Slumdog millionaire has become super popular now with 4 awards at the Golden Globes. I have not seen the movie yet, and so will not write anything about that.
Regarding the nominations and awards, I think the award for best original music to A.R Rahman is something that did India proud. I would not say, from what I heard on television, that this was A.R Rahman's best score, but at an international level, probably this was one of the best by him. H Sridhar needs a special mention for this was one of his last albums.
Somehow, I fail to understand why the Indian media is going gaga over Slumdog. Why is that we take pride in something that we have not done? Just because it was made on India? Or is it because it had Anil Kapoor and a bunch of other Indian actors? A.R Rahman is one good reason, but I do not see the soundtrack available in Indian market (Update: It got released last week, after the awards). What are we feeling great about? Something that we have not even heard?
The movie is neither produced nor directed by Indians. It was setup in India and it does not even give out a rosy picture of Mumbai/India. It talks about an impoverished guy who has no desire for any riches attending the "Who wants to be a millionaire?" show. Would this movie have gotten this much popularity and quality if it had not been for Danny Boyle? I doubt it. Coming to think of it, I was wondering how this movie would have been if it had been directed by Karan Johar or RGV (hmmmm ...)?
It's well known that a movie showing non-prosperous side of a nation always sells. City of Gods (thanks Prasant for pointing this out), Blood Diamond, Motocycle Diaries, Salaam Bombay and the list goes on ... I do not recollect seeing one Hollywood movie which programs the movie around a prosperous India. Impoverished India sells. Remember the movie "Armageddon"?
What are the other things that we take credit for just because the person involved was an Indian? Sunita Williams and Manoj Shyamalan to name a couple.
Slumdog Millionaire may be a great movie and may go down in history as one of the best movies made on hope and compassion with India as backdrop.
Something to leave you to ponder about (I am not endorsing it) would be a sketch I spotted on Mutiny.in.
I will come back after I see the movie ...
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Slumdog Hysteria
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1 comments:
Good one there. The truth is that it is a story of an individual who overcomes insurmountable odds which happens to be set in India. The movie would have been just as popular/ powerful had it been set in slums of Brazil or poor neighborhoods of Africa.
Abt Rehman, the way the Indian music industry is setup gives him a huge advantage compared to others composing soundtracks for english movies. I predict this is just the first of more awards to come his way at an international level
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