Why Slamdog Millionaire?
LONG POST ALERT!
Had lost my mojo after my cinematic senses and sensibilities were sledge-hammered beyond redemption. If you are wondering what happened the answer is a single word – Ghajini. I have taken a decision not to watch another blockbuster in theatres but the desire to watch a certain Deepika Padukone in CC2C on the big screen is overwhelming.
The reason for this post is however not Ghajini. I would not subject the readers to more indignation by writing anything else about it and I have wiped my memories of it by watching Memento again. Advise you to do the same else you all may suffer from SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS.
This part of the year perennially involves discussion boards, brainstorming sessions and opinions on only one thing – The Oscars. This year is no different and daggers have been drawn between cinephiles about:
- Why Slumdog Millionaire is / isn’t a great movie?
- How the west always portrays the 3rd World (In fact this time it has turned very racist by saying how the ‘White Man’ always portrays India like this)?
- Why Taare Zameen Pe, a good / great movie, was ignored?
- Do we need to be acknowledged by the Academy Awards?
- Are awards important?
- Why does Aamir Khan go to the Oscars when he said he is against awards?
- Is Karan Johar gay?
Okay, I made up the last one.
It’s getting BORING. After having heated discussions which just fall short of fistfights every year (This year included) I have decided to publicly state my stance on the above mentioned issues (as if it matters 
).
Bahar haal here it goes:
Slumdog Millionaire was an entertaining movie. I was entertained by the story, the music and the performances. Not for a moment did I delve into deep analyses regarding the ‘dark underbelly’ of India, unrealistic showcasing of India and Indians by the West (What exactly is the true representation of India?) and how did various things happen the way they have happened in the movie. For the third question I have an answer though: creative liberty and suspension of disbelief. However these discussions have stormed the news media and in turn have also created, an uncalled for, massive hate campaign that has even engulfed Amitabh Bachchan in its sway. Everyone has the right to like / dislike a movie but I disagree with everyone who thinks Slumdog Millionaire is a shitty and unrealistic movie (including the self – proclaimed management guru – Arindham Chaudhri).
Those people who think Satyajit Ray’s India is the truest picture of India: Isn’t his representation also confined to a particular segment of India? How is it (his representation) better or truer than Basu Bhattacharya’s India or Ramgopal Varma’s India or for that matter Mani Ratnam’s India?
What exactly is the true representation of India? What exactly is difficult to digest for the critics of the movie? The slums? The filth and the shit? The slimy mafia racket behind the beggars? The call centres? The chai wala working in a call centre? When you have fruit vendors and hotel boys becoming IAS toppers in real life why is this a very unreal thing to show on screen? Has everyone forgotten the background of contestants who have come to KBC and made millions (without any offence meant)? Or thousands at least. I don’t think Danny Boyle would have asked himself these questions before making the movie and thank Lord for that. He wanted to tell a story and he told it in the best way he could which was visually stunning and non-insulting to my intelligence at the least. If it is made by a ‘white man’, so be it. Another gem of a movie which has been forgotten in this melee is Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited. A brilliant movie set in India which also did not bother to be really authentic about India. Those who have a problem with this so called miss-representation of India should stand up and make a movie which portrays the real India as per them and showcase it to the ‘West’. Until then they should keep shut and watch this fantastically entertaining movie.
We are fast becoming a racist country, no doubts about it. If you don’t believe this statement, for a change you should read the bulletin boards of various forums on rediff, imdb etc. Starting from a North-South divide (it clearly and sadly exists) to a divide based on the India vs the White Man. Had the movie been made by say Madhur Bhandarkar with all Hindi speaking Indian actors and the movie would have been a blockbuster, I am convinced nobody would have questioned about any lack of authenticity in the movie. Just because the movie is gaining world-wide attention we have started looking into authentic portrayal in it. An angry Vijay locking the door from inside and throwing the keys to Peter is authentic? A charming Raj Malhotra staying with the family of Simran without anyone from her family knowing his real identity? Ghajini? Singh Is Kinng? Which part of India exactly has a college like the one in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai? Being the greatest manufacturers of ‘escapist cinema’ why are we even bothered about realism in a movie, which is never pretending to be real.
Of late our official entries suck. Jeans!!! How on earth? Just check the list here. I am sure if investigated properly one can unearth a scandal which will compete with the recent SATYAM scandal for infamy.
Taare Zameen Pe was a very good movie and a moving piece of work which, however, would leave an impression only on the Indian sensibilities. It is very difficult to expect the whole world to warm up to it as the notion of a closely knit family, the pain of leaving the family, staying in a boarding school and getting neglected wouldn’t have wet their eyes as much as ours. If we keep on ignoring movies like Dharm, The Blue Umbrella, 1971 etc. (Check out this) we might never win that elusive recognition (read Oscar). Whenever our selection jury is sending a movie they should at least compare them with movies like Paradise Now, No Man’s Land, Amelie, Pan’s Labyrinth or The Lives of Others. I am sure they would know what movies to send. And when they and all of us see these movies we would know why we don’t win the Oscars. A movie like The Lives of Others is a once in a lifetime movie. Even Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth couldn’t go beyond it, forget about the chances of Rang De Basanti.
Which leads us to the question as to whether our directors and screenplay writers can create the brilliance of an Amelie, The Lives of Others or say a ‘Mar Adentro’. The answer is yes. And we have been making brilliant movies but seldom send them as entries, which explain suicide attempts like Jeans (???) and SLB’s Devdas (a glorified yet hollow orgy of colors and schmaltz). A consistency has to be maintained in the official entries from India (movies like Shwaas and Dharm should be the benchmark for sending entries) and once it is done then someday we may win the Oscars.
Which brings us to another question: Do we need to be acknowledged by the Academy Awards? Absolutely! Which is why we compete in Olympics. The FIFA World Cup. Champions trophy and the Azlan Shah tournament. Miss World and Miss Universe pageants. As we do not have a world body to decide on it we have to go to the ‘Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ for the verdict which may not be the most accurate indicator in case of most categories but as far as the best ‘Foreign Film category‘ is concerned is seldom off the mark. We all love acknowledgement, be it in any form. Those who say they do not like acknowledgment are plain lying and awards are important and those who do not want it keep their mouth shut and keep on the good work they do.
Which brings us to another question: Why does Aamir Khan go to the Oscars when he said he is against awards? –> Plain and simple his personal decision like mine is to write this blog and yours to read or ignore. If you are of the school of thought that Filmfare awards are important and a true acknowledgment of merit / cinematic excellence – you are reading the wrong blog, mate. 
Moreover he also rates the National Awards highly.
Which does not bring us to the last question but still goes: Is Karan Johar gay? –> I leave that to your imagination.
– All we need is love (and lots of money)
Filed under: Awards, Bollywood, Drama, Entertainment, Fun, Hollywood, India, Movies, Oscar | 5 Comments
Tags: Aamir Khan, Academy Awards, Amelie, Bollywood, Champions trophy, Cinema, Danny Boyle, Deepika Padukone, FIFA World Cup, Filmfare Awards, Foreign Film, Ghajini, Hindi Movies, India, Karan Johar, Miss Universe, Miss World, No Man's Land, Oscars, Pan's Labyrinth, Paradise Now, Rang De Basanti, SATYAM, Singh is Kinng, Slumdog Millionaire, SRK, Taare Zameen Pe, The Blue Umbrella, The Lives of Others
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Thank you for an extremely well written, impassioned response to a stranger than fiction attitude towards a film that, in my opinion, is a brilliant masterpiece of cinema with the perfect balance of human condition from all areas of the spectrum. BTW, I loved both Devdas, but like the latter one more. I’ve enjoyed most of the Hindi films I’ve seen and I’ve watched about 30 in the past year since I discovered it. Now let me position myself – I am a vanilla, Northern European descent American wife and mother with an MBA who was a high tech casualty several times and is now pursuing a writing career (we’ll see) who just happens to love everything to do with India. That includes the filth and the shine. The interesting issue to me is why we care if our media portrays us accurately or not. I’ve never seen a Hollywood film or US TV show that represented me or my family or my friends at all. There have been glimpses of us passing through the lives of main characters but we real people don’t exist digitally. Why? Perhaps because we’re too real – too “boring” – not pretty enough to have in HD? Don’t know, and don’t really care because I got over the fact that I’m under-represented with my government long ago – they don’t reflect me or my values either.
I’ve always been fascinated by the entertainment awards concept, both the pageantry and the idea that actors and creators must compete with each other for statuettes. Seems pretty silly when you look at it in that way. Although I’ve coveted an Oscar since I was about 5. Maybe when I’m in my 80’s like Jessica Tandy. Anyway, we are humans and we are entertained by the concept of the hero whether he or she is chocolate, vanilla, strawberry or peach, we can’t resist the idea that there’s someone out there more beautiful with better clothes and whiter teeth so we have something for our own humble and ordinary aspirations.
Oh, and KJo? Of course he’s gay, but why should it matter and is it really anyone’s business but his own and whomever he chooses to love!
@ REdwoodmomma – Thank you for liking the post. Good to know that our movies are being accepted by someone as they are. Nothing against the later Devdas – Just that it didn’t merit an inclusion in the longlist from our end. There were far many better movies that year, IMHO.
And I have already prepared the list of people to thank for in my acceptance speech.
BTW the KJO reference was more in jest than in offense. If you follow Indian celebrity gossip than you would know but I agree with you that it is absolutely his business to do what he wants.
We seem to be on the same page then. I also agree that Darjeeling Limited should have received more recognition. It was a brilliant script with decent acting, especially Adrian Brody (a personal favorite) with Owen Wilson in his usual manic self. Jason Schwartzman did a reasonable job. I really would have liked to have seen more of Irrfan Khan in this film. He is one of my all time favorite actors and is extremely talented. His role in Slumdog was spot on.
I get the KJO jest – yeah, I follow the Indian gossip way more than I should – guilty pleasure. Fascinating how little gestures turn into huge scandals and issues that grace the front pages of the newspapers. But it’s the same on this continent as well. You can’t go to the grocery store without having the rag mags (National Enquirer, US, etc.) screaming their headlines of Oprah’s latest diet or Tom and Katie’s new breakup or Brangelina’s latest brood. Do we really care? Obviously we do or they wouldn’t sell magazines. There’s a weird psychology that occurs between the “average” person and celebrity. Again, back to the hero concept. Are we that insecure that we must always compare ourselves to others or do we just need something else for aspiration? I’m sure Jung had an answer to that. Think I’ll go read some more.
Dude,brill post. .
Agree with most points except that we are becoming a nation of racists. Its only the politicians who with no other poll plank are resorting to racist overtures.The everyday indian you are likely to meet on street remains and will remain tolerant and courteous.