Over the top, unrealistic and unneeded

Rating: 6/10 (26 January 2009)

I think this movies is doing well just because of the shock value; the revelation of violence/poverty in India to the western world. Now, i would have overlooked this fact(in fact i did, for movies such as city of joy) if the plot of the movie hadn't been so unrealistic and bland.
Seeing this movie reminded me of another movie The Color Purple. There is lot of talk in the forum about the movie portraying all African American men as sexists, abusive and mean(not surprisingly most of it comes form African Americans). SM portrays a similar picture of India only way worse. Now, I like hardcore realism as much as anyone and an not denying these things happening in India.
The plot of the movie is universal and could have worked in any country or culture. Imagine this movie is directed by a french or Canadian guy and is set in America and the protagonist is an African American woman. Her parents get killed in a race riot in Alabama. She hitches a ride and ends up in the streets of new york where she works as a hooker being beat up by pimps and cops( And all this has to be shown repeatedly in the most gory fashion) She then goes on to the TV show to find her long lost boyfriend. This may very well have worked but It wont be as exotic or have won as many Oscar nominations as seeing it happen to an Indian, Chineese or Thai.
Like i said earlier i would have overlooked the Gross "exploitation of poverty" if it scored well on other aspect. Now, the plot is very interesting and i was really looking forward to seeing it. But the scenes and the stories behind each of the answers(which should have been the charm of the movie) are exceedingly unrealistic. I cant suspend disbelief and imagine that a blind beggar child in Bombay would know Benjamin Franklin is on a $100 bill, or Salim would know that he was holding a colt revolver, or Jamal would be able to pick up good enough English to pass as a tour guide.
Overall i found this movie to be a disappointment except for the music.