Trainspotting Millions at the cost of 'Slumdogs'

The [starting lines] of Trainspotting starts with this following narration:

Mark “Rent-boy” Renton :
“Choose Life. Choose a Job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fcuking big Television. Choose Washing Machines, Cars, Compact Disc Players and electrical tin opener.
Choose good health, Low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a home. Choose your friends.
Choose Leisurewear, and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase. Choose DIY wondering who the fcuking you are on a Sunday morning. Choose a couch watching mind numbing spirit crushing game shows stuffing fcuking junk food into your mouth.
Choose rotting away at the end of it all pissing your last in a miserable home nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish brats you've spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose Life !
But why would I want to do a thing like that. I chose not to choose life. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin.”
And its theme. Only, the nonconformist here swings between choosing and not choosing life.

[the last lines]

Mark “Rent-boy” Renton :
So why did I do it? I could offer a million answers - all false. The truth is that I'm a bad person. But, that's gonna change - I'm going to change. This is the last of that sort of thing. Now I'm cleaning up and I'm moving on, going straight and choosing life. I'm looking forward to it already. I'm gonna be just like you.
The job, the family, the fcuking big television. The washing machine, the car, the compact disc and electric tin opener, good health, low cholesterol, dental insurance, mortgage, starter home, leisure wear, luggage, three piece suite, DIY, game shows, junk food, children, walks in the park, nine to five, good at golf, washing the car, choice of sweaters, family Christmas, indexed pension, tax exemption, clearing gutters, getting by, looking ahead, the day you die. **

And he shot these lines with perfection. He is Daniel Boyle, director of Slumdog Millionaire (‘Slumdog Crorepati’ in Hindi).

This is not like a movie review which you are going to read. I saw the movie once and then I heard a lot of hype about the movie. And I decided to watch it twice (just for the sake of analysis).

The movie has an original plot (restructured from a bestseller) and is different from regular thrillers. It is different but it is not extraordinary. Neither by the measure of performance nor overall.

Anyways kudos to Slumdog for oscaring through awards. Though I would like to appreciate Amitabh Bachchan’s perception about not serving bollywood movies on the same platter at these foreign awards. A movie like Taare Zameen Per (to be reviewed later), got rejected. And I see no reason for its expulsion. It has a bright theme and lovely emotional storyline. On the other hand, we have Slumdog, which is dark and nothing new in it frankly (apart from plot). If Danny wanted to showcase the poverty of India and make big bugs out of it…he could have done it in a ‘Swades’ type way. The plot of Swades and Slumdog, both had poverty in them. The former shows how people are happy without basic essentials like water but still carry afford smiles easily. On the contrary, in latter you see kids from slums (alias slumdogs) took up crime as there support-stick to get rich.

There MAY be other factors too. Are Oscars going like most private awards in Hindi Movie Industry did? Are production houses behind the politics of Oscars (remember? Reliance BigTV and Walt Disney alliance)? Is it having any influence for bollywood on ‘western-market’? Speculations arise if a non-deserving candidate wins.

Last word for Rehmaan n other Indians (Gulzaar, etc). They deserved it. If not for Slumdog, definitely for his past movies. Hence, Oscars to them are justifiable. But I find no reason why Mother India, Salam Bombay, Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par should not get an oscar if Slumdog has.

I wonder what they perceive about India in the Oscarland! If Poverty exists in India, people still cherish it.

An Indian movie (directed by a British) getting an oscar is a golden opportunity for Indian movie fraternity to capitalize on it. We have a chance now and if we still don’t dance on it, brilliant cinema like TZP, Lagaan, etc will still loose out in the coming future too.
so0O…

Jai Ho!!

** - The lines above are taken from a cult movie 'Trainspotting' directed by Danny Boyle. Trainspotting in slang means 'injecting heroin'.

LUCK...by Chance...got him...CHANCE...by luck

Once my English teacher at DU’s Venky said “to be successful in life you need three things – HardWork, Talent & Luck”.
And this movie is an extension of the above mentioned line.

Starting with the start of the movie. “Awesome” is the perfect word to describe it. Beneath all humour, the gratitude presented to the film fraternity by the director (Zoya Akhtar) is heart-touching.

Story is simple. A kid (not equal to star-kid) decides to become an actor. He enrolls himself into an acting school and comes out as an unemployed certified actor. But then after becoming an actor, he also wants to be a superstar. And then after many unsuccessfull iterations, luck by chance takes him to the place which is defined by its salutation as the Kings and the Baadshahs and the Shenshahs. And obviously going by the law of quotes – “kuch pane ke liye kuch khona padhta hai” (for every gain, you have to go through pain)”, the LUCKy actor turns to a star making a lot of money at the expense of his emotions (his love).

Impressions –
The Start of the movie. The 2 min starting-credits song can be termed as ‘the casting song’ for bollywood, defining many categories in film production. Aamir Khan. Less than 60 sec on the screen, still you will feel the perfection in his Gurudutt act. Anurag Kashyap, fabulous as story-writer. Farhan Akhtar – actor he is. His form after ROCK ON still rocks. Rishi Kapoor & Dimple’s Combo effort. The sponty chemistry between the two is charming and affable. Rest of the impressions include – Roshan baba, Sanjay ‘once-i-was-an-actor’ Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Juhi aunty and Isha ‘sensuous’ Sharwani. All played there parts with total satisfaction.

Negatives –
Sobbing scenes of Konkona Sen. First Half was a bit sluggish. Also, the climax of the movie seems to be a bit incomplete and lack satisfaction.

Luck by chance is a spoof when you look it with eyes with which people saw page 3. But it’s even better than that. Luck by chance contains an impressive array of actors and also tries to narrate the reality of reel. However, it can’t be compared to great classic ‘Guddi’ (starring Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan), which had adopted cult status when we talk about movies telling bollywood tales. Still, it can easily come under ‘paise- vasool’ category.

PS: Luck By Chance in normal life can be more than cruel sometimes. Imagine getting transferred to a location where your ex works. Luck By Chance reduces to Life By Chance.

The writer here is professional computer engineer working as a consultant from Lucknow (only ....).

LUCK BY CHANCE
“I don’t believe in destiny, I believe in me”