As he was dropping me at the Varsity Theatre in Toronto, the cab driver asked me what film I was going to see at 8 am. I said it was Slumdog Millionaire.
"And it starts at 8 in the morning?" he asked. "What kind of a film is it?"
I told him that the press show would start at nine.
"You are crazy," he said, in a good way. "Why are you here so early then? You don't have to buy tickets for the press shows.'
I said it is not uncommon for journalists to turn up early for a much discussed film at the film festival -- in this case, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). By the time I reached, there were already more than 100 people in the line. By the time the film started, every seat at the 580-seat theatre was taken, and there were more than 50 reporters waiting outside. They were hoping to grab a seat in case people walked out a few minutes after the film started (not an unusual occurrence at the film festivals that screen half a dozen films simultaneously starting around 9 am).
But there were no walkouts, and the film -- about a teenager from the slums, who becomes a champion of the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and immaterially arouses the suspicion of a police inspector -- received a rapturous applause. Twice.
Oscar buzz for the film, which has an all-Indian cast led by Anil Kapoor, has already started.
'Fox Searchlight will try to mount another derby ambush like it did over the previous two years with those crowd-cheering indies Little Miss Sunshine and Juno,' The Hollywood Reporter wrote. 'Upon wild audience huzzahs to Slumdog Millionaire at the Telluride Film Festival where the film opened before coming to Toronto, the studio is excited about this tale. It is planning 'an elaborate campaign for the smart but feel good dramedy.''
Veteran festival-goers know too well that the critics and reporters at the major film festival are often very touchy about applauding a film, and just about 10 percent of the more than 250 feature films shown at the Toronto International Film Festival get the kind of ovation from the press that the Boyle directed comic drama Slumdog Millionaire received.
Some of the reporters had come to see the film because they were the admirers of Boyle's trendy hits Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. Some had read about the new film and had been surprised that the London-based filmmaker had made the film entirely in India, with seasoned and new artistes. And that the film was based on a well-known novel Q and A by Vikas Swarup that was published in the West over two years ago.
Anil Kapoor -- in a career rejuvenating performance -- plays the manipulating and egotistical host of the millionaire television show in the new film and Irrfan Khan, the police investigator, who wants to know if the slum boy is cheating in the competition.The film is often gritty and violent but the story of two boys and a girl, who are orphaned in the Bombay riots and who look out for each other (at least for most part), is full of heart wrenching moments and ends on a life affirming note. The
theme song of the film, composed by A R Rahman and sung by Sukhvinder Singh, is one of the film's highlights. It is used, for the second time in the film, at the very end when the newly minted millionaire (a brilliant Dev Patel) and his newly reunited girlfriend (newcomer Freida Pinto) are joined by dozens of children in a glorious dance number. The film uses Hindi extensively but about half of the dialogue and comments are in English.v_arti_inline_advt">
