Slumdog Millionaire

It's been a while since I had a great movie night until I went to see Slumdog Millionaire.
Yes People- do believe the hype!

This is one of the best movies in a VERY long time.

Before Christmas , I saw the poster trailers of the movie being displayed across the red London buses but didn't take much notice of it. I thought it was just another Bollywood movie.

It wasn't until a friend posted the film trailer on his site which made me want to watch the movie.


The Bayswater crew and I decided to watch the movie at the Everyman Cinema at Hampstead with its comfy two seater couches. I love this cinema-we can get drinks and snacks ordered and brought to us before the movie starts. Due to the lack of parking spaces in the area we didn't have time to enjoy the pre cinema experience but we're hoping to go there again for the next outing -Curious Case of Benjamin Button movie which will come out next week.



Returning back to Slumdog Millionaire movie- it was directed by Danny Boyle who has directed a wide range of movies from 28 days later to Trainspotting to name but a few.


The main cast were not A-listers but this movie is truly magnificient. It is based on a book written by Vikas Swarup about a boy from the slums of Mumbai called Jamal who is on the verge of winning 20 million rupees in the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire but is caught by the police for alleged cheating on the show.

The show goes through a series of flashbacks of his life as he answers each question in the show. The movie focuses on the life for Jamal, Salim (his brother) and Latika (Jamal's love).
It gives us an insight of the way of life living in the slums of Mumbai. As the director describes the slums-it is a thriving environment which is constantly changing in its unique enterprising way.

The real stars of the show for me were the slum kids who played Jamal, Salim and Latika's character when they were kids. These were real slum kids who had been picked by the casting director.
The good thing I found coming out of this movie is these slum kids are now been taken in by charitable organisations and will hopefully be able to grow up and able to achieve their aspirations and dreams. A proportion of the box office takings are going towards setting up a Foundation to help the slum kids of Mumbai.
So please do not go download this movie or buy pirated Dvds because the money you spend in the cinema is actually going to a worthy cause.

The scenery of India is truly maginificient in this movie -the film crew had a tough time filming through the crowded streets of Mumbai but the results were truly spectacular.

Here's a trailer of the movie- Go watch it if you haven't already!
I love this track too by M.I.A

The Media vs the Truth?

The media has a strong influence on how we perceive what is happening all around the world. A recent example of this would be the Gaza crisis.

During the three week attack on the Gaza strip, Western journalists were not allowed into Gaza by the Israelis. Israeli's official reasons: it was too dangerous for foreign Western journalists to enter Gaza and Israelis were concerned that if foreign journalists were in Gaza, they won't be able to have an objective view on what was happening since Hamas militants may threaten people to report to the journalists in Pro-Hamas favour.

Pictures and reports of the conflict were coming through by Arab journalists and aid workers who were already in Gaza at the time of the conflict.
A picture can say a thousand words...however if it isn't shown in the right context-the message can be misconstrued and thus misleading the rest of the World.

The Arab channels such as Al-Jazeera were more graphic in their reporting of the devastation compared to Western channels such as the BBC. Does this mean the Arab channels like Al Jazeera was portraying a truer and honest picture compared to the Western channels? I'm not sure whether my opinion of the conflict would change if I saw more gore on the television. I think just seeing the faces of people who had lost their loved ones and home had made me feel very sad of the innocent lives who are caught in this conflict.

The way the conflict is portrayed will affect its audience. Young Muslims watching the devastation may form a feeling of hate and despise towards the Israelis as fellow Muslim brothers and sisters continue to be killed.
This can promote radicalism and extremism amongst these young people if they are influenced into the wrong groups.

I think the UN has the responsibility to try and pursue investigation of possible war crimes which may have been committed to the Palestinian people during this period.
We may never know exactly what really happened during the three week conflict-it will take years to build the Gaza strip from the rubble and destruction.

The media must also take responsibility to be as truthful and factual as possible -government spokesman from Hamas and Israelis have their own propaganda and will pursue their version of events.

As per John Pilger's quote : "It is not enough for journalists to see themselves as mere messengers without understanding the hidden agenda of the message and myths that surrounds it"

As Gaza tries to rebuild itself there is a huge humanitarian crisis in the city. BBC's refusal not to broadcast the DEC appeal is disappointing- there is no question that what occurred to the Palestinian people is truly devastating.They need our help-the innocent Palestinian people didn't ask for their homes to be bombed.
It is not a matter of choosing sides i.e.pro Israelis or pro Palestinians but it is about reporting a humanitarian crisis. I wonder if there were more people being killed in Israel would the BBC act any differently?

Boyz

There are a few things I would like to write in this blog but I need to gather my thoughts before putting it on screen...

One of them is the Gaza Crisis: even after 20 days the fighting continues and now over 1000 Palestinian lives have been lost.
The news coverage will tell us about the current updates but I would like to write about how this atrocity is sowing the seeds of extremism in the hearts of the new generation of Palestinians , Israelis and Muslims all around the World....

I will write this , insya-allah in my next blog but until then I have been listening to this Boyz remix with MIA and Jay-Z which expresses the way people felt about America on Bush and Iraq.
However, I think this is still relevant for the Gaza crisis too especially as Israel send their reservist troops as the ground troops gather force to attack the densely populated Gaza city.

Extract from the MIA remix lyrics:

How many soldiers are ready to fight?
How many ready for war?
How many sick of them?
How many quit?
How many ready for more??

How many people say nothing one idiot says it all?
How many people gettin frustrated waiting for Bush to fall?

Jay-Z:
How many soldiers are ready to fight?
How many ready for war?
How many niggas get locked up for drugs?
The Government slinging that oil

How many billions does it take before the troops are home?
How many banks got to collapse to know whatchu doin is wrong?

Gotta get Bush out the chair (yeah)
Give Obama the floor (yeah)
F**** it!
Lets bring back Reagan at least he would get in that brawl
These politicians dont give a shit the hood still getting ignored
Gotta get paid now

So, how many more innocent lives do we need to be killed before this is stopped?
Obama will be inaugurated this Tuesday as the new American President.
It is hoped to be a sign of hope and change for the world after what Bush had done during his reign.
Let's hope this Gaza crisis will be one of the first items on his agenda to fix once and for all. Possibly wishful thinking on my part as there are so many parties who want to have a say in this crisis and it has been going on for decades yet I think peace is possible.

I'll write this in my next blog...until then enjoy the music!

Change the World

Let's all make a difference in whatever way we can...Stop the Massacre!

Into the new year 2009

My first blog for 2009....

I spent New Year's Eve morning servicing my baby car.

My baby car will be three years old end of this month which also marks the end of my final payment for the car....woohoo!

Three options for the car:

a) Sell it and buy another car when I go home

b) Trade in the car for another one-(not sure to what though)

c) Keep it and ship it home

I'm not yet sure what I want to do....everytime I think of selling it/changing it I feel sad because it had so many memories with it...I'm a sentimentalist if there ever was such a word...

I took Aliza and Ninie to Portobello Rd in the morning to check out Hummingbird Bakery for a girlie morning coffee chat with cupcakes...but we were disappointed that the cafe was closed....

All was not lost, however, because we discovered another cafe called Humble Cafe for some humble pie---it was yummy! I'll definitely take a short drive there again....

Then it was back to work-more of a short afternoon of checking emails and calling my peeps back home before heading home.I wasn't planning to do anything for the NYE countdown and would have been content to stay in and watch the fireworks along the Thames on tv rather than freezing out in the cold along the riverbank.

But as usual when I don't plan things...something impromptu will come up.

I decided to join No.53 peeps for Hakkasan dinner which I hoped wouldn't come to the same bill total as last time....it was less pricey than before and it is a once in a while treat and the food is definitely first class.

The whole evening was thoroughly enjoyable with good company. We headed back to wait for the countdown and watch the fireworks from Primrose Hill. I think this year was a better NYE countdown than last year's - Despite the bitter cold weather , there were plenty of fireworks on display and beautiful lanterns flying up into the sky.

The next day, Nazlin invited me over with a few other mates for a New Years Day Turkish lunch since her mother in law was in town. It was a delicious meal especially trying out salma (rice stuffed in vine leaves) which I love but it was my first time to try it home made which was amazing.

It was nice to catch up with old mates since we are all spread out all over London and don't meet up often.

Even my close friend Omar said we don't meet up often enough especially since he's moved nearer to my area...So to make amends...I visited his new place which was a typical batchelor's pad and met his flatmates.

We then headed to the movies to watch our first movie for the year-Australia. I wanted to watch Slumdog Millionaire especially after watching the trailers but it doesn't come out here until the end of the month.

Australia was an epic movie starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman-it was a good movie but you have to be in the right mood for it. It's not something you want to watch if you're expecting a movie with a lot of special effects, unpredictable plot or twists in the movie.

It's a good movie with great acting by Nicole Kidman..so-so acting by Hugh Jackman but my favourite character was Nala the aboriginal kid who became the narrator throughout the whole story.

The cinematography of the Outback was breathtaking and makes you just want to get on the horse and hit the Great Outback.

I recommend it if you want to watch a good old classic Gone With the Wind type movie for a three hour movie...

So get comfortable in the cinema... :) This was my favourite song in the movie as the characters sat around the campfire. It is by Iron and Wine "Such Great Heights"

All in all it has been a relaxing start to the New Year.

Any resolutions? Well no resolutions but to be happy and better myself as a person:

Workwise-I wanna aim for promotion to have a more secure future when I go home (it's gonna be a challenge especially after talking to other execs in my position)

Personalwise- Try to be less naive and be more wary of people who take me for granted.

This past year, a few people have disappointed me in their actions and at times have cause misunderstandings between certain people I know.

People sometimes misunderstand me and make certain assumptions about me-but if they're not willing to know the real me then I'm not going to impose it on them.

I will also try to think about my actions /words first before judging/making my assumptions about them until I know them well enough. Sometimes first impressions are deceiving and all is not as they seem.

Despite that, I am still blessed to have people around me near and far who are there for me during the good and bad times....

Let 2009 bring me closer to my goal.... Bring it on!