Slumdog (movie of the) Millennium !

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I have been a huge Oliver Twist fan when I was a kid. And this movie just reminded me of my kiddy days. And no, this is not why I called it "my movie of the millennium". There is a lot more to it. But for starters, it is Oliver Twist, re-packaged and re-told!

It's a simple plot - boy loves girl but he loses the girl; then he fights his way through to get his girl back. While he does all this, he becomes rich from rags. Simple, hai na?

But then, there comes the drift - the clutter-breaking aspects come in with the sub-plot and the narration. And the attention to details and to the nuances. And the camera shifts and the angles. And the background score. And a lot more.

Slumdog Millionaire is based on the novel Q&A by Vikas Swaroop and it has been written by the English screenwriter Simon Beaufoy and directed by Danny Boyle. The background score is by A. R. Rahman.

It has already won the Audience Award at this year's Toronto Film Festival, various other awards at the 2008 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards, 2008 Austin Film Festival, 2008 Boston Society of Film Critics Award, 2008 British Independent Film Awards, 2008 Broadcast Film Critics Association - The Critics' Choice Award, 2008 Chicago Film Critics Association, 2008 Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards, 2008 Detroit Film Critics Society Awards, 2008 Florida Film Critics Circle Awards, 2008 Houston Film Critics Society Awards, 2008 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, 2008 National Board of Review, 2008 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards, 2008 San Diego Film Critics Society Award, St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards 2008 and nominated for several other awards, including Golden Globe Awards.

The narration of the screenplay is very interesting - it's a 3 way narration - one where you find an adult Jamal sitting the police station (which is the present); then there is the same Jamal in the sets of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and finally the flashbacks of the young Jamal. The best part of the movie, I felt, is the way the movie has been edited and narrated - the way all 3 narrations have been intertwined is worth mentioning. It just leaves you wanting for more.

Each character is neatly etched out, distinctly standing out and drumming your memories, even long after the movie finishes. The character Jamal is played by 3 people -

(a) the kid Jamal is played by Ayush Khedekar - who is just brilliant in his portrayal( Don't miss the part where he swims through human excreta in the slums of Mumbai to get an autograph from Amitabh Bachchan and his expressions when his brother sells of that signed photo to a dealer!!! Its scintillating!);

(b) the young Jamal is played by Tanay Chheda, who is equally dazzles with his performance, especially the part where he tells some foreign tourists that Taj Mahal was a hotel built by Shah Jahan and the pool still looks damn neat! Hilarious!

(c) The young adult Jamal, played by Dev Patel, though, takes the cake. He is superb! He ties you up to the screen with his performance - very subtle yet extremely hard-hitting.

Then, there are the characters of Salim, Jamal's elder brother and Latika, Jamal's childhood love.

Azharuddin Ismail, Ashutosh Gajiwala and Madhur Mittal played the role of Salim at various stages of life. And he is equally brilliant. I personally love the part where he deliberately leaves Latika's hand while they run and board the train, and nonchalantly looks at Jamal and says, " woh pakad nahi papyee, bhool ja!"

Latika is played by Rubina Ali (as the young orphan) and Frieda Pinto (incidentally my friend's cousin). Rubina is astonishingly adorable. Frieda is admirable too and I guess it is just not Jamal but the entire "men-section" of the audience who would fall in love with her.

Then, there are two other prominent characters. Maman, the villain, who brings in orphaned kids and blinds them to turn them into beggars, is pretty good. He invokes a slimy feeling in your heart - which he ought to. Highlight - The scene where he begs Salim for his life. He looks incredibly mean.

Then, there are the police officers interrogating Jamal - played by Irrfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla. Both are sloppily underused. Man, I would have loved to see more of Irrfan Khan - his cameo could have made this movie the "best movie ever"! Such is his potential but alas, he wasn't given too much space to show-off his flair. Saurabh Shukla, in plain words. Is wasted!

And then, there is the rockstar!

Anil Kapoor gives in a stellar performance as the sordid Prem, the celebrity host of KBC. You would love the sleaziness in Anil Kapoor in the scene where he gives away the answer in the washroom. You would actually love him in that scene, trust me!

Add to all these, the mind-numbing background score of AR Rahman and the way it has been put across scenes and even during the credits. Watch out for the tracks Jaye Ho and the flute-sitar track that starts pounding with a fusion of drums, bass guitars and the likes.

The way Boyle has shown India, be it the slums or the railway stations or the state of the police chowkis or even the Taj Mahal and its affiliates - its just magnificent. There is so much color and feelings involved in this film that after a point in time (which is surely within a few minutes of the start of the film), you start relating to the sequences. There is some kind of vigor, rush and pulse that you feel throughout the movie.

If you ask me to pin-point the highlight of the movie - it is the scene where they show a Hindu-Muslim riot and young Jamal, Salim and Latika taking refuge inside a hollow construction pipe on a rainy night! It has class written all over it. Pure class!

I do not know how other critics in India would have or would rate this film. I do not know how much of what I said will you believe. I do not know. But what I know is that this film just might change your life - it surely has changed my life. And that is the sole reason, why I call this "my movie of the millennium"!

Now, watch it!