*Slumdog scores a slam dunk* *Rizal Iwan*, CONTRIBUTOR, JAKARTA
This award-sweeper, Oscar-frontrunner and international crowd-pleaser has often been described as the feel-good movie of the year, even the decade. The premise is certainly fits the claim: A nobody from the slums of Mumbai gets on the verge of winning a fortune when he enters as a contestant in the Indian version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. However, don't get cozy just yet. This is not your usual - as the game show host in the film aptly puts it - "rags-to-rajah" fairy tale, although it's more of a fairy tale than you would have expected. It's just hard to think of Slumdog Millionaire as a feel-good movie when it opens with a teenager being physically tortured in an interrogation. Of course, in an Oscar year of assassinated gay politicians, fallen presidents, Nazi war criminals and a baby born with an 80-year-old body, maybe the trying lives of orphans in Mumbai slums, murky local gangs and a beggar kid whose eyes are burned blind by a scorching spoon don't sound too depressing, after all. When Jamal Malik (the captivating Dev Patel), a boy who grew up on the streets of Mumbai and now serves tea for a living, answers all the questions correctly in Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, and is now just one question away from winning 20 million rupees, he gets arrested on the suspicion of being a fraud. The police officer (The Namesake's Irrfan Khan) fails to squeeze a confession out of him; instead, Jamal tells the story of his life to explain to his inquisitors how he was able to answer the game show's questions. And so we are taken on flashback trips to Jamal's childhood, starting with the hypnotizing sequence of him and his brother Salim being chased by authorities through the bustling alleys of Mumbai. This is the first time in the film where we see the magical synergy between Danny Boyle's passionate and meticulous direction, Anthony Dod Mantle's vibrant cinematography, Chris Dickens' frenetic editing and A. R. Rahman's vigorous choice of music (the Oscar-nominated song "O Saya" by British-born Indian singer M.I.A.). It's this sublime alliance that has brought Slumdog this far in the awards race this year. The exhilarating sequence leads to a tongue-in-cheek bit that not only explains why Jamal can answer the first question in the game show, but also establishes two things. It is the first clue why Slumdog is indeed a feel-good movie despite its gritty opening, and it shows just to what lengths Jamal will go to get what he wants, which is revealed in layers as his character develops later. Cutely reminiscent of a famous scene in Boyle's Trainspotting, little Jamal (the just-as-captivating child actor Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) plunges into a dump of feces, in an act of desperation to get legendary Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan's autograph. It is such a rare case where something that involves human excretion can actually be endearing, and force you to smile despite your discomfort. As Jamal's story unfolds, we discover the hook that frames the film: The significant incidents in Jamal's life that lead to the hot seat in the game show provide the answers to every single question he is asked. And at the center of it all is Latika, his childhood love who becomes his adult obsession. At this point, you are left with a choice. You can let the cynic in you take over and sneer at the sheer contrivance and the crazy coincidences that hold the story together, which should keep you from developing any kind of emotional investment. To be brutally honest, it is not that much different than the melodramatic weepies of old school Indonesian movies you saw in the early 80s . or, well, Bollywood flicks. In fact, in the over-romanticized ending, you almost expect someone to fire a gun at Jamal and a random lady to appear out of nowhere to shield him and die in his place. or for everyone to just burst into song and dance (which, guess what, they do). Or you can try to overlook that and ride along. Frankly, it is easier to go with the latter, because Boyle and his army of charmers wouldn't have it any other way. All the actors turn in performances of riveting candor to flesh out characters we can't help but care about (the actors playing Jamal and Salim, in any age, are especially magnificent). And so as Jamal gets one step closer to the grand prize with every question, he is actually getting one step closer to our hearts. Boyle's rhythmic direction is handled with heart, making it more than just an over-stylized showcase of edginess. A.R. Rahman chaperones with a score ranging from vivacious Indian tunes to a deeply heartfelt love theme. Boyle hovers around his familiar storytelling terrain, of ordinary people dealing with newfound treasure (Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, Millions, The Beach - the treasure in the latter being a paradisiacal island in a world of consumerism). Interestingly, in this one, the treasure becomes the least significant thing in the story, although it is firmly placed at the center of the film. It is the one thing Jamal never cares about. And contrasted with Boyle's sharp observation of a poverty-stricken India with an escapist fixation on a millionaire game show, Jamal becomes an isolated character like a true anti-hero. This brings him to an ending that boils the film down to one very simple, na‹ve notion. One that, in other circumstances, would have thrown cynical audiences to the point of eye-rolling nausea. Indeed, as the film ends, we think, how could we have been won over by such an over-quixotic story in spite of ourselves? Well, that's where Slumdog's magic lies. And like all magical things do, it casts a spell on you. *Slumdog Millionaire is playing exclusively at Blitz Megaplex in Jakarta. * *Rizal Iwan is also a film columnist for NOW! Jakarta magazine.* http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20090215.R01&irec=16 -- regards, Vithur
