The best & worst of '08: Slumdog & Rab Ne

The best and the other the worst of '08 were such easy picks.

The best

Title: Slumdog Millionaire

Year: 2008

Cast: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Saurabh Shukla.

2 miracles happen simultaneously to 1 person: Dev is from a slum in Bombay, and works as a tea deliverer in some random call center. Not only does he get selected for India's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," but the questions asked to him there are all related to incidents in his own life. So of course, no one believes this guy and assumes he has been cheating, but Dev himself is really on a quest to find Freida, his childhood love who always watches the show.

Notes:

1- It was really a hard movie for me to watch because of all the violence against children portrayed, and I couldn't talk about it for almost 3 weeks since having seen it. I do realise of course that my reaction was purely personal, and I probably need to be more objective in my movie viewing- but hey- its the personal reactions that make movies magical.

2- The director, Danny Boyle, has of course done brilliant work, but I have huge respect for the casting done by co-director Loveleen Tandan- she has done some amazing work; getting together such an effective cast is utter genius.

3- Dev is SO Indo-American- he reminds me very strongly of Kalpen Modi ("Kal Penn")- love them both.

4- Its such a powerful movie, so brilliantly thought and planned- its like a series of punches to the gut. The momentum keeps building to the end, when the Bolly song in the final credits came to wash away all the stress. Its fantastic, but I think it will be a long while before I can rewatch this.

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The worst
Title: Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Year: 2008
Cast: Shahrukh, Anusha, Vinay Pathak

Shahrukh is a Amol-Palekar-esque common man working in Punjab Power. He marries Anusha to support her when her dad passes away, and then finds that she doesn't love him. Therefore, when she decides to go for a dance competition, he joins the competition in the guise of "another man," and woos her. She falls in love with SRK II, but walks away because she believes SRK I is God-like :S So he tells her the truth, and they live happily ever after.

Pros:

1- Vinay Pathak.

Cons:

1- The story.

- If SRK is happy as a geek (he says Anusha should love him as he is), why change- why make Anusha love him in his hip avtar in the 1st place? If he is happy being hip (he seems to be having a arm-flingingly good time and looks completely comfortable)- why change back to being geeky?

- Whats with Anusha being BLIND to the fact that the guy she has been living with for months is the same as her dance partner?

- And what's with women imagining their hubbys as Gods? I have an insane urge to now seek my hubby's blessings every morning and evening (at least)- wait a minute- I WILL do that- will probably freak him out completely - heeh.

- All the Japanese references- cute, but I didn't get the point- it could have been Scandinavia for all it meant.

2- SRK's inability to be more than SRK- really, this makes me so angry and sad- I remember the SRK from "Fauji"- where the heck did that actor go??? And I am tired of all the arm flinging gesturing :S I don't doubt his stature, but this was a terrible movie to choose.

3- Anusha does nothing for me- which is fine, since she isn't meant to do much for me anyways :D