Transportation by Film

Rating: 9/10 (18 December 2008)

The film does transport you to the slums in India, in a very real way. The contrast between the poverty of the slums and the (relative) opulence in which the gangsters live is echoed by the (false) opulence of the game show.
The major theme: "it is written" echoes the fatalistic Hindu theory of pre-destiny, while at the same time setting up the protagonist as a Christ figure Â– he's the only character in the film who is pure and good.
Well written, well shot, and well cut, the film uses the traditional good-triumphs-over-evil theme as a template to view the religious and class tensions in modern-day India. And yes, Salim was right: India is a force to be reckoned with these days. It might behoove us Americans to get to know her.