I know of a bird called ‘Ostrich’. It has thin long legs as strong as iron rods and though it is a bird who cannot fly, its strong legs take it to speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour (70 kph) making it the fastest creature on two legs. Amazing bird you’d say, Innit? Despite its restricted ability to fly, it has managed to develop an effective alternate method of mobility.
But this Ostrich has a rather peculiar trait. When cornered, it digs a hole in the sand and hides its head therein assuming that since it cannot see its enemy, it is safe. Though the bird is Australian, the traits are definitely Indian. At least that is what it seems from the uproar over Slumdog Millionaire.
Could somebody please tell me, what is the outrage all about? I saw a beautiful movie – A movie about the resilience of India; a story of a chap who is born in the slums but doesn’t remain there; a journey of a boy named Jamal Malik from the streets to the hot seat on the show – Who wants to be a Millionaire, a film about character and the never give up attitude of an Indian, which in fact was very heartening. To ignore all of this and get stuck on the portrayal of the part of India which is, though very ugly, but definitely not imaginary, represents the same trait of denial possessed by the bird I was talking about.
Who is to blame?
Who are we actually pissed of on? Or Who should we be pissed off upon? Danny Boyle for telling the truth (with of course certain cinematic liberties, on which I shall return) or on ourselves as a country who allows this to happen. We cannot, by refusing to acknowledge these truths, make any progress to solving them. Just because this director happens to be a non-Indian doesn’t make any of this a lesser truth. I am wondering why there wasn’t any uproar when our own Madhur Bhandarkar made ‘Traffic Signal’. It had all of this and some more – Slum lords, beggars, corrupt officials, pervert donors touching little girl beggars inappropriately, prostitutes, roadside gigolos and even gay whores. Is this your India? Or maybe, it is alright if the movie doesn’t get popular enough to go International; what happens here stays here.
When someone mocks you for having bad breath inspite of appearing smart and well groomed, what do you do? Kick his a*** for saying something derogatory about you or pick up a mouth wash?
Clichés and Stereotypes – All pervasive:
Agreed, there is a stupid cliché in the movie where the foreign tourist says “Here’s a picture of Real America” (I thought for a moment that she’ll pull out a missile from her bag and bomb the poor kid alleging him to be a member of Al Qaida), I really found it amusing more than anything else. I mean c’mmon, all our lives, we’ve lived of such West bashing or even PAK bashing stereotypes all through bollywood (All westerners are infidels, they want sex before marriage, loose character buggers, buffoons in cargo shorts at tourist spots, dumb idiots, racist and at the same time, all Pakistanis are uneducated gun totting radical members of one or the other terrorist club; why just recently, our very own Big B gave a huge lecture to the racist father of a white girl who his son wanted to marry – can’t really remember the film) And now, when the joke is on you, this one sentence hurts you inside out? I wonder what America would do if they saw ‘Hello’ or heard Asharam Bapu’s discourse on the acute problem of constipation in America. (Especially for those who haven’t seen Hello, it is a movie which teaches you 35=10. Confused? They go on to explain that the average intelligence of a 35 year old American is equal to a 10 year old Indian. And further, they show Americans calling call centers in India with such dumb questions that would put an asylum to shame. Does that mean all Americans are stupid? And it doesn’t stop there. By the end of the movie, Indian call center employees have managed to create a big virus scare in America which results in their calls reaching record volumes. Funny, is it? Or now you’ve suddenly understood what stereotypes mean)
Clichés and stereotypes, though not always 100% right, are often used by film makers to get the point across and this is definitely not something that we aren’t guilty about.
Cinematic Liberties – Heard about them?
Talking about cinematic liberties, I definitely haven’t seen a boy hanging from the roof top of a train stealing food from passengers and then being pulled down to fall of the train. But I definitely have seen kids been beaten up for stealing. That’s what is called cinematic liberty. Getting offended by this is as good as getting offended by why do all policemen in India have such a poor shooting aim? They never hit the bad guy or the hero, whomsoever they are chasing.
A lot of people resent as to why was only the dirty part of India shown in the movie. Why wasn’t a single Indian shown as compassionate? I’d say what? I mean there were people in his call centre which were nice to him. But nevertheless, that’s not the point. The story was about the problems he faces, his trials which he goes through all alone. The director was trying to put the point across and he didn’t want to waste time in unnecessary sweetening of the plot. That is his prerogative. I mean, when you see Hollywood flicks where blacks carry guns and shoot randomly or American soldiers raping girls in Iraq or chopping their own comrades after getting drunk (even this one got an Oscar by the way), does it imply that that’s all American soldiers do?
Indians and Awards:
I’m not going to judge or argue whether Slumdog deserved all the accolades or not. I mean, look who’s talking? When Feroz Khan wins an award for best villain for Janasheen; where Shahrukh wins every possible award for KKHH, Devdas and gets nominated in the best actor category, no less, for KANK; where John Abraham wins an award for Dhoom and gets nominated for Babul; where Paheli and Eklavya are sent to the Oscars as India’s official entry, and a movie like My Brother… Nikhil gets only a single nomination, I mean, seriously, Is this a joke? Are you trying to tell me, we are the best judges of good cinema?
First of all, I wonder, why are we stuck up with these Oscars and Golden Globes? These awards pertain to a different industry and have a jury which has perspectives completely different from Bollywood. If you start comparing their winners with our winners head to head, it wouldn’t make sense. How can you compare apples and oranges?
Secondly, every jury is made up of human beings who are prone to have their biases, favorites and could be open to lobbying. I repeat every jury and not only the foreign juries. It happens all the time in India. I’m not saying that’s what has got Slumdog its awards. But what I’m saying is, don’t read too much into these awards. They have a mind of their own (jury).
I’d even argue that I liked RDB and TZP better than any other movie I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen quite a few) in my whole life. But then, I’m not the only person who decides, and I may have my biases working here.
Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi won several accolades abroad while Shyam Benegal’s The making of the Mahatma did not. Maybe, they have their biases or maybe a foreign director understands his audiences and their sensibilities better and caters to it.
Again, I wouldn’t give an opinion on whether it is the best to deserve such nominations; But I’d say this – Slumdog is definitely worth a hell lot of attention. The stark depiction of the dirty side of India is upsetting and I’m surprised that instead of seeing this movie as one that brings our wounds out in the open, begging for attention, we’re going into denial and trying to push this back under the carpet. If some awards get it the attention it deserves, then so be it.
Feel good? Sure 🙂
I mean, I didn’t want the movie to end. Jamal in all his three avatars is as endearing as any kid can get. You tend to reach out to him. And then he shocks you beyond repair “If it wasn’t for Ram and Allah, I’d still have my mother”. Is this something that you deny or cure?
I felt the “real america” comment was tongue in cheek funny- as if money would fix anything. But then I was not watching the film with “India is the greatest” lenses on.
I loved your review.
Does it matter?
Its just a movie! 😀
You said it all! 🙂
And you know what. I did not hear the ‘real america’ dialogue. I must have fallen asleep.
I watched Slumdog yesterday. My problem with the movie is twofold (and this is just my opinion) –
a) The movie is not at all great. According to me, it shouldn’t even figure in the nominations for golden globe/oscars. Reason? There have been hundreds of indian movies which show the ‘real india’ in a more real and better way than this one. They showed something about riots. See Bombay and Zakhm if you want to see the effects of riots. They showed Bombay underworld, slum life etc etc. Though the depictions were accurate and the direction superb, I somehow felt it was too much in too little time. Infact, they had tried to incorporate so much that it nearly gave me a headache, and i actually asked my friend sitting next to me what the hell was gng on in the movie.
b) The movie is capitalizing on all the wrong reasons. Just because you have Danny Boyle as the director and you have made a hinglish film instead of a hindi one does not make the film great. Many people found it inspiring and about the human spirit and what not. Please!! There are so so so many better films than this one if you want to see something on inspiration or human spirit.
The movie capitalizes only on the fact that it helps strengthen already-held beliefs that India is a poor disgusting country where everyone is a crook and a swindler.
Maybe the reason I din’t like it is just that I had really high hopes when I walked into the theatre. And when I walked out of it, I felt I was severely let down.
Very well analysed and written. Indeed we have such racist depiction of every foreigner or NRI in our movies, that it is shameful. Completely agree with you on all points. it is just being blown out of proportion for no apparent reason.
Hi Rakesh
Someone recommended your blog and I came to it. What a coincidence that the first post I find is that of SM…just yesterday night I was writing a post on SM on my blog and with a very similar title! I couldn’t complete it as I was more interested in watching Fedex make a comeback against Berdych 🙂
My post wasn’t going to argue the same line of thought as you but pretty similar…it seems pointless to complete the post.
My views on the post – well I agree a lot with what Rebel has posted…I didn’t find the movie to be great. It’s not that I saw the movie after all the hype was created and it got the nominations but I saw it about 3 months back but still didn’t think it was that great…good but not great. About the other things I completely agree that we become unreasonable when such things are being depicted in a movie by a westerner. Don’t want to turn this comment into a post and will conclude now 🙂
@Rebel and Indian John Doe
Of course the movie doesnt seem so great. It is a good script though, made with international perspective and sensibilities. We having lived here all our lives have made ourselves used to slumkids and beggers ever since we were kids ourselves. As an 8 yr old I saw a 7 yr old carrying an infant and begging on a traffic signal. The same sight was there for me to see at yet another traffic signal, ten years later. It has used cliches, and some very unrealistic parts…but the truth is, this is an ugly side of India. Every country has something that they do not wish to show to the world…esp when u are showing a “SHINING” image and an economy that is still supposedly growing at 7% annually. No body likes to hear that their house is dirty, even if you feel like you’ve been cleaning it.
I didnt find the movie amazing. I was just happy that the world took attention of Rahman and his calibre of music. It was good in its narrative. It was the spirit of this movie that I liked…that no obstacle is too hard to overcome….I didnt really want to see a bollywood style love story there…but then the director/writer need a base…even James Cameron used a love story in Titanic, isnt it??
For me, the best part was that angle of story as to how he knew answers to these questions. After all, somethings in life cannot just be taught in text books. Life teaches you many lessons and someday, without you realising how important such lessons are, these very lessons can alter your life. I truly believe in it.
@Rakesh
Wonderful review 🙂 Said everything I wished to say, and in a more effective and better way. You are still my top read for the week now…with this post 🙂 Just wait and watch…the same Indians who have been bashing the movie here, will be the first to congratulate if the movie takes home oscars (at least some).. I loved your take on the awards. 🙂 Well the American audiences arent happy with the oscar nominations too, year after year. I really thought Leo would win an award for Blood Diamond, two years ago was it?? And someone else ended up winning it. And he was nominated for two movies 😦 (The Departed being the second one) ….I gotta stop writing now..or blogger will kick me out 😛
I second Crystal..why are we giving so much of importance to a just ordinary movie, and why are we so hung up on oscars? it just shows our inferiority complex, nothing else, we need the stamping from outsiders, shameful for me.In India there are many movies, better made but go totally unnoticed and here a foreigner makes something and we are all discussing it as of its a matter of national importance:) giving it undue publicity:)
great review.. and FINALLY, i went for the movie yesterday so just the right time to be reading this post..
and u know what,all this while, hearing and reading so much abt the movie, its plot,story etc made me cringe, because of the reasons u mentioned,.. i was pretty sure all the attention this movie has got is only because the phirangs so love to see dirty india down the drains, and hence all the nominations..
my view on that hasnt changed even after watching the movie, but surely i think its worth the nominations now. i loved the movie
Rakesh, I JUST watched the movie too! And I cannot get the thought of how young Salim was when he died! And this is not fiction, that we all agree to!
So crystal, yes, it matters!
its simple rakesh, when we werent getting awards it was as if they arent seeing our films.
Now that a film got award every one is more concerned about what reasons did it get the award for.
I am sure if the film didnt get awards it would have been like any other film.
A film is a film, is a film after all isnt it ??
Watch it if you want, if you like fine.. if you dont go watch another !!!
What the heck
Come on. None of us directed the movie..and the main thing is why not applaud at Boyle’s beautiful point of view and how he turned such a small and sensitive issue into a great movie.
And look..when these movies are nominated for the Oscars. there is some serious and uber substantial in the movie!
Its a movie of which puts te veil off the reality which survives in India..to date.
Who said that America is p for perfect,but instead of critisizing Boyle’s point of view and why chosing THIS particular topic (as said on Big B’s blog) why not simply shower accolades on the fact that he has a creative eye, chose splendid and super fab Rehman as his music director and produced a good result.
So just watch the movie for fun!..no one needs to go head over heels and ask about why so many cliches prevail or why India’s poverty has been sold.
Beauty ought to be enjoyed.
Peace
And yez..whoever says this movie shouldn’t have been nominated for the Oscars may consult the critics. People..don’t you think we’re way inferior to the people who’re sitting on the Critic’s seat and have been fruitfully doing their job?
Lets just stop giving so mch importance to all this..its a movie..a good or a bad one..with a good or a bad point of view. We ain’t supposed to decide whether it deserved an Oscar or not, nor should we state that Indian movies have been directed on this issue..why do you think only this movie went for the Oscars?..bcos it was made by a foreigner?..I don’t think so,buddy ! 🙂
So enjoy the movie while it stays in the theatres! =D
Hmmm… I think I want to watch this movie. Soon, I hope 🙂
I havent seen Slumdog..but as I commented on Joe’s blog- i fail to understand the hype n hoopla surrounding SDM..ppl cant stop raving abt it..
and yes..V Indians r living in denial..I was shocked at Bachchan’s nonsensical comment..
And I know for a fact tht all award functions r rigged..
I really need to go catch up with SM and find out what the ‘fuss is about’. I agree that film makers make films according to their sensibilities and , at times, with a target audience in mind.
I frankly think Attenborough’s Gandhi was only an Englishman’s Ghandy. I had once come across a statement by attenborough that certain parts of Gandhi’s life had been dramatised in the film. (Obviously to fit into the director’s frame.)
@@lankrita: Welcome and Thanks 🙂
@Crystal: laterz
@shail: Welcome 🙂
@Rebel: Your two points are exactly what I'm trying to counter in my post. Regarding awards, again, lets not compare apples with oranges. Bombay & Zakhm were great but SM isn't bad either. It wasn't a movie about riots, it was a 5 minute (maybe even less) scene and finally, our awards aren't that fair either. 2) This film wasn't representing India just because a foreigner made it. It was a movie about the slums and a guys difficulties, what do you expect to see there?
@GM: Glad you agree 🙂
@IJD: Welcome and Same Pinch 🙂 Well, I did like the movie. At least more than the crap we give awards to at times like Janasheen, Babul, Paheli etc. See Smriti’s reply below for more but yes, the controversy is totally unwanted.
@Smriti: Exactly, this is a sort of a dampner to our India Shining campaign which some may find difficult to digest.
And Top Read? Again? Mashaállah, I’m turning into some sort of Katrina Kaif, hit pe hit 🙂
And ya, Leo was superb in Blood Diamond innit? But this guy Whitaker won it for Last King of Scotland. and surprisingly, I loved BD leaps and bounds over The Departed but Departed won the best movie Oscar. So you see, thats what I meant. And keep writing, Blogger don’t kick my followers out of my blog 🙂
@Renu: I guess, we should give importance to a movie which has something important to say. But awards, I agree, we are seriously stuck up on these foreign awards. Lets introduce a best foreign film cateogry in Filmfare and IIFA as well. I don’t think they might even show up to pick their awards.
@ISH: Yeah, I mean a lot of people have loved the movie. And maybe westerners love to see not necessarily India down the drain but I guess, any stark depiction of reality which is disturbing, and thus the awards.
@Aneri maasi: Glad you think this isn’t fiction. A lot of us are still playing Ostrich.
@Hitch writer: Yeah, I think this is the reason for all the controversy. How could a foreigner make a film in India and get so many awards while we make scores of movies bt no recognition whatsoever.
@Crystal: So you did like the movie, I did too 🙂 and I don’t think so highly of the Jury but yes, I don’t bother too much about why a movie got an award.
@Terra: Sure, it is a must watch, if not for the movie itself but at least for the fact that you ought to have an opinion 🙂
@Swats: You should see it at least once. See response to Terra above 🙂
@Julia: Yeah see it (See response to Terra above) And an Englishman will definitely make an Englishman’s Ghandy, same with SM 🙂
I really don’t think the movie is the big deal its being made out to be. Its a movie. About a boy. Oh and about love? ( Which is too extremely cheesy and extremely unreal)
He went on the show cause he thought Latika would be watching. Now that’s uhmm… rather fooling ?
As for the america-bashing post Amitabh Bachan’s blog – This is the tamasha which gets them money. Let them earn. It’s their job.
@ Smriti: Like I have said in my blog, I don’t see why Indians should be elated if this movie wins an award…after all this is not an Indian movie! Secondly, people will always have diverse viewpoints about who should win the award…not everyone can be satisfied.
@ Crystal: I hope you dont get offended by this but why do you feel the critics are superior than you. More importantly even the critics dont agree all the times which clearly points out that there is a bias in everyone. Just to give you an example, Benjamin Button which has got 13 nominations has been given a bad review by Roger Ebert, one of the world’s foremost critics!
@ Swats: Have you read AB’s blog?
@Rakesh: Please don’t get offended by this long comment of mine. I am very passionate about movies and felt I needed to comment on these comments.
I have been wanting to write on this whole controversy circus but have been holding myself back till I am in the right mind. I was accused of being an ‘angrez’ for liking the movie 🙂
Your review is really good.
Well, SM is a movie. It involves some reality and some fiction, like all moves do. Watch it like a movie and it is 3 hours of paisa vasool.
We stopped the filming of Water because it reflected the truth. It reflected something that is still prevalent in India. And it was nominated for Oscars from Canada. RDB was nominated to the Oscars from India, doesn’t that showcase our corruption and inept politicians?
Why is the West making films on us and getting publicity? Because, we are making similar films on us too, just that we are not presenting them to the world. What we send as nominations to the Oscars are populist movies like Devdas, Paheli and Jeans. (Alternately, we send RDB and TZP)
What I also do not understand is, people who have dashed and crushed SM for being ‘poverty porn’, have not once said how endearing the story is, what wonderful work the actors have done, and how beautiful and in tune the music is.
Anyways, I loved it. I would have loved it if an Indian had made it.
@imperfect: Well, I loved the movie, actually aren’t they supposed to be cheesy and a tad unreal? Yeah, tamasha is what everyone is good at 🙂
@IJD: You’re welcome to keep commenting dude, I love a good argument and btw, Though you didn’t ask me the question, I’ve replied to your question – Have you read AB’s blog? on your blog 🙂
@Shilpa: Glad you liked my take 🙂 I guess, you’re right when you say, we are making similar films on us too. And I think, ‘Poverty Porn’ is a term that is being used by Nationalists with the Ostrich syndrome. They think it doesn’t exist here and on top of that, I think they find the term very Urban’ny cool and that’s why they use it 🙂
You know, somewhere else I read a long comment, an extract of which is this: You can’t have it both ways. You can’t have your film be both a gritty, slice-of-life indictment and a frothy romantic soufflé. The end product is like “City of God” meets “Moulin Rouge!”
Seems too classy to read innit? But where is the argument? Who says you can’t have a film which is both gritty plus romantic? I think that’s what is actually wonderful about the movie. To me, these are the sort of arguments that draw in most supporters. Coz. 1) they sound really cool; and 2) they don’t make sense so people are left wondering – what did he just say???
Oye Rakesh, Chhaa gaye ji… so true. And especially the reference which you have brought out by giving example of Hello and Big B's lecture (whatever that film is).
No offenses to anyone in particular but I feel so pissed when these self-claimed righteous monkeys go on to preach something and end up doing the same.
The bottom line is it's just a movie and you & me loved it. Criticizers can go to hell.
its a nice topic…overlooked fr ages now…its well directed too..
the funny or the sad part is not the script but the title, isn’t it?
it cud have been ‘Slum___ ‘ something… the script seems perfect…
I liked the way u brought it up…keep rockin’
@Oxy: Dude, lets send the criticizers to go watch CC2C instead 🙂
@Rashi: Welcome 🙂 Actually, I didn’t really find it offensive coz. that’s exactly how India treats them 😦 Glad you liked my perspective…
There’ll always be so many qns abt a movie. But did we enjoy it? Thats all that matters.
And I hv to agree with Crystal.
**So just watch the movie for fun!..no one needs to go head over heels and ask about why so many cliches prevail or why India’s poverty has been sold.
she’s spot on there!
Keshi.
followed by RGV ki Aag and Drona… all three at least 2 times.
I think Govinda’s “Saajan Chale Saasural” was better!!!
Dude, is that the Dodge Charger?
Mujhe bhi Ambit main naukri chahiye!
Cheers,
Quirky Indian
@Keshi: Yup, watch it for fun.
@Oxy: Lol, that’s some torture man.
@Satyajit: Sure, to each his own. But I think you’re comparing apples with oranges.
@QI: Yup, it is 🙂 Btw, this isn’t ambit. This one is RSM International – 7th largest network in the world (I told this to you earlier didn’t I?)
You did indeed, and I forgot. My bad.
Old age is a terrible thing.
But I still want a job at RSM!
Quirky Indian
And I can see that some Indians just blow it out of proportion when it comes to the review. Its a movie after all, get over it!
Keshi.
The film was not even released in India …..
It was released in India only after it got awards (golden globe)
@Keshi: I guess, since the movie is a lil overhyped, so is the controversy surrounding it.
@Tejas: Welcome Dude! Surprising innit, given that the basic premise of the movie was Indian.
you got it bang on …
I think anyone who is criticizing is just want their fifteen minutes of shame so that they can get a headline or two and some time in front of TV cameras …
I LOVED this review.
Absolutely brilliant.
If he had fallen in love with a rich industrialist’s daughter and sung songs on the railway track we would have taken our Ostrich heads out of the sand… .. enjoyed their wedding videos with the slum lords teaching the rich girl how a Bhartiya Nari should behave lol 🙂
Been too involved with this Pink Chaddi Campaign lately, hence the comment is colored pink lol…. all I mean to say is I am glad I chanced upon this brilliant review 🙂
And btw the little one’s total devotion to Amitabh Bachchan reminded me of my son’s forever unbuttoned shirt and absolute worshiping of Shahrukh Khan at the same age.
Lovely – I loved the movie too…..posted the same pic on my blog with my ‘review’…
Love your blog…
C
Brilliant *clap clap clap* loved the review. I fell head over heels with this movie and did write my own thoughts about it here http://fourseasonsoflove.blogspot.com/2009/03/slumdog-millionaire.html
I have been reading many reviews abt the movie and urs take the cake…lajawab!!!!