Bollywood Vs Hollywood - Page 3

Originally posted by: blue-ice

Why did Slumdog Millionaire win so many academy awards?

Originally posted by: philopolemicist

I can't see why either.

For me, the only authentic aspects of the film were Hindi driven dialogue and the acting of slum children, which worked to make the entire slick package palatable. Before seeing the movie, I thought those who claimed that it portrayed India in a negative light were being ridiculously defensive. Having seen it, I understand where they are coming from. Yes, Mumbai has squalor and violence and cruelty. But it has great humanity and brotherhood and character, none of which were adequately represented in the film.

That's not to say that Danny Boyle achieved nothing here: the shots are interesting, the action frenetic, the soundtrack masterfully married to the narrative, and so on. Plus, in many ways, I respect what the film unveiled by peeling back Mumbai's epidermis and peering inside.

Yes, despite what the most zealous of naysayers claim, India's problems are real and manifold: extreme poverty, communal violence, child beggary, painful vestiges of the caste system, to name a few. And all of these exist even in modern, urban India, the India of all those Western magazines profiles, the India of business process outsourcing and information technology.

So it's good that someone has held up a mirror to remind India that, yes, you've come far, but that you have a long way to go, too.

Still, these are weighty, charged issues, perhaps best not hastily reproduced and distilled by a mere passer-by. Boyle readily admits he has no great knowledge of, intimacy with or insight into India, though today he's quite complimentary of the city so responsible for his recent fortune.

Say an Indian director travelled to New Orleans for a few months to film a movie about Jamal Martin, an impoverished African American who lost his home in Hurricane Katrina, who once had a promising basketball career, but who -- following a drive-by shooting -- now walks with a permanent limp, whose father is in jail for selling drugs, whose mother is addicted to crack cocaine, whose younger sister was killed by gang-violence, whose brother was arrested by corrupt cops, whose first born child has sickle cell anaemia, and so on. The movie would be widely panned and laughed out of theatres.

That, to me, is Slumdog Millionaire: contrived, pretentious, absurd, hollow, inauthentic, a pseudo-statement about social justice. And yet today the film stands on the precipice of Hollywood's highest honour, the Academy Award for Best Picture.

I had seen enough.

Originally posted by: Beyond_the_Veil

You haven't seen Tees Maar Khan certainly. 😆

Originally posted by: CunningLinguist

Ghajini, Dabangg, Ready, Bodyguard and Singham, all grossed over 100 crores... all of these films are utter garbage, let's not mince our words, only an audience of imbeciles can achieve this feat.

Wow. Some of you don't even seem to like movies. Seems like you want moo-vies. 😛

Avatar is definitely is not groundbreaking in terms of acting or storyline. What made Avatar such a big deal was its trailblazing technology. Avatar ushered in an era in filmmaking akin to George Lucas and Lucas Films with Star Wars and John Lasseter and Pixar with Toy Story – they completely redefined technology, storyboarding and the way special effects are imagined and executed. Perhaps to the ordinary audience it is no big deal and the hype around it annoying, but for a lot of techno film geeks this is it.

Personally for me the storyline and the message it portrayed really worked and the imagination and portrayal of Pandora really touched my utopian fantasies – that perfect blend of sci-fi and Disney princess.

Slumdog Millionaire would probably in most situations be ordinary, especially in India where similar themes and stories have been oft repeated. However, if you look at it from the perspective of the western world, you can see why it was so acclaimed. Firstly, for the American audience it caters to the belief that fate, chance and luck can make a difference for the lower rungs of the American dream. Secondly, there was the novelty factor. Americans and British have an affinity for stories and experiences from foreign places and cultures. There is also a curiosity factor associated with the Asian slums and the favelas of Latin America, the western world usually does not understand life in such abject poverty. Finally, there is the fact that despite a storyline revolving around difficult and trying lives, the film overall was a happy feel good film. Unlike the high browed exclusive intellectual tendency of the usual hard hitting movies, this flick had something enjoyable and relatable for the masses, the small town folk, the steel town workers, blue collar workers as well as varying minorities. Hence you have a less than ordinary film like Slumdog Millionaire that becomes an unlikely blockbuster and award winner.

I really believe that movies, like music, arts and books are very subjective and what is good and enjoyable really depends on the viewer. Of course there is an objective standard of acting, scripting, direction and many popular movies would actually fall under the category of 'bad' movies because the overall work is sloppy. However, they end up being 'good' and 'blockbusters' because despite the bad acting, poor story and lack of technical mastery it caters to something the audience demands. Some people crave the Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, some people enjoy blood sputtering, organs flying, gory zombie action and some people think brain eating zombies are actually funny. Some people want to go through two boxes of Kleenex every time they watch a movie and some people want to roll on the floor laughing. Some people like loud noises, car chases, explosions and some people like realism, simple stories about ordinary people. Critically speaking, yes an old film noir movie maybe a much better movies and superior than a lot of other movies. But that does not make Zombieland or Sucker Punch or Kick Ass any less awesome. In fact some acclaimed films are good, and just plain good, but the fact is that some bad films are not simply bad they are AWESOME BAD!!!!!!

I wonder if the Japanese also complain as much "Gojira! Jisatsu! Bishonen! shoshuku gouran! Gojira, Jisatsu! Bishonen! Shoshuku gouran! That same crap over and over again!!" Or if the Spanish speaking world has had it with their "Tele novellas"

Originally posted by: blue-ice

'Avatar' was awesome...'Sucker Punch' was not...😆

You are right. Sucker Punch was DOUBLE AWESOME! Want to see TRIPLE AWESOME, checkout Bitchslap (Yes it is a movie as well) 😆.

Ajnu, I hope you don't count me as one of the Slumdog critics? I just wrote a parody on it.