum boy to win in his show and why he tried to give him the wrong answer. Camerwork showing the slums and riots is brilliant. In fact the opening scene is the most well shot sequence with all the kids running followed by the policemen.
Musically, there are no full length songs in the movie and the soundtrack alone is more enjoyable separately. The best song is "Jai Ho" which was shockingly refused by Subhash Ghai for his movie "Yuvraaj". The background music is superb giving an ample support to the direction. A. R. Rahman gives another good score in this International project and has already won praises and awards, making his presence felt in the International Film & Music Circles. We are really proud to have him as a National Treasure.
Now coming to the points why this movie could not impress me as expected and why it is not being added to my "Movies to See Before You Die" List.