Best Film at the Los Angeles Critics Choice Awards, Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, British Independent Film Awards, Satellite Awards, and more recently at the Golden Globes where it also won in every other category that it was nominated in - Screenplay, Director and Score. Other wins include People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Best Adapted Screenplay at the Writers Guild of America, the Golden Frog for Best Cinematography at the Camerimage and the list goes on and on.
With the movie being on every critic’s list of ‘the best films of 2008′ and having a dream run internationally, Slumdog Millionaire has sort of become a cause for the personal pride and joy of every Indian following its trail. And why ever not? Considering that it is based on a book written by an Indian (Vikas Sawrup’s Q & A). It was shot entirely on the streets of Mumbai and has an all Indian cast including famed actors such as Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan starring in it. AR Rahman has also emerged as a star of the film, winning accolades for his brilliant compositions such as O Saya and Jai Ho. The Golden Globe win on the 11th of this month made him the first ever Indian to be recognized in these awards. Wouldn’t the Oscars be quite the cherry on the cake?
That is exactly where Slumdog is heading next, to the Oscars. Nominations are not out as yet (they come out on January 22, a month before the actual event) and already, it’s hot property with the bookies who’ve put the feel-good movie at 8/15 on to scoop the coveted prize of Best Picture at the Academy Awards, well in front of rivals The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, Frost/Nixon and Revolutionary Road. The film’s director Danny Boyle is also a 4/6 favourite to win the Best Director trophy at the February 22 ceremony. A spokesman for bookmakers Paddy Power said in a statement, “Slumdog Millionaire has been heavily backed for the last couple of weeks and, after its success at the Golden Globes, it looks set for Oscars glory.” The film currently sits at number two in the top ten in the United Kingdom.
Slumdog in its core is one thing - a classic underdog story. Its the story of a boy from the Mumbai slums who battles against elements such as poverty, lost love, and family troubles; his adventures take him from begging on the streets to winning the popular game show ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ and eventually conquering love. True to its theme, the low-budget flick, one-third of which is shot in Hindi, began its journey as an underdog contender in the award shows and today, in the US alone, has already generated over USD 30 million at the box office despite being on limited release.
In India, we’ve had to wait almost four months for this movie with all its desi connections to officially hit the theatres (on January 23). The wait proved too difficult for many restless Indians whose itching hands (winning over ethical sentiments of piracy) got hold of copies of the movie that is doing the rounds of every street DVD vendor. To the rest of you, I urge that you hang on for only nine more days starting today. The 35mm visual effect will definitely be worth the wait!
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And of course the greatest flaw in the storyline: programmes like ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ are NOT telecast live. As a result the entire structure of the film becomes unrealistic. For a film that boasts of being realistic such a flaw cannot be overlooked.
