A good movie

I have to admit that I’m not really familiar with Ramin Bahrani's work but since the guy has a decent reputation and since his last directing effort was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. This movie has been compared with 'Slumdog Millionaire' and, while the comparison is understandable (both movies deal with a poor Indian boy's rise from nothing and they have a similar chronological structure), I still think that both movies were vastly different. Indeed, 'Slumdog Millionaire' should be considered as some kind of modern fairy tale while this movie was much darker and more cynical. Well, even though I did like the realistic approach chosen by Bahrani, I still think that the opening scenes were rather misleading. Indeed, I assumed that Balram, with his wit and intelligence, would manage to find something brilliant to make a fortune but, instead, we find out that he was actually after all a simple thief who became rich only after murdering his master. Of course, it did follow the realistic approach chosen for this movie but, as a result, it was rather difficult to root for the main character. In fact, this critic could be also extended to the other characters as they were all rather common and average after all. Indeed, you might think that Ashok and his wife Pinky were better than the rest as they seemed to be gentler and more respectful towards Balram. However, they eventually represented the modern Western attitude which is to show a polite front and be always politically correct, when in fact, we are all extremely selfish and self-centred. Still, even though the whole thing might be really dark and pessimistic, I did appreciate that they didn't put any gloves on and displayed that, if you are born on the wrong side of the tracks, becoming a criminal might be eventually the only option you might have to really improve your future. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn't completely sold, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely work a look, especially if you like the genre.