If I were to comment on Slumdog Millionaire purely on the criteria of it being a medium of art, I would say it rocks! I am not convinced about it being a movie worthy of Oscars, but it showcases a story in a fascinating manner. The truth - dark as it is, has been depicted in a gripping way. I secretly wished though, that the movie should have been screened only for an Indian audience. Ghar ki baat ghar me hi rahe to theek hai. How embarrassing to see a shit-laden Jamal gallavanting around for the moment of his life! The world already has misconceptions about India. Such a depiction only furthers a poor view of my country.
I would say that the movie was able to bring some pertinent issues in focus, at least for me.
The begging episode was heart-wrenching. I cried my heart out. Is such cruelty possible? This happens in my country and I am sort of aware of it, yet what do I do?As I was watching the movie, I acknowledged that the movie was good but the portrayal of India was definitely embarrassing.
I'll be glad if A R Rahman wins the Oscar. In fact, I am sure that he will win. I don't think that this is his best composition but as is said 'Waqt ke pahle aur kismet se zyada kisiko kuch nahi milta'. His waqt is here. India's waqt is here. We are in the 'O' league now. Abhinav got us the Olympic gold and Rahman will get the golden Oscar.
I am glad that I am not in the UK to answer embarrassing questions by my colleagues on the movie. I wonder what the world thinks of India, post-Slumdog. In the mental albums that they have of India, will they add images of open-air shitholes and children doing acrobatics on a moving train to get their next morsel.....
23rd Feb 2009
I was glued to TV since morning and had decided to root for Slumdog. Don't they say that there is no such thing as bad publicity? How is it possible not to be excited when my country is involved at some level, any level! Those slum kids were there!! Wasn't it a magical moment for them and for us? Had they, in their wildest dreams, ever imagined that they would be on that coveted stage? Hardly plausible, as they wouldn't have known the existence of such a stage in the first place.
Slumdog has again raised questions about real India. My urban friends say that this is not real India. Ask a slumdweller what real India is. Ask the farmers who commit suicides, what real India is. Ask a rich industrialist what real India is and ask a jet-setting yuppie what real India is and you will get a vision tinted by their own (rosy or otherwise) experiences. A different reality each time. Real India is the sum-total of multitudes of experiences, cultures and lifestyles of all Indians. This movie showed a slice of that lifestyle. Why do these videshi directors always choose a poverty- infested slice of India, is a different issue and should be tackled on a different platform but the fact is that there are as many 'real' Indias as there are Indians.
I am waiting for the day when a desi director films the West to expose its sores. We would then sit in our drawing-rooms and dissect their innards. Payback time is here......any director listening?
