The Slumdog debate is a stink of a different kind Farwa Imam Ali <http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/searchresult.aspx?AliasName=SJiqCInGvNVym5sHMssKEw==> First Published : 01 Mar 2009 10:13:00 AM IST Last Updated : 28 Feb 2009 10:45:17 AM IST
Rahman wins two Oscars, a Golden Globe, bags a BAFTA and sends more desis to watch Slumdog Millionaire. High on the Jai Ho spirit, a friend’s husband buys wife dearest tickets to Slumdog Millionaire for her birthday. Wife goes to the movies but returns home upset about how India has been portrayed. Husband defends right to creative enterprise. Both of them fight. Patriotism is defined in terms I have never heard of before. Two days later both stick to their opinions, but make up. Happy ending, true filmy style. With Rahman’s big win for India at the Oscars, perhaps the drama surrounding what I think is just another melodrama called Slumdog Millionaire will abate. Techies in LA believe that few would have cared had the film not won critical acclaim, whatever that means! What did they think about the film? Sure they squirmed at the raw depiction of poverty in Mumbai’s underbelly, but agreed that the film simply depicts an existing reality. So the point is, maybe we are more upset the film is more fact than fiction. And maybe one would have felt less upset had an Indian made the film. As some Silicon Valley desis pointed out, the writer of the book that became the movie, Vikas Swarup, is Indian. Is it the Raj hangover that perhaps causes us to be upset that an Englishman portrayed a realistic slice of our life? Or is it guilt on our parts that the world sees the inequities that exist in a supposedly shining India? Make no mistake, I love my country potholes, corruption hell holes and all, Oscar or no Oscar. But the Slumdog debate creates a stink of a different kind. One of low tolerance for things harsh and real. Appears to me that some of us would rather see the happy-ending movies with crappy humor and not be reminded of the graver issues that exist. Are we upset that the film does not provide yet another entertaining escape from the travails of our daily life? Perhaps. But over and above, I think we miss the point sometimes. As a group of Sili Valley families watching the Oscars observed, the sheer “kuch bhi karega” attitude that is so very Indian shines beautifully in the film. It is the attitude that is embodied in the spirit of every Indian who is trying to make the best of the cards life has dealt us. Made me think they were drawing parallels from their personal travails. Exactly what then, does Silicon Valley see in Slumdog? They see themselves. They see the sheer spunk of Jamal who does whatever it takes to realise even the most impossible dream. Not all the folks who realise their dreams are lucky enough to have family and finances in their favour. Yet they persevere. It is the story of perseverance that unites Jamal’s character with some Sili Valley folks. As for the poverty, the desis point out, it exists everywhere. Even in America. Back in Boyle’s own Britain. Everywhere. It differs in perspective and degree. But it exists everywhere. In India we call call them beggars or bhikari. The West call them homeless. I don’t know what they call them in Danny Boyle’s country, but I bet the underlying concept and the ignominy attached to it is the same as it is in India. To its merit, Slumdog is not patronising about the India scape. It sees what is, and shows as is. And who are those protesting? The ones that spend more movie tickets<http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=The+Slumdog+debate+is+a+stink+of+a+different+kind&artid=7INRJJrOMkE=&Title=The+Slumdog+debate+is+a+stink+of+a+different+kind&SectionID=f4OberbKin4=&MainSectionID=f4OberbKin4=&SEO=slumdog&SectionName=cxWvYpmNp4fBHAeKn3LcnQ==#>than the average slum kid does on candy for a decade? Like one desi techie who is returning to India put it, “Boyle or no Boyle. Oscar or not. I love my country, slums and all.” Now that’s the spirit that warrants a shout out. Jai Ho! http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=The+Slumdog+debate+is+a+stink+of+a+different+kind&artid=7INRJJrOMkE=&Title=The+Slumdog+debate+is+a+stink+of+a+different+kind&SectionID=f4OberbKin4=&MainSectionID=f4OberbKin4=&SEO=slumdog&SectionName=cxWvYpmNp4fBHAeKn3LcnQ == -- regards, Vithur
