Jamal & Salim

When Danny Boyle made a very small film in 2008 with new comers, except for Anil Kapoor, playing the lead and other characters, the movie had not takers. No distributor was confident enough to take it up, with recession setting in; the task became tougher for the producers to sell the 'not-so-fascinating-product'.  The only backing the movie had was a nice story, a crisp screenplay, a steady mix of genres in music, other technically brilliant contributors and a classy director at the helm of affairs. The movie somehow got out of the can; it touched a chord with the commonest of the common people, who happens to constitute a majority in this world, across the globe. Although the movie had to withstand a lot of criticisms from pseudo and ‘real’ intellectuals, at home and abroad, about selling India’s filth and poverty to the West and the rest of the world, everyone knew that much of the facts were not far from truth. 

Anyway, the movie is not the point here. I watched the movie two weeks back and one thing I really observed, closely for the first time, is the characterization of the two brothers; Jamal & Salim. The author or screenplay writer may not have meant it the way I think, but there is something lively and interesting about these too characters.

The story’s hero is Jamal. He’s in pursuit of the girl with that quintessential Bollywoodish happy ending and Salim playing the villain at times, he’s definitely the hero, in every conventional sense. Jamal is a resilient character. He waits with patience all the years for his love. In the beginning, he’s the little brat, who always used to be bullied by Salim, but being younger he trusts his elder brother Salim many a time. He shows his enthusiasm when he tries his best to get his superstar idol’s autograph. He’s heartbroken when he finds out that it’s being sold for money by his big brother. But, soon life gets complicated with his mother dying in front of his eyes.  He, along with his brother, gets lured into the trap when they see money. He finds his love, for whom he comes back from Agra, finding out that she was alive and there he lose her again. With his optimism not dying out even a bit, the life rightly or coincidentally teaches him whatever he needs to snatch that victory that not many can even dream of and finally he gets his girl. Although here luck helps the brave, the resilience makes him cross all hurdles and helps even get rich on the way. He's that character everyone may want to be. 

In contrast, Salim’s character is different. He’s shady, dark and unpredictable. He bullies his younger brother; he sells Jamal’s prized possession of autograph from some change. He too goes through the pain seeing his mother die in flames, along with this brother and both of them falls in to the same trap. Realizing the truth, Salim runs away from it, but not without saving his brother. They make a living in Agra and he agrees to come back with Jamal to find the girl. There he changes his mind to take Latika for himself and when the urban economic growth made inroads in Mumbai, Salim, becomes a giant in his own right under his underworld boss. He lets the girl go to his boss and once he snatches her away from Jamal. But, finally even when he knew for sure that he will die, he lets her off and helps her to reach Jamal. Salim’s character doesn’t get a chance to celebrate at the end of the movie. 

Salim's character is full of contradictions. He’s bad; at the same time he’s also good. He’s real. He is the one, at any age, who takes all the DECISIONS; of selling Jamal’s autograph, saving his younger brother from the begging racket, taking the girl with him, making her available to his boss, snatching her from his younger brother on his boss’s orders, and finally risk his own life to let her go to Jamal. He never celebrates his life. But, he’s the one who gives the story a happy ending, at his own life’s cost. His character reminds us about there’s more to life, behind and beyond those happy endings. He's that character no one may want to be.

And, the movie ends with a victory track that made, and continues to make, its mark all over the world, which almost every radio listening, TV watching, iPod ‘wielding’, Internet accessing audience has heard it at least once, and may be many times more. And, in this fast changing world, maybe, we better should just worry about the results, in this case, the ending, mostly the happy ending. The character analyses, although with zilch expertise above, may not even deserve and have a scope.