A.R. Rahman's Journey to the Oscars - International Indian

MOVIE REVIEWSLUMDOGmillionaireDespite all the controversy surrounding it, Slumdog Millionaire is likely to make an impactfar beyond winning Oscars for India’s AR Rahman and Resul Pookutty. AcknowledgingIndian craftsmanship in filmaking is probably the major breakthrough.by: Prem Souri KishoreWatching it I wasswept away in a rushof narrative, color,sound, movementand exhiliration.Slumdog Millionaire was a rollercoaster ride. Thrills, terror, electrifyingexcitement, exultation. After a ride likethat what do you do? You get on again.And that is what I did after seeing itthe first time. I saw it again and thevisceral experience never let up.The inspired music of ARRahman jolts you with its pulsating,intoxicating energy from the firstshot as you are hurtle into the livesof slum dwellers in Mumbai’s shantycommunity. The film is upbeat, sparsedialogue, unflinching, revolting,gaudy, narrating a story of orphans,gangs, poverty, filth, brothels, anti Muslim riots, police brutality,struggling humanity and a tender love story. Appealing?Three kids live in the underbelly of Mumbai. We embrace them rightaway, they are so heartrending, so real, and soon we are rooting for them asthey learn survival skills,. It is horrifying, raw life, this is no fantasy, this isfor real. Intrusive close ups, are electrifying, The acting never overpowersthe narrative. Each of the leads are played by three different actors as theyage and each becomes a different personality, as the film builds into agripping emotional climax. You hold your breath till the end.Meanwhile you laugh at the boys hustling at the Taj Mahal, rootfor Dev Patel, the 16 year old contestant who finds himself on theDanny Boyle with Dev Patel and Freida Pinto: Slumdog walked away with eightOscar’s in 2009. How will Bollywood capitalize on this breakthrough?Indian show Who Wants to be aMillionaire, and is in love withthe lissom Freida Pinto. Youcringe at the gruesome tactics ofthe dons of the shanty, despise thegame show host Anil Kapoor whohas a conflict of interests, marvelat the skill of the narrative whichis told in flashbacks while you aresurrounded by a torrent of images,a mad exhilarating rush of color,sound and movement. At the endof it all the film had me dancingin the aisle.Slumdog Millionaire is thedarling of the critics and has hada dramatic, sweeping impact onreviewers and audiences. TheWashington Street Journal calledit ‘a globalized masterpiece.” “Ihave a Mad Love for this film”said Peter Travers of RollingStone. Richard Corliss fromTime declared it “a hymn to life”.Slumdog the cleverly constructedfilm adapted from Vikas Swarup’sbook Q and A is a rags to richesdrama set in the fetid slums ofMumbai and besides walkingaway with eight Oscars, it wontrophies across the board includingthe Hollywood Press Globe,Golden Globe, Directors Guild,Producers Guild, and WritersGuild, . The film was the season’smost beloved underdog andwalked away with the Oscars forBest Picture, Best Director, Best(Adapted) Screenplay (SimonBeaufoy) Best original Score andBest Song ( A R Rahman), BestSound Mixing (Resul Pookutty),Best Film Editing, and BestCinematography..A headline in LA Times shouted,“Another bone for Slumdog”.Made with a small budgetof 14 million dollars by WarnerIndependent Pictures which shutdown unexpectedly, the film wascontracted with Fox Searchlightto distribute and market in NorthAmerica. Screenwriter SimonBeaufoy said in accepting thehonor from Hollywood ForeignPress Association, “We reallyweren’t expecting to be here inAmerica at all at one time, so34 35The International IndianThe International Indianth16ANNI V ERSARYit’s just amazing to be standing here” “You cannot shoot Mumbaion a set.. you have to be right there,” said Danny Boyle the Directorin an interview. Thousands gathered every time there was a shot.Sometimes DannyBoyle wondered withall the chaos aroundthe characters and thecrew, if he had reallygot a particular shot.And then there werethe permits. Sometimesthe permits cameafter the scene hadbeen shot. Co-directorLoveleen Tandon whowas Casting Directorfor Monsoon Wedding,Vanity Fair, Terminaland Brick Lane hadthe challenging task ofcasting 9 people whoplay 3 parts with equalscreen time. Of thenine, two were slumFreida Pinto and Dev Patelkids and most of theof Slumdog Millionaireothers were first timersin film. Excellentcameo roles were done by Mahesh Manjrekar, Saurabh Shukla, andAnkur Vikal.The author, Vikas Swarup who wrote the book Q and A on which thefilm was based, has never lived in Mumbai. Swarup is the Ambasssadorof India to South Africa. He has already written his second book basedon the Jessica Lall murder in Mumbai and is busy with a new bookwhich is not set in India. Vikas uncannily knows the seamy, brutal,poverty ridden slums of the largest commercial city in India. But howdid he write of the sordid, heartless, raw vitality of the streets withoutliving there? “I Googled,” he says with disarming candor in an interview.“Thanks to Google I got all the information and finished the book intwo months. There was no rewrite, just some editing and I was done.”Unheard of in the publishing industry where a book can take two or threeyears of rewriting with scores of going back back and forth betweeneditors and the author. How much creative control did the author haveover the picture? “I did sit in with the screenplay writer from the first daybut a book is a book and a film is a film and changes had to be made.”Prem Souri Kishore is TII’sContributing Editor based in Los Angeles