The 2009 Academy Awards

Not a lot of surprises on the winners front. Hugh Jackman was a competent host but I missed the humour of the previous ceremonies. The 2007 show was my favorite. Ellen Degeneres as the host was funny and pleasantly irreverent. Plus there were some killer sequences by the shadow dance group (if you could call them that) Pilobolus; if you haven’t seen them check them out on youtube- they are freaking amazing.

I’m sure having 5 previous winners introduce the nominees in the acting categories seemed like a good idea on paper- it didn’t translate that well on the stage though. The process seemed sickeningly indulgent not to mention time consuming. I’d have preferred to have complete versions of the nominated original songs even though the medley was pretty good.

In any other year Slumdog Millionaire wouldn’t have won Best Adapted Screenplay- being one of the film’s low points. But I guess with the bunch of screenplays nominated this year, it seemed like the best choice: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was too much like Forrest Gump, both written by Eric Roth; Doubt adapted from a play which can be considered easier that adapting from a book; Frost/Nixon again adapted from a play and is almost a verbatim representation of the interviews it is based on; The Reader was a story many people couldn’t sympathise with. Add the fact that Slumdog went on to win the Best Picture Award, the screenplay award was pretty obvious.

The biggest surprise for me was Departures winning the best foreign language film- I thought Waltz with Bashir was a sureshot winner with Cannes winner The Class as a possible longshot. Sean Penn’s win, though not entirely unexpected, was also a “huh???” moment for me. And it was fun to see Danny Boyle jumping on stage “in the spirit of Tigger”, Kate Winslet’s dad whistling for her to make out where he was seated and the entire Slumdog team on stage for the Best Picture Award. If only the Academy had decided to nominate Wall E and The Dark Knight in the Best Picture category, Slumdog Millionaire would’ve had tough competition. Wall E was arguably the best film last year but the Academy conveniently relegated it to the animation category. As for Dark Knight, if it’s leading man was not a superhero but an ordinary conflicted person it would’ve struck Oscar gold or at least a nomination. Guess a record-breaking blockbuster comic book movie didn’t seem serious enough for the Academy members.

The best moment of the show was when Philip Petit, the man who walked the tightrope across the 2 towers of the WTC and the subject of the winning documentary feature Man on Wire bounced on stage, did a disappearing coin trick and then balanced the Oscar statuette on his chin. That’s one spontaneous performer.

The Slumdog Millionaire Rollercoaster……

Has finally reached its pinnacle. From late last year, this picture had been building up an anticipation I’ve never felt before. I saw it last month and its very obvious flaws notwithstanding, I knew I’d like to see it triumphant at the Oscars.

Let’s talk about the movie before getting down to dissect its Oscar fortune. As the name of the movie is splashed across the green banian of a cricket playing kid with the strains of the magnificent O Saaya playing in the background, I knew I was watching something special. That whole sequence is my favorite in the movie. Trust Danny Boyle to throw you into the madness headlong- it’s exhilarating. There’s this bit in the sequence where the camera moves out from showing a small portion of the slums from above to a bigger one, then even bigger and finally encompasses the entire slum seen in its blue and grey roofed patchwork glory. Freeze that shot and it looks like a painting.

The movie works because of its upbeat spirit which effectively comes through. The passion of those working in it and especially of the director is seeped into the movie. It is not perfect cinema but it’s honest- you know that it’s been made with a lot of love and commitment.

I read Q & A when it first came out in 2005- it seemed like an OK book but nothing great. 3 years later it’s inspired the year’s cinematic sensation. The book was not such a great success judging by the fact that the book is now titled Slumdog Millionaire (with a small mention “previously published as Q & A”) trying to cash in on the movie’s fame. I never thought it would make an Oscar worthy movie- it was too filmy. But after watching the movie, I realize it’s not so much about the story as about the way it’s told.

The flaws are obvious- the most glaring being the dodgy screenplay. The book was taut if not anything else. It would’ve been more plausible had they had shown every question that Jamal answers. I have this feeling that Simon Beaufoy compromised on the logic part to play on the emotions. It’s not the best of adaptations but the pace of the movie and the positives manage to make up for it- just about.

The main characters of Jamal and Latika are not well fleshed out- their bond doesn’t really come across. You can’t really grasp the depth of their relationship. Jamal, while in the youngest avatar is a sprightly little kid, grows to be a nondescript, uninteresting character. My favorite character is that of Salim. His is well etched character- family loving but with an inherent mean streak. That scene where he sells off Jamal's precious Amitabh Bachchan autograph is intantly chilling but that's what makes the character very real. Though I wish Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala had played the adolescent Salim better- it felt like he was just mouthing some theatre lines.

That brings me to a small niggling flaw- the jarring switch from Hindi to English as the brothers move from childhood to adolescence. The English sounds so forced and affected after the unfettered Hindi dialogues. Or else they should’ve stuck to making the entire film in English- it would’ve maintained the continuum.

Slumdog isn’t a movie about individual performances- I’m actually surprised that Dev Patel and Freida Pinto got nominated at a few awards. Freida had nothing much to do- her real test would be the Woody Allen movie. Nor do I feel is Slumdog a movie about Mumbai- though the city is a very apt setting for the curve of the story. All the print space taken up by how Mumbai has been shown in a bad light, blah, blah, blah were all just beside the point. Critics might have made a far more stronger case out of the screenplay loopholes.

As a cinematic experience though, Slumdog triumphs in a big way. The cinematography is dynamic and the editing crisp- you feel as if the camera shots are choreographed to the background score. And what a score it is! Rahman has done better earlier but the way his score has been used in the movie is a feat to be seen. He totally deserves all the accolades he’s received.

But I reserve my highest praise for Danny Boyle. He must be a magician to create a heartfelt movie from a not-so-good piece of writing. Plus he looks like a fun person- not like the dour, philosophical types.

To everybody who hasn’t seen Slumdog Millionaire- go watch it. If you could watch it without any prejudices (I know that’s tough with all the hype surrounding it), you’ll love it. To those who have seen it- watch it again, even if only to get high on the O Saaya sequence.