Slumdog Excellence

So The Truth, Dedicated Fan X, and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire last night. Wow. A completely breathtaking film. It's built around a pretty cheesy concept that doesn't sound great on paper - the film tells the life story of a poor boy from the slums of Mumbai through the questions he answers on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. 

But cheesy, it is not. Against the breathtaking canvas of India's colorful markets and seemingly endless shanty-slums, the film is visually rich. Plotwise, the main characters Jamal, Salim, and Latika are all expertly acted at four different ages by four great actors (rare for child characters). The film is funny, smart, stark, sad, uplifting, romantic. You name it, it's got it. I normally don't glow about movies, but I think all three of us left the theatre amped about what we just saw, and I would go see it again in a heartbeat.

Perhaps more importantly, in the eyes of a music blog, the soundtrack of the film is stupendous. Containing a couple much-heralded tracks by M.I.A. (yes Paper Planes is in the film, yes it works perfectly), the soundtrack also features cuts from A.R. Rahman, who has been hailed as the "Indian Timbaland" by M.I.A. herself. There's a sort of Bollywood/Hip-Hop instrumental fusion that goes on and is really fascinated and mesmerizing. Hard to describe, but definitely worth checking out. Both the movie and the soundtrack are worth your time.

O...Saya is the collaboration between Rahman and M.I.A., and it's worth the wait.

M.I.A. - O...Saya

A.R. Rahman - Gangsta Blues