With a lot of hope and expectation, I finally caught the morning show of 'Slumdog Millionaire' yesterday. It was certainly worth a watch, primarily because of the performances. The supporting child cast was even better than the adult actors. The boy who played the role of the teenaged Salim, the protagonist's brother, was awesome. In fact, the character of Salim was what kept me so engrossed and I thought that Salim was responsible for carrying the story forward. Although Dev Patel ,who plays role of the protagonist ,could have acted better, I did not care because his looks and smile bowled me over. I specially liked him when he smiled widely on seeing the final question.
I don't know whether the movie should win an Oscar or not but I definitely don't want A.R. Rahman to win an Oscar for this one. He has composed better music before. Besides, the ending of the movie was like any other Hindi movie. After arresting him, when the protagonist narrated how he had answered the questions, how did the police know that he was speaking the truth? Why did they let him off so easily in the end after even giving him electric shocks? But, I don't think that anybody has commited a grave mistake by portraying India's poverty because it is the harsh truth. Each of the things shown in the movie exist in this country. The country's people should not expect foreign film makers to ignore them sweetly, specially when those film makers know what sort of profits they can derive by making a movie which deals with India's miserable condition.
On a different and more cheerful note, I also went to the Kolkata Book Fair yesterday. I totally got lost in the world of books and for myself, I got a collection of all short stories written by Guy De Maupassant. The book includes more than 150 stories! I also got a collection of stories by R.L.Stevenson and 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga. Besides, my parents bought books for themselves and after spending nearly four hours at the fair, they realized that they had just enough money left to pay the taxi fare. They realized that just in time though, because we were thinking of looking around a bit more for some other books!
16 comments:
Ha ha... I know how time and money flies at the book fair. I haven't been there yet, but plan to go soon. Just that it is now in a odd location. It was conveniently close to our house earlier :(
Oops! Then you had been standing there on the book fair. Do you like books? From my childhood I have kept the feeling that around every book something magical hangs.
Don't you have problems to store the books at home? My bookcase is really full. So at buying new ones I always must think: were can I store it?
About poverty: I hope that the world's wealth (made possible by all those great inventions which human being has done) will reach the poor of this world soon too.
Did you like the Fair better this year? The fish fry was better at Maidan though.
What all books did your parents buy?
Slumdog was uselessly overhyped! Had anyone by the name of Bhatt or Chopra made the movie, would these poeple have reacted in the same manner? I doubt. And yes, A.R. Rahman has created magic a number of times earlier which are far better than what he did for Slumdog. Why, even the scores of Delhi 6 is way better than Slumdog.
even i took a day out for bk fair.though i gt some bks,yet they were less in no. compared to d previous yrs.Moreover,i couldn't find some stalls frm where i generally bought d english bks.The fair,this time,was not dat well organized...i felt.
Hi again. It was on our daily news this week that the movie is also being shown in Holland now. It was fun to recognize the movie from your blog. I don't know whether I will go to see it however. I am not a cinema-visitor.
I was surprised to see that this post is only from the beginning of this month! I have the feeling that it is already ages ago that you wrote it. (Yes, it’s a hint! :-) )
Looking at the time of year, I guess the yearly exams will start soon. Are you already studying for them?
Greetings!
nanny
This year I plan on taking three people to buy me books at the fair. :D
And yeah, Bachchans should just making those comments now. It's time for them to go.
Looking forward to you telling us about those stories you picked up.
The book fair. I missed it this year. Next year, I shall go wreak havoc :D
Hey! How are you? Judging from the lack of new posts, it seems that it is exam time now....
Yeah I agree, Rehman didn't deserve the Oscar he got! He has indeed composed better music, only the never got the recognition he deserved then.
As an Indian I am proud though.
And Dhrubo seriously for bengalis will Book Fair continue to be afood stall affair!
Firstly, Its Been Long Since I Found Your Comments On My Blog! :)
Secondly If I Am Not Mistaken, Congo On Being "Amar Ghore Star"
Thirdly And Finally The Post Was Splendid. Kudos!
Not For This One,For It Is More Of A Review Of A Movie Which Got The Oscars Only Because-----------
d:It Was Written
But It Was About 2009, Though I Strongly Hope That You Are Wrong.
@SubhadipDa
But,this year, the book fair was at a very convenient location for us, much more convenient than the Maidan.:-)
@Nanny
Of course, I like books! And, yeah, now I am starting to face problems about storing books. Looks like, in another year, we'll have to build more shelves !
And, you are right. My final exams were going on and I was studying all the time. So, I didn't even think of writing a post till my exams got over on the 3rd of March.:-)
@Dhrubo
I went to the fair this year after around five to six years. I thought it was pretty good. How can the book fair be bad?
Didn't have any food there though because the final exams were also approaching then and I didn't want to get sick.
@Woodsmoke
Baba bought 'Desh golpo shankalan', 'Aranyer Adhikar' and 'Hajar churashir ma' by Mahashweta Debi while Mammam bought 'Panchakanya', a collection of stories by five different authors and 'Amader kotha' by Bijoya Ray.
@RajDa
Yeah, Delhi 6 definitely has a more melodious soundtrack, specially 'Masakali'.
@Soorma
Hmmm...I didn't realize anything about the organization though....Probably because I went after some years and didn't know anything about the fairs in the recent years...
@Rohit
I'll surely tell something about the stories!:-)
@Shreya
I am sure you will. Good luck!:-)
@Sujoy
I am fine now.:-)
You guessed it right.My final exams were going on,which ended on the 3rd of March.
@Titash
As an Indian, I too am proud but only for Rahman and Gulzar and not for the Danny Boyles or the movie.
@Enlightener
I am glad you liked the post.:-)
I am also glad that although I stopped visiting your blog, you visited my blog and left your comments. Thanks for that!
And, finally , sorry for not visiting your blog. Actually, you were in the 12th standard and your posts became more infrequent. So, after a while(let me be frank), I lost interest. But, this will not happen anymore now. I'll be a regular visitor to your blog again as I see that you have renewed your writing habits regularly again.:-)
Titash, I am hurt. Food and books aren't enemies, are they?
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