Amid all the “Come on you gotta see it” and “Are you kidding me?…you don’t wanna see the film that has created records at the Golden Globe”,I finally succumbed and watched the much “raved for” Slumdog Millionaire
To be honest, I didn’t have too many expectations from the film even though the whole world was gushing about a film made by an American director with a boy from the Indian slums as the protagonist. The basic premise of the film however sounded interesting. A slum boy from Mumbai wins the “Who wants to be a millionaire” show by using all the real life experiences he has gone through. Brilliant idea I thought.
So I said to myself “It’s a film about India with a bloody good concept and it’s creating sensation all over the world…what the hell..I should watch it” – BLUNDER!
After watching the film, I see where Mr.Amitabh Bachchan was coming from and I totally relate to his sentiments.
Let me explain.
While I loved the concept of the movie, I did not appreciate the way India has been portrayed. Now before you soulless people begin your rants with – “But it’s all true, no lies” and some more crap along the same lines”, let me assure you I have spent 22 years of my life in India and I know it’s the truth and nothing but the truth. But that’s not the point. We must ask ourselves, do we really want the world to see India this way? Is this what the world should picture us as? What are we achieving in doing this?
Every country in the world has flaws, the same way as you and I do. But that’s not what we want to show to the world. The world audience is an outsider as far as the Indian cinema is concerned and will always be. I abhor showing India in a bad light to the outside world and picking up awards along the way. Shameful I say on part of the Indians involved with the film…including one Mr. Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan, who have both lost a little bit of respect in my eyes.
Not that I am a big supporter of all the questionable things that happen in India. I do not like it either and would want it changed, but does that mean I start supporting the glamorization of the imperfections? No, I would rather bring forth the positives about India while actively keep working on the negatives.
The negatives or the so called “real India” is what the world seems to be interested in. Show them the slums and they take it as real India. This is what is entertainment for them. Showing them the cosmopolitan India making rapid progress and competing with them in literally every field is not what they want to shell out their 10 bucks for. It’s just too boring. They want to see the “Real India”!
Let me take an analogy, it’s the same as an outsider making a film on one of your family members. It shows only the truth about him/her, nothing but the truth. But it shows all the mucky details about your family. This movie is now shown on world stage. The whole world is laughing and mocking at your family member and remember they are laughing at you too!
What do you do now? You have two choices – You either appreciate the film and say “Well it’s true and I love the movie for it’s entertainment. So what if they showed a little bit of truth about my father, he’s an idiot anyway” or stand up and say “WTF…I don’t care if it’s true or not…I don’t like you f***ing morons bad mouth my family (or country in this case)”
Bad example? Maybe, but hopefully you get the point.
I don’t like the fact that an outsider is poking fingers and making money at the expense of showing the flaws of India and calling it “Real India”. It seems that the film was made with just that intention. You can’t blame the audience. They have every reason to believe what they are seeing, cause of the Indian crew involved with the film. Disgusting is all I can say on part of the Indians involved with this film.
More than anything else, I did not like the fact that it was made by a non-Indian who knows nothing about India, leave alone living in India. Unfortunately that is the precise reason, it’s getting the grand recognition at the world stage. I guess, I would have felt better had it been churned out of the Indian film industry, cause then it would be one of us passing a judgement vis-a-vis an outsider having the audacity to do so.
I think it’s getting all the recognition at the cost of the world audience imagining and picturing this as the real India. How many people do you think would be encouraged to visit India after watching this film? Not too many! Not something to celebrate and gush about after all..is it?
So ladies and gentleman, next time some body says – “Ohh you are from the dirty country full of filth, corruption & torture“, don’t be surprised..you know where it’s coming from!
I am not an extremist. I don’t think the movie should be banned. I don’t think there should be protests against the film. Every body has the right to have their say in a democracy. All I hope for however is some more morality and sanity on part of the Indian actors in picking the foreign films they get involved with. Is that too much to ask?