Thursday, January 22, 2009

Oscar Nominations - Slumdog, ARR and Gulzar

As expected, Slumdog has been nominated in multiple categories for the 2008 Oscar nominations : 10 total. Gulzar has also been nominated along with AR Rehman in the best original song category for "Jai ho" - this is truly a well deserved nomination. It remains to be seen how well would the jury understand the layers of the meanings of lines such as:

Ratti Ratti Sachi Maine Jaan Gavayi Hai
Nach Nach Koylo Pe Raat Bitayi Hai
Akhiyon Ki Neend Maine Phoonko Se Uda Di
Neele Tare Se Maine Ungli Jalayi Hai

Get ready to watch the songs being performed on the stage at the Kodak Theatre on 2/22.
Another nomination that is truly well deserved was for cinematography for Anthony Dod Mantle. As said in an earlier post, the camera and the background score are truly the adrenaline of the narrative (clearly the dialogues are amateurish, esp for someone who understands Hindi).

The entire list is here:
http://www.imdb.com/features/rto/2009/oscars

P.S.: For those of you who have not seen the movie yet, note a scene early on in the movie when the little Jamal dances for Latika in the orphanage. Revisit that scene in your head when you watch the end credits. You will know that there is more to the end credits than just a homage to kitschy Bollywood group dance songs. Many Indian critics have slammed the end credits saying - enough already about the homage to Bollywood. They so missed the boat on that. But then, to each his own.

1 comment:

kautilya said...

http://www.slate.com/id/2209783/

This dude just goes on a run way doesn't he?

..but this is a movie with a conveniently fluid notion of reality
oh man :)

Premiering at the big North American film festivals at Telluride and Toronto last fall, Slumdog was crowned an underdog Oscar contender, a film that could go from barely getting a release (its original distributor, Warner Independent, folded last year) to the ultimate Hollywood jackpot, just as its hero, Jamal, makes his way from the slums to the biggest prize on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.

Now I want to see it all the more :))