The 81st Academy Awards were watched by a record number of Indians across the globe. The reason was a two-letter word- Slumdog Millionaire.
The film was made by the British director Danny Boyle and funded by an European company, but it is a film about India, and the Indian connections are so strong, that most people consider Slumdog to be an Indian film. The story, Q&A, was written by an Indian, Vikas Swarup, it was filmed completely in Mumbai, India, the characters and cast are all Indian, and many of the crew members are Indian. Three Indians - A. R. Rehman, Gulzar and Resul Pookutty, have won individual Academy Honors. The film went on to win 8 out of the 10 Oscar nominations including Best Music, Best Director and Best film, and although there were no Best Actor or Best Supporting actor nominations, the lead actors Dev Patel and Freida Pinto are now household names, and their younger counterparts, some actual residents of Indian slums, have won the hearts of millions across the globe with their very authentic, fearless portrayal of the characters.
The film has sparked some negative reactions in India, where many, including high-profile film director Priyadarshan and popular actress Preity Zinta have slammed it- their outrage primarily centered around concerns of capitalizing India's poverty. Many other Indians seem to agree- they are concerned, that at a time when India has attained such a high profile with enormous progress in every field and consistent economic growth, negative images such as those portrayed in the film would smear the “India Shining” image. Despite all those apprehensions however, as a non-resident Indian based in the USA, I am experiencing first hand that most of the Western audience here seems to have gleaned the real message which this film attempts to deliver, and they do not appear to be dwelling just on the extreme poverty and squalor that this film has portrayed in graphic details.
How come? Bollywood churns out nearly 1,000 mainstream films every year, some of them extraordinarily well-made, and several of them with rags-to-riches themes, but somehow it fails to resonate with Western audiences. Then how did this movie strike such deep chords in the hearts of the Western audience?
My opinion is that the honesty in this movie has hit a homerun in the minds of people around the world. A large part of the movie was filmed in Mumbai’s "Dharavi", the biggest slum in all of Asia- thousands on Indians live in slums, and still succeed- that is the truth, the reality, and this film sort of tells the world, “Look, we have nothing to hide- come see our spirit, and love us for who we are”. Because it was so openly, honestly, portrayed, it appeared that India had the confidence to rise above the concerns of exposing the dirty laundry to the world, and in my opinion this played a huge role towards enabling the Western audience to look beyond the abject poverty, mobs, corruption, religion-induced riots, the horrific child abuse, and focus on the actual message in the movie- one of optimism, hope, the struggle to survive against all odds, and the unyielding love for people that we truly care for.
On a personal note, this film has taught me a wonderful lesson. Although I loved the movie, I have to admit that owing to my lifelong inhibitions with “bathroom scenes” in movies, I initially found the "boy jumping into the well of poop" scene utterly disgusting, and assumed that my American friends too would be repulsed by it. However, my co-worker Kelly influenced a change in my heart when she said “I actually thought it was fantastic that the boy was willing to think outside the box to get his picture signed no matter what- even if it meant doing something completely gross”.
The true success of a movie of this stature is not in how many awards it ends up winning, nor how much it grosses at the box office ($50 Million so far) - the true mark of success will be in whether or not it becomes a catalyst in driving progessive thinking. Judging by responses of average citizens globally, there is every indication so far, that this movie might indeed become successful at achieving that goal.
Jai ho!
Slumdog Millionaire has been a huge success in the Western world but may be not so widely acclaimed in India. I think the people of India are still trying to decide how they want to react to the success of Slumdog Millionaire. On one hand, winning 8 out of 10 Oscar nominations have put India in the world’s spotlight and on the other the whole movie is shown through the eyes of poverty and slum – the image that we are not comfortable discussing.
ReplyDeleteIf we look back in history, the majority of the Indian people have lived in poverty. But slowly and surely this has been changing, as more and more people are moving towards becoming middle class households. Maybe the people trying to adapt to the Westernized way of society is uncomfortable when India is shown through the eyes of filth, poverty, and child abuse.
On a more positive note, I am happy to know that the child artists who are actually from the slums would very soon have new homes to go to.
I too am excited about the future of the child artists- they really carried much of the film on their little shoulders, and it would be great to see them receive education and the other basis ameneties of life that a child deserves. They have had no formal training in acting- as naturals, they have done a superb job. Dev Patel and Freida Pinto have been signed up by the likes of Shyamalan and Woody Allen for future projects- terrific news- they do have great potential, but so do the little stars, and I would love to see their acting careers flourish.
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