Slumdog Millionaire swept 8 oscars and the world off it's feet. Personally i liked the movie though i dont know if it really deserved ALL of those awards, but i'm very happy nevertheless. My idol AR Rahman won 2 oscars! WOW, this he richly deserves. I dont see it as an award for his particular composition for slumdog but as a reward for his 16 years of dedication & perseverance in film music. Now coming to the controversies and debates:
1) SLUMDOG depicts a filthy India highlighting only it's shortcomings
When u make movies set in a particular region (other than the 'developed' world) , the international audience sometimes needs to be shocked. Since the movie is to be a powerful drama , what better setting to have than place the protagonist in the most scary and adverse conditions and chart his upward course to victory. Its an eons old movie formula worldwide. Tell me if you would really care if a millionaire became richer by winning a game show.And frankly, are the scenes depicted not all true? We can lament about the depiction in the movie, the day the situation shown in it no more exists. period. Even our own Indian movies show blood thirsty villains, women being raped, parents violently opposing lovers, politicians completely corrupt etc etc etc! Why didn't we complain then? So we can openly comment on our shortcomings amongst ourselves but oh lord don't let the others know. hypocrisy. Ram Gopal Varma and Maniratnam made movies on the underworld. 'Nayagan' was even selected in TIME magazine's top 100 movies list. so we ban all these people because they 'exposed' a shameful face of our country? And my dear critics , why blame Danny Boyle? The original story idea germinated in an INDIAN Vikas Swaroop's mind. lets all burn his effigy. 'Salaam Bombay' and 'Traffic Signal' were movies made on similar subjects by Indians. Why were they accepted?.
2) India celebrating a British film's Oscar victory
This would have made sense if there was no Indian effort involved in this movie. For heaven's sake 2 Indians won 3 awards that night. Shouldn't we be proud? The movie is British in production terms but Indian in soul. Weren't we happy with the 'Gandhi' success in 1982 since it depicted our greatest modern times leader? The lives of our own neglected fellow citizens were put under the spotlight and worldwide audiences empathized with them , shared their joys and sorrows. So whats wrong? I'm extremely proud of Rahman and Pookutty and very happy for them.
3) We get obsessed about an American award ceremony
People, plz try to remember who invented movies! Who have been responsible for the creation of all most all of the industry's technology. Who have given the world masterpieces in almost every genre. Hollywood. So when an academy based there rewards our country's work, isn't it a matter of pride? I agree not all their selections were great and not all our movies which didn't get selected, bad. But a recognition from them is nevertheless reason for joy. Tamil/Telugu directors want to make Hindi movies. This is not because they hate their regional fields. This is because they want to showcase their work to a wider audience and earn appreciation. Same goes for us striving to get international recognition for our movies. What is wrong with that? Some movies are formulaic masala entertainers made to entertain the hardworking people from the lower strata of society. Some are uplifting 'Art' cinema for 'mature' wine sipping film connoisseurs. And some are movies formatted for international audiences satisfying Oscar formulas. I don't think anything is wrong with that! In fact I would not like the lack of variety in movies.
So anyway, I liked the movie while acknowledging it is not a masterpiece and I'm extremely happy about AR Rahman and Resul Pookutty winning the Academy awards. JAI HO!
PS: The song is America's new Macarena!!! :)!
