mixed emotions

Rating: 6/10 (22 January 2009)

This is a curious example of outsider gaze into a part of India bollywood would rather close its eye.However the outsider gaze is not a neutral or objective gaze.It gets drawn into absurdities and perversities of Indian life with an exaggerated interest.The best bits of the movie reminded me of 'City of God', the bad bits of the movie reminded me of countless bollywood films. The characters are all caricatures, the lead character ( Dev Patel) emotes like a British Asian, not like a real Indian.The actress playing Latika despite being an Indian, is unindian in presence.Actors speaking in English reminds us constantly that this is not India and these guys are not real Indians.The hero's brother is the only character who rise above caricature status.But despite my negative impression, I enjoyed the film, just like I enjoy a well made masala bollywood film. This is not an art film, it is a clever film that sells some exotic wares.It should sell well in the west.I hope Rahman gets an Oscar for the musical score.