Skip to main content

Slumdog Millionaire Triumphs @ the Oscars

One could mistake the 81st Annual Academy Awards for being themed on India. So complete was the dominance of Slumdog Millionaire that I was actually tired of my own exaltation.

I liked the movie but never imagined it fit for the Oscars. Rahman winning for the Best Original Song and Best Original Score was shocking. Was there no competition? Rahman is a genius by Indian standards, but ‘Jai Ho’ being adjudged the Best Original Song at the summit is impossible for me to digest. And what was so outstanding about the score?

Anyway, the movie deserves adulation for its hard-hitting and in-your-face depiction of the lives of millions of people living in the ghettos of Mumbai. What’s incredible is that it took a British filmmaker to show us the ever-elusive ‘real’ India. Not surprisingly, Bollywood, which largely thrives on spinning a glittery world of ephemeral escape for those who have to struggle hard to make ends meet – many of whom stay in ghettos, hasn’t been overtly enthusiastic about the movie. Some stars, pseudo-intellectuals cocooned in affluence and far removed from reality, can hardly relate to the depiction of abject living. They complain of foreigners repeatedly projecting our poverty to the rest of the world; and yet, they never tire of scripts revolving around their signature brand of implausible romance . I wonder how much of their immensely incommensurate wealth is ever donated for a social cause. Perhaps our ‘stars’ need to be quizzed on what troubles them more – the very real poverty of India or its depiction on screen.

It’s time to rejoice in the glory Slumdog Millionaire has won for us.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Delhi-6 score is far better and classier than Slumdog Millionaire. Say what?
Anonymous said…
Say bullshit, u talking of class. when indian movies are not even mentioned in oscars u say they can never come in oscars and when it wins u say how can it win oscars. Class is Class apart .
Deepanjan said…
Prats, I've yet to watch Delhi-6. I've heard a lot about it. I'll call you soon.

Anon, I think you've mistaken Slumdog Millionaire for an Indian movie. It's a movie about India, not an Indian movie.

If I make a movie on Mars, it doesn't become a Martian movie, does it? ;)
Anonymous said…
I believe its a indian movie by a non indian director n technicians because its about India and with Indians fro ur kind information .If u make a movie with people of mars and about people of Mars then it wont be Indian either :)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Anonymous said…
Kaun madarjaat hai re anonymous... Naam batao.
Anonymous said…
Got u miss anonymity... :))))))))))
Agar point valid ho to naam like ke confront karne me koi burai nahi hai. Lekin agar personal anguish nikalna ho then it's a spineless thing to do.
Deepanjan said…
Calling you tonight, Prats!
Anonymous said…
Apni maa ko respect karna seekho .Phir naam puchna.
Anonymous said…
A good movie is a good movie, whether its made by anyone Indian, Non Indian or some one from Mars, Lets cherish it for a movie sake.. if we start criticizing.. we would find faults in everything..
~Rakesh
Anonymous said…
BTW has anyone of you watched, "The Other End of the Line".(Its a romantic movie and a sweet one too). It's seems the Indian story is catching fast in the west.
~Rakesh
Deepanjan said…
Thanks for the suggestion! I think I'll watch it.

I just saw Delhi-6. Average flick.

Popular posts from this blog

This is what Bertrand Russell said about religion...

Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. ... A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.

The year that was

I'm wearing a rather striking shirt, one that makes me feel like a clown fooling around in a graveyard. Roving eyes latch on to me and make me too conscious of myself. Checkered in red, grey, black and maroon, I've excused myself into donning it and looking silly for two reasons. It's Friday and…more importantly, the last working day of the year. Tailored half-a-year back, I never had the courage to wear it, not until today. It's that time of the year when it's time to reflect on the events that transpired. Last year ended on the worst possible note. Dad had expired and I was numb with shock. The repercussions rippled halfway thought this year. Things were so abysmal initially that I had lost the will to live. Acrid in everything I did, I was immensely angered by time phlegmatically flowing through its cadence. It was as if Dad meant nothing to anybody. What right did people have to live the way they always had when Dad was no more? Why was much of the world still