There, gasp! I've said it. I actually came out with it. Finally.
There, gasp! I've said it. I actually came out with it. Finally.u00a0
They always say you've got to be sensational to get people's attention. And Slumdog Millionaire is nothing short of that.u00a0
But now that I've grabbed your eyeballs, the truth is, I don't really hate Slumdog. I actually quite like it. But contrary to the fawning millions all over from Barcelona to the Bay of Pigs who've been taken in by the exotica of the Dharavi slums, I don't think the movie was worth eight Oscars.u00a0
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I think the end is trite and rather predictable, (even though the director claims the pat oh-they-got-together-happily-ever-after-with-soft-lenses climax, as selling hope in this time of gloom and financial crises.) Dev Patel could have had a little more emotion, (and yes, I know he was cast as a stone-faced loser, but even then.....) and the music was definitely not the best that our very own Kodambakkam whiz had tuned up.u00a0
Rumour has it though that Mutalik and his gang are now putting themselves up for nominations as Oscar judges next year. They've figured out the amount of newsprint devoted to the Academy Awards is far more than a stray firebrand garners.u00a0
And they are rather outraged that something as morally wrong as Slumdog Millionaire could get any award at all.
After all, there are at least six instances when a guy and a woman dance together. The songs have English words like ringa-ringa to them, and are a corruption of our culturally rich languages. The protagonist knows what a capitalist dirty hundred dollar bill looks like. The young girls wear short dresses and run away with two boys. And horrors, the couple gets together in the end, without the consent of their parents or proper authentication of their communities and horoscopes and backgrounds.u00a0
So the Mutalik Messaiah is winging his way to the Kodak Theatre (to be renamed Kundanahalli Chitra Mandir) so he can save the world from the death of immorality. Henceforth no off-shoulder gowns will be worn on the red carpet. Men will sit on one side of the aisle, and women will be seated far away on the other. And only movies that do not have actresses, do not have songs, and have strong moral messages will be allowed to enter.u00a0
Mutalik, they say, loves Slumdog Millionaire. It's opened up a whole new scenario for him.
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