So, what’s changed with Slumdog Millionaire? As far as exploitation of poverty goes, Danny Boyle is up there with Katherine Mayo’s Mother India, which Gandhiji dismissed as a "drain inspector’s report". Why is the English-speaking elite going gaga, heaping extravagant praise? Beginning with the President to the PM to the leader of the Opposition to the Shiv Sena boss, it seems everyone wants a piece of the Slumdog pie. Could this unexpected triumph on Sonia Gandhi’s watch boost the Congress election prospects?
These are weighty questions best set aside. What disturbs me about the Oscar achievement is the collateral fragrance it spreads around our mushrooming slums. We are told Dharavi is a slum of vibrancy, enterprise, the triumph of the human spirit and a model of inter-communal living. Another collateral boon: superpower India has at last come to terms with its penury. It is comfortable with its poverty. If you will pardon my French, that’s bullshit!
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Showing posts with label Slumdog Millionaire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Slumdog Millionaire. Show all posts
Monday, March 02, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire: is it about hope or a big lie?
Now that Slumdog Millionaire has bagged a bagful of Oscars, every Indian is celebrating it. Even those who criticised it only a few days ago. Barkha Dutta thinks it's about the innate fighting spirit that defines India. Suhel Seth says it's about the hope especially in these depressing times.
But there's one journalist Tarun Tejpal - intrepid and uncompromising and visionary - who rubbishes these things about the film, and tells the truth.
The awgee media tells us the film is about hope. And hope, as we all know, is greater than inconsistency, inaccuracy, implausibility, dodgy politics, and partypooper critics. And since the film is about the triumph of impossible hope, it is impossibly greater than all of the above. QED. And yes, of course it is also a fantasy, a fairytale. And since, for these poor sods, hope too is a fantasy, it all coheres, hangs together beautifully.
But there's one journalist Tarun Tejpal - intrepid and uncompromising and visionary - who rubbishes these things about the film, and tells the truth.
The awgee media tells us the film is about hope. And hope, as we all know, is greater than inconsistency, inaccuracy, implausibility, dodgy politics, and partypooper critics. And since the film is about the triumph of impossible hope, it is impossibly greater than all of the above. QED. And yes, of course it is also a fantasy, a fairytale. And since, for these poor sods, hope too is a fantasy, it all coheres, hangs together beautifully.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire is right for top dog Warner Brothers
How absurd that Jamil, main character of Slumdog Millionaire, gets back to his life-experience to find out the answer everytime his host asks him a question in the biggest gamble TV show! And he gets it right too.
The depiction of Indian underbelly that emerges in the process is not exaggerated or unnatural, though not wholesome. The champions of 'India shining' brigade may have problem in accepting them, but it's unfair to say that the director Danny Boyle had any ulterior motive in showcasing this reality.
What I liked about the film is the director's taste, and sense of restraint. He could have made some scenes sleazier or sensual, but he didn't.
The film centres around a fantasy, and it's not easy to build up a believable plot on it. It's mainly for this lapse that the film suffers. And it's entirely an entertainment film.
But the lobotomized audience will love it. The top dog Warner Brothers of course had its hunch right. Slumdog, its first Indian venture, is quite OK for it.
The depiction of Indian underbelly that emerges in the process is not exaggerated or unnatural, though not wholesome. The champions of 'India shining' brigade may have problem in accepting them, but it's unfair to say that the director Danny Boyle had any ulterior motive in showcasing this reality.
What I liked about the film is the director's taste, and sense of restraint. He could have made some scenes sleazier or sensual, but he didn't.
The film centres around a fantasy, and it's not easy to build up a believable plot on it. It's mainly for this lapse that the film suffers. And it's entirely an entertainment film.
But the lobotomized audience will love it. The top dog Warner Brothers of course had its hunch right. Slumdog, its first Indian venture, is quite OK for it.
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