The movie has created a lot of buzz, winning 4 Golden Globes and now 10 Oscar nominations. We would know how many they will manage to win on 22 February. This winning of the golden globes and Oscar nominations has created a lot of media buzz, one can see a number of debates and discussions happening on the movie.At one end there are many people who are criticising the portrayal of poverty and the slums of Mumbai and at the other there is a lot of appreciation coming along for the movie.
I tend to take a rather negative view, I see the movie projecting a limited view of the reality called India. This is not say that we do not have urban poverty or it is a non issue, it is infact an issue which needs to be given highest priority, but movies like these in a way take us back to the era when India was seen as a nation of snake charmers.
A couple of decades back a movie like this would have added some value as it would have brought brand India back into memory of people but today i feel that we have moved beyond the awareness stage, we are infact in a stage where we have to build the right values that we want to promote. In the last few years the image of the country has changed to that of one with young white collar software workers, and the Indian growth story is slowly sinking in. We have been making conscious effort to project the country as an attractive investment destination. And that is where I feel slumdog millionaire would do more harm than good for image of the country.
Inspite of all this I wish that they win a lot of Oscars on 22nd....
Sir
ReplyDeleteI agree with your view, but what was shown i the movie reflects a certain reality of India that has been masked in the wake of "opening up" and "development". Slums and riots are still a reality in India. Poor people are still affected by the local mafia and no one does anything about it.
What I feel is that people are reacting to it because it has been made by a foreigner. There have been many Indian movies that have projected similar issues. But since SM gas got the global tag, Indians are suddenly worried? We tend to ignore the realities and focus on that which we perceive to be true.
If it hadn't been for Danny Boyle, I am sure no one would have realized that we are still a developing country. It's high time that Amitabh and politicians realize that reality is different and act to change it.
I think the people who are applauding for the movie doing at the golden globes should seriously consider poverty as a critical issue. Hailing is movie is no good.
ReplyDeleteBPO work from home
@varun, I don't contest the point about poverty and that it needs to be tackled. My issue is with the amount of publicity the movie is getting , 7 bafta are anyway in the kitty next would be the oscars. The movie would be watched by many people and the picture being shown about India though true is only aspect of life in India (though true), and viewers outside would see it as the whole truth and thus talking only about poverty would take us back by almost a generation.
ReplyDelete@workhard, surely from the perspective of an Indian , we always need an outsiders to open our eyes towards burning issues