Slumdog Millionaire
I went in to watch Slumdog Millionaire fully expecting to see a movie “about life in the slums”. What I didn’t expect was that though the slums and the poverty were very much there, the movie wasn’t really about them. Rather, it was a good story about a boy from the slums who makes it big and really, most people watch movies because they are good stories, not so much because they teach us anything or tell us about specific places.
Which is why, I’m quite surprised about those in India who would slam Danny Boyle and the movie for showing a side of India which they’d rather keep hidden. For one thing, the movie isn’t half-way realistic. How many slum kids do you know who get to be on Kaun Banega Crorepati? The story of Arvind, the boy who is blinded and forced to beg in a subway is probably more “real” than that of Jamal, who not only manages to get on to the show but also wins a 2 crore thanks to a lot of luck, some coincidences and a bit of thinking. So, no, Slumdog Millionaire isn’t about India’s reality, even if one were to assume that there is any One Reality to portray.
After watching the movie, I am still unable to decide which of these is really annoying people.
A. All Western film-makers want to see in India is its poverty, so that the entire first world can laugh at us = chip on shoulder about how the white man sees us, constant pathetic need to prove that we are on par with “them”
B. This reality isn’t the only one; what about executive India, what about the fancy cars, the multi-storeyed buildings, the middle class schools, the MBAs = Reality is only what life is for us. I wonder if the millions in India who live in slums or even on the roadside should object to Karan Johar movies because it doesn’t showcase “their” reality?
C. The film is only getting noticed because it is being made by a Western film-maker = Well, Indian film-makers, for the most part are not interested in these subjects, but still, shouldn’t they generally give us an Oscar anyway? Also, huge failure to understand that the Oscars aren’t really about world cinema, inspite of the foreign film category.
D. All of the above?
The truth is that Slumdog Millionaire is neither a terribly insightful look into India’s poverty nor is it a white-man-slum-touristy look at India. Poverty is the backdrop for Jamal’s story, but that is not all there is to it. Infact, to me, one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the story was when little Jamal gets taken up in the orphanage van by Maman who is clearly A Very Bad Man, but to Jamal and his friends riding in the van, it is as though they have been promised a slice of life in paradise. The naked optimism in their eyes is killing, because you know so well that they are going to be let down cruelly.
Slumdog Millionaire works because of moments like this where we get caught up in one individual’s story and root for him to succeed, and it works inspite of a downright unreal last 15 minutes which are a disgrace to the rest of the movie. Slumdog Millionaire works inspite of its occasional deviations from reality simply because it is one of the oldest stories in the world told well; the underdog story that most of us can never resist.
your review is exactly what i felt about the movie
and to add - it is not AR rahman’s best but who said only the deserving win awards and i really dont know why the osacars mean so much anyway?
EXACTLY how I saw the movie.Just a human tale .And an underdog’s story that none of us can resist.:)
I agree with what you say. There is no India revelation happening, and neither does it look like it is it a look down by western world.
I believe for outside India, the child cruelty of this kind is not known and begging as a profession is not common. This enlightens many about it and as you said the underdog anyways always wins!
I think we love to be portrayed as a bunch of people who need to be uplifted by the rich and mighty or by a stroke of luck. when I was young it was the image created by MGR as rickshaw puller, milkmam or whatever and the whole of Tamilnad lapped it up.try suggesting that one has to work hard to come up in life whether in reel or real life. You get the look reserved for the insane.
for me, If a movie can make me cry and smile at the same time, it is good enough. SDM made me look at myself as a mere human being - I felt at times that had I not been lucky to not be in slums today, I would be living and experiencing life - the sorrows, the joys, the fears - everything - just like those kids did. Somehow you dont even feel like analyzing the authenticity of this tale.
when I watched it as the only Indian in a small-town theater full of babyboomer, all white crowd, I was impressed by how well people connected with the movie and cheered for jamal on every right answer. I guess somewhere we all know life isn’t perfect and so a tale needn’t be, to win an Oscar.
Thanks all for your comments.
Art - yes, I did feel that ARR’s music in this case, wasn’t anything special. But then, the Oscars prolly have a different comparison frame…
Indyeah - yep, very much, and that’s what filmmakers exploit
Aathira - yes, after all, the film was meant for a global audience…
Padmaji, well, hard work perhaps doesn’t make for as exciting a story? Though in this case, they don’t show Jamal as lazy either, perhaps just street-smart and willing to make use of opportunities.
Sparsh - true. I think SDM succeeds because it pushes the right buttons whether or not it is real.
first time delurking..have been reading your blogs through Artnavy’s…here are my thoughs:
1. movies like satya,company and Nayagan portrayed both underbelly as well the wonderworld infleunce in cinema..not able to understand why there was not much of furore that is happening right now, then!was it because it was directed by indian directors?
2. this is a feel good movie…no doubt about it..has its touch of optimisim and general positive vibe though the background is poverty and slum…but is it oscar worthy? no! honestly, Oscar does matter to every movie goer to movie maker…coz that is the ultimate recognition…if someome says why it matters? then i think we are cheating ourselves…about Slumdog - i have watched better movies like ‘No Man’s Land’ , ‘Life is Beautiful’,'Rain Man’ to our of Africa..and a whole lot of movie..which left both the critics and the watchers spellbound…! Slumdog left me feeling happy..but NOT spellbound…if you know what i mean…
3. AR Rahman has given better scores (best) scores…but i think he deserve to be recognized internationally and immaterial of whethere this is his best or not…i still think he deserves this nod…
phew! rambled a lot i think!
IBH - thanks for your comment. Actually, I don’t know why you say there wasn’t a “furore”. Nayagan, Satya, Company - all the examples you’ve mentioned received plenty of attention in India and in the Indian press. If you mean why they didn’t get attention in the Western press, well, movies in languages other than English aren’t really that much discussed in the Western world, are they? You may call it unfair, but English as a relic of colonialism is a fact.
Whether it is oscar-worthy or not is a different issue. The Oscars are given from a different prism. For the West, this is something very new, not perhaps for us. And no, I don’t think the Oscars matter to every movie-goer - certainly large tracts of India would have never even heard of them, and these people vote with their wallets instead for a lot of Indian movies. The score - I don’t think it was anything great, again, I think it relates to how the West sees things.
Apu, I havent seen the movie, which some have called “poverty voyeurism”, and most likely wont either. But regardless of the story, I admit that I am offended with the use of the word “Slumdog”. I googled it, and I didnt find any references to it (besides the movie), so my best guess is that the world was sort of coined for the movie, and otherwise its use was restricted to some small corner of the West. Its fine if there are liberal people who are okay with its use, and the storyline and portrayal, as you very well point out, these are not things that are necessarily insulting. But the title of the movie, even if not intentionally a tongue-in-cheek slant at third world types or just crass sensationalization, still leaves ample room for ordinary Indians to get up in arms about it. Now, I’m not the type that goes and burns down cinemas. But then I’m not the type that attacks women at pubs either!
Sri - I think ’slumdog’ is a concocted word. The closest equivalent I could think of in Hindi was ‘gali ka kutta’. And yes, perhaps people can find it offensive, though after seeing the movie - it is isn’t - it is other peoples’ perceptions of Jamal, which he actually rises above. The sad thing is that people are prepared to be violent against anything they find offensive; everyone is entitled to their opinions, but what’s the need to express it through violence?
Dear Apu,
I think sometimes when we criticize and over analyze too much (a flower perhaps) we get no time to love/appreciate it. I feel that there is no need to criticize SLUMDOG. It is based on reality. And please have your cup of BARISTA’s IRISH COFFEE WITH CREAM but at the same time, at least acknowledge that A SLUM EXISTS and LIVES IN SLUMS exits too. AND LIFE IN SLUM IS EXACTLY LIKE OR WORSE OFF THAN What has been portrayed in SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.
WE ARE A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITES. Consider the following:
1. We cannot do without our BARISTA’s IRISH coffee with cream but we can do without the OSCARs. Right ?
2. SLUMDOG by an INDIAN - O.K. but by a WHITE, -NO,NO ?
India’s POVERTY is REAL. You may not like it but it is REAL and PAINFUL. Whether you sell it or not . But what is wrong in portraying it [i.e. poverty] ? We should at least feel it by seeing the movie if not do something about it. Or is it that since we cannot do anything about it, we do not want to see it ?
Thanks,
SANGHAMITRA NATH
Sanghamitra, that is the weirdest comment I’ve received. Did you even read the piece? I am neither criticizing Slumdog nor denying India’s poverty anywhere.
Dear Apu,
NO, NO,- I am not criticizing you or your piece. This is my general comment on those who criticize the making of and releasing of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. This is not a personal comment pointed at you. Just my take on the entire controversy. Sorry if you have mistaken my views or taken it personally. I am talking of our hypocritical society. I should have written “we’” instead of “you” while talking of BARISTA, etc.
Please do not mind and edit my comment if you want to.
Thanks,
[ Really Feeling Sorry for the misunderstanding]
Sanghamitra
Sanghamitra - it was really nice of you to come back and clarify! I did think that the remark was a direct response to my piece, and was really surprised as to what I had said which gave you that impression
I do think people are too touchy about India’s poverty - we need to accept it; it doesn’t matter what “others” say or think about it, we ourselves need to think about it more.
Film is not “celebration of creativity”…..it is just any other movie made with goody-goody feel on human relationship and Love prevails non-sense. It is just that it is made by a westerner and distributed by “Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures”…hence it made a global opening….
India is portrayed as a pathetic slum which west wanted to see as they do not want to tarnish the image which they comply with.
Rest stupidity of congress to take the credit is cheap and they should try to do something for country rather than taking a bath in the glory of some movie.
Goody-goody feel and Love prevails nonsense? So what exactly do Bollywood and Kollywood films show? Real life and how people strive above the harshness about it? I can tell you something - I prefer to watch something like SDM than shallow films that project shallow people, shallow lives and shallow stories - something from the Yash stable perhaps? (This is in response to KillGod).
And please, Westerners are not stupid. They know squalor in India exists, but not the whole of India. Just like if you go to the East End of London, you are far away from Mayfair or Kensington. Like Apu put it succintly, it’s about people who succeed despite all the obstacles in their paths.
Apu, well written. Loved your explanation of the word slumdog.