The Visitor

Since I moved to India, I have missed quite a lot of the small budget movies that Hollywood churns out every year. In the last couple of weeks, I have started watching the best of those that I missed in the last year and a half. One of those is "The Visitor" and this is a great movie.

The Visitor highlights the plight of illegal immigrants in the USA. Walt, a professor in Connecticut goes to New York (where he owns an apartment) for a few days to attend a conference. He is surprised to find a young immigrant couple (Tareek and Zainab) staying there. The couple offer to move out immediately but they realize their friends are not too willing to accommodate them on that short a notice. Walt lets the couple stay in his apartment with him for a little while, till they find a new place for themselves. Tareek is a musician who plays the african drums (djembe) and Zainab makes jewelry that she sells on the street. Walt and Tareek connect through the universal language of music and Tareek teaches Walt how to play the drums. The scenes between Tarek and Walt at this juncture are truly heartening to watch. Walt and Tareek become good friends and play the drums in central park in the evenings.

On their way back one evening, Tareek gets stuck in a subway turnstop and jumps it. The NYPD arrest him immediately and send him to a detention center (broken windows policy in action). His immigration status is then realized and he is shceduled for deportation (to Syria). Tareek, who has been leading a happy life for the last several years in the USA, finds his life shattered in a matter of seconds. He cannot even meet his girlfriend, Zainab, because their meeting would mean Zainab would be deported too. Meanwhile, Tareek's worried mother, Mouna also makes it to New York to check on her son. She is devastated to find out that Tareek is being held by immigration. Walt tries to speak with immigration attorneys but to no avail. He remains the only connection between Tareek and his loved ones (Mouna and Zainab). The scenes where Walt holds up letters from Mouna and Zainab for Tareek to read in the detention center are gut wrenching.

Overall, "The Visitor" is about USA's policies towards illegal immigrants. In the wake of 911, thousands of American dreams are being shattered every day by the immigration department. A passport, which was the license to travel, has now become a means to restrict travel. Millions of stories of heart break part of the price that America pays for increased security. It is a touching movie laced with brilliant performances. Watch it!

Slumdog Millionaire

The following post is a collection of all of my thoughts on the amazing movie that is "Slumdog Millionaire":

The movie is being released in India next week and along with the english version, it is being dubbed into Hindi with the title "Slumdog Crorepati". Wouldn't "Jhopadpatti Crorepati" make for a much better title? It even rhymes!

The Indian media has been quick to eat up the success of the movie and they keep reminding the people that we need to take pride in the movie because it is the first "Indian movie" which has tasted such international success. That is bullshit. The actors and technicians may be Indian, but the screenplay and direction, which control the way story unfolds, were in the hands of Britishers. I think Slumdog is no more an Indian movie than Gandhi is - and Gandhi even won an Oscar. Having said that, the work that the actors have put in and the music by A.R. Rehman are awesome. The praise that is being heaped on them is very well deserved indeed.

There is a section of people who are not happy about the way India is depicted in the movie. They are afraid that the western audience watch the movie and come away with the opinion that the whole of India is the way it is shown. I think that the intelligence of the audience is being greatly underestimated in making this argument. Slumdog Millionaire depicts an extreme section of the Indian society - the ground realities that are faced by the poorest of the poor. It is not showing India in a bad light, it is raising awareness. The solution is not to stop showing it, it is doing something about it. Besides, this movie is just the latest in a long list of movies that show the dark side of India. Salaam Bombay, Parzania etc come to mind. If anything, I believe there is a shortage of movies like Slumdog Millionaire that hold a mirror up and show us the terrible side of our society that we ignore. Besides, I do not think this movie exaggerates the reality. The scenes from the slums are extremely real which is mind blowing considering that the movie is directed by a non-Indian. Kudos to Danny Boyle.

Last I checked, Slumdog Millionaire is not a documentary about India shining, so stop expecting it to showcase India. Slumdog Millionaire is an amazingly inspiring story of a poor orphan who overcomes insurmountable hurdles on his way to riches, that just happens to be set in India. The movie celebrates Jamal and his qualities - honesty, innocence and compassion. In the end, Jamal triumphs over all of the evil forces (his semi-evil brother, mafia, communal riots) that are to derail him.

In the end, the fact remains that everything shown in the movie is real and accurately depicts the plight of kids in the poorest neighborhoods of the country. Sadly, the one part that is a fantasy is of the kid escaping poverty by winning the crorepati show.