Slum Dog Millionaire

Danny Boyle has come up with some interesting cinema, certainly defining himself as someone above average. What he achieves in "Slumdog Millionaire" is transcend the line between inspiration and a miracle, awakening an emotional connection to the very special element great cinema can deliver. The packages might have changed, and the contents are more controversial and maybe a bit more tied to reality, certainly taking us to an exotic local, teaching us that our world extends beyond our freeway and limited perception of how more than the other half of the world's population has to deal without certainly preaching to us.

The tale of two brothers' lives is told to us through episodic flashbacks tied to an episode of India's "Who Wants to be a millionaire?". At first, the story introduces one of the brothers as being the subject of a very strong interrogation to find out whether he is being truthful about some knowledge that might be relevant to the game. As he answers the questions, we discover that this young man's life story might be more interesting than we originally expected.

There is an element of freshness in the way the story is presented, as we accompany Jamal through his life odyssey from a young child in the slums to a man who is determined to save those he loves. There are some strong emotions in the film, and Boyle's direction keeps the film dynamic and engaging.

Prepare yourself to be overtaken by emotions as varied as joy, pity, happiness, anger, revulsion, surprise, and an exhilarating conclusion rarely seen in movies anymore. This film has made me grateful to be alive and that we still have people in cinema like Boyle who understands the power and beauty of the medium. He knows that the perfect mix of a great story and the respective imagery can provoke unforgettable memories in its audience.

Mumbai Attack

The 2008 Mumbai attacks were more than ten coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India's financial capital and its largest city. The attacks, which drew widespread condemnation across the world, began on 26 November 2008 and lasted until 29 November, killing at least 173 people and wounding at least 308.

Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai: at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, the Orthodox Jewish-owned Nariman House, the Metro Cinema, and a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College. There was also an explosion at the Mazagaon docks, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle. By the early morning of 28 November, all sites except for the Taj Mahal Palace had been secured by Mumbai Police and security forces. An action by India's National Security Guards (NSG) on 29 November resulted in the death of the last remaining attackers at the Taj Mahal Palace, ending all fighting in the attacks.

FBI Director Robert Mueller pointed Monday to recent terror attacks in Mumbai, India, and Somalia to highlight the FBI's concern that small groups or individuals could carry out such attacks on U.S. soil.

FBI Director Robert Mueller says he worries the Mumbai attack could be replicated in the United States.

In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Mueller worried that the dramatic terror attack on hotels and other facilities in Mumbai potentially could be replicated in the United States.

"This type of attack reminds us that terrorists with large agendas and little money can use rudimentary weapons to maximize their impact. And it again raises the question of whether a similar attack could happen in Seattle or San Diego, Miami, or Manhattan," Mueller said.

He said he is increasingly concerned with "pockets of people around the world that identify with al Qaeda and its ideology" but who have little or no actual contact with al Qaeda.

Superstar

Superstar Rajnikanth and director Shankar have both come up short in the new Tamil movie Sivaji The Boss.

A flawed movie in many respects, Sivaji fails to scale the lofty heights that one expects when the two top-guns in the Tamil film industry come together.

We loved Shankar's last film Anniyan and enjoyed Rajnikanth's 2005 movie Chandramukhi.

Both Anniyan and Chandramukhi had strong, unusual stories and passionate performances that captured the audience's interest.

So it was with heightened anticipation that we headed for the Premiere show ($25.00 per ticket) of Sivaji at CinePlaza in North Bergen, New Jersey on Thursday, June 14, 2007.

To our great disappointment, Sivaji is not half as good as Anniyan or Chandramukhi. Gosh, Sivaji is not even as entertaining as pokiri, a remake of a Telugu film featuring Vijay.

Where Sivaji falls short the most compared to Anniyan or Chandramukhi is in its banal story that focuses on the twin evils of corruption and black money. Both subjects are hardly unusual themes in Indian movies and have been so beaten to death thoroughly over the past 25 years in both Tamil and Hindi films that it's hard to see new angles emerging here.

Director Shankar's play-it-safe decision to hang the movie on the slender threads of corruption and black money means the Sivaji story can never go beyond the commonplace.

As if that were not bad enough, the Sivaji story is more than a wee bit disjointed. Altruism, revenge, homilies on eradicating the pernicious influence of Black Money and corruption, helping the poor and romancing the heroine follow each other in haphazard fashion.

The Sivaji story is pretty simplistic.

Sivaji (Rajnikanth) returns from the U.S., a rich man with plans to set up a university and hospital to help the less privileged sections of society. But his altruistic mission is thwarted by rival businessman Adiseshan (Suman), who has the corrupt bureaucracy and venal politicians on his side.

The rubber meets the road after the intermission when Sivaji is rendered penniless as a result of Adiseshan's machinations and decides to go after the scheming scoundrel. But director Shankar slips and slips badly in his amateurish treatment of Sivaji's revenge trip.

Although Rajnikanth's die-hard fans will protest here, the aging actor is no Marlon Brando, Naseeruddin Shah or Jack Nicholson. But to see him mostly fail to set the screen afire is frustrating to fans of Tamil movies. Of course, Rajni fans will disagree here because their overwheming adulation blinds them to their hero's limitations.

Watching Sivaji, we never experienced even once the adrenalin rush we felt while watching Chandramukhi, Anniyan, Pokiri, Kaakha Kaakha, Namesake or recent Hollywood movies like The Departed or Fracture.

The fighting/action scenes in Sivaji are beyond crude. They are bizarre. It's high time Tamil film directors stop this ridiculous nonsense of the hero beating to pulp a dozen or more villains simultaneously. Mercifully, Bollywood directors are putting a stop to this rubbish.

Shriya Saran, who plays the female lead and Rajnikanth's love interest in Sivaji, does a decent job.

The petite North Indian lass doesn't have that big a role but demonstrates some acting abilities, a rarity among Tamil heroines. If Shriya sticks around in Tamil movies, she could challenge the Trishas, Nayantaras and Asins (now busy with the Hindi remake of the successful Tamil movie Ghajini).

Suman acquits himself well as the villain Adiseshan seeking to thwart Sivaji at every step, a welcome change from the crude, maniacal villains commonplace in Tamil films.

As Sivaji's sidekick, comedian Vivek is there with the supposed goal of providing comic relief. However since Vivek's efforts are not supported either by thoughtful dialogs that have made small-budget movies like Mozhi so charming or by commonsense, the end result in Sivaji is unfunny comedy most of the time.

Sivaji's music does not soar to great heights but the crafty fox A.R.Rahman doesn't let you down completely either.

Much effort and cost seem to have gone into picturization of most of the Sivaji songs. We loved Vajee Vajee, Balleilakka and Sahana. The other songs were sheer cacophony to us.