Oh I’ve seen the film, I was wrapped up in all the hype and after all the ‘de de de de de de de’ (that was the Who Wants to Be A Millionaire soundtrack - duh) I came to the conclusion that although I thought the film was good, it wasn’t a totally ‘feel good film.’
Maybe the critics meant, his winning the cash in these credit crunched times… hmmm. Anyway, I opened Q&A expecting to be blown away, because the film, although over-hyped, was rather good. I always reckon books are better than the films anyway. Oh my. Was I proved wrong.
According to Borders and the Metro, Q&A sales have rocketed but I have to say - I did not like this book. Perhaps I didn’t like it because I was disorientated by the film; Slumdog bears almost no resemblance to Q&A. But enough novel to film comparisons - “review the book” I hear you cry; so it is to the book I go.
Firstly, some of the phrasing is a little awkward, such as ‘bevy of beauties’ and Salim says: ‘I am taking revenge on those who have maligned Armaan’ (Armaan is the equivilant of Amitabh Bachchan in the novel). That is a perhaps a little overcritical but it disjoints the flow. The structure of the film threw me because I had no patience for the Little-Orphan-That-Was story nor for his being adopted by a priest, working for an actress or any of the tiddly bits in between.
On the other hand, I did admire the way Swarup quite heavily confronts
Pause for thought.
The writing glimmers brilliantly in some parts but utterly failed to keep my attention in others - to be honest with you I gave up because I got bored.
Not my cup of chai.
How could it be when Dev Patel’s brother and mother dies and his bird has her face sliced…
According to Borders and the Metro, Q&A sales have rocketed but I have to say - I did not like this book. Perhaps I didn’t like it because I was disorientated by the film; Slumdog bears almost no resemblance to Q&A. But enough novel to film comparisons - “review the book” I hear you cry; so it is to the book I go.
Firstly, some of the phrasing is a little awkward, such as ‘bevy of beauties’ and Salim says: ‘I am taking revenge on those who have maligned Armaan’ (Armaan is the equivilant of Amitabh Bachchan in the novel). That is a perhaps a little overcritical but it disjoints the flow. The structure of the film threw me because I had no patience for the Little-Orphan-That-Was story nor for his being adopted by a priest, working for an actress or any of the tiddly bits in between.
On the other hand, I did admire the way Swarup quite heavily confronts
the closeted gay scene and also domestic and child abuse -the three are quite closeted in the sense that no one addresses it in the community. It is seen as shameful, a family matter that one must deal with in silence. Armaan, the character who is a mega Bollywood star whom Salim idolises, turns out to be gay. The next afternoon the two boys are watching Armaan’s film at the cinema when he magically turns up in the theatre and starts to feel up Salim. This was rather unsettling as homosexuality and child abuse are uncomfortably united.
The writing glimmers brilliantly in some parts but utterly failed to keep my attention in others - to be honest with you I gave up because I got bored.
Not my cup of chai.
