On The Red Carpet

February 22.

Kodak Theatre, Hollywood.

Hugh Jackman. The Australian singer will definitely not feel at ease with millions of viewers watching him host the 81st Academy Awards. And being a novice certainly doesn’t help. With names like Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Richard Jenkins, Brad Pitt, Anne Hathaway and Kate Winslet sizzling the nomination charts, the evening is set to witness some emotions- of joy and of disgust, of shock and of surprise and above all, a load of expectations from India.

We are the proponents of a script, seemingly unusual, which relates to Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the entire nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”. What happens next is well known.

Danny Boyle got his men to depict much more than the sheer logline. Slumdog is a movie which is delicately woven around the threads of imagination, innocence, adventure, misfortune, mercilessness and of course, the rugged realities dwelling in the discarded sections of Indian society. Our nation is home to several Jamals, Latikas and those who are impatient enough not to throw it away. Boyle’s efforts bore unprecedented fruition when he successfully transformed the harsh cruelty of the initial part of the movie to a heart-touching romantic fable which illustrates how an impoverished can overcome all odds and find true love. Before the movie culminates to a blissful ending, it underscores the moral associations of innocent love and wilful diligence, often disregarded in reality.

Despite some flaws, Slumdog Millionaire resembles an inspirational fairy-tale which arouses moments of intense passion and the trauma experienced before the conquest of glory. And that has been the struggle felt by the movie itself. Had it not been for the Fox Searchlight which came to the rescue, the movie would never have been released, let alone the prospects of reaching the Oscar Screen. Having emerged as the underdog Oscar nominee only in late 2008, Slumdog now severely threatens to romp its way to the Oscar triumph. Will the movie make it? Come February 22, 2009.

Irrespective of all that, a hearty congrats to Boyle, Kapoor, Rahman, Patel, Frieda, Gulzar and all those who strove hard to place the movie on the coveted Red Carpet.