‘Slumdog Millionaire’: Hollywood, Meet India
Travel Blog • Eva Holland • 01.12.09 | 10:07 AM ET
I remember reading, when the Bollywoodized Jane Austen adaptation Bride and Prejudice came out a few years ago, that this would be North America’s introduction to India’s powerful film industry. The film certainly brought mega star Aishwarya Rai on to our radar, but any broader, longer-lasting crossover potential seemed to fizzle. Sure, The Darjeeling Limited gave us a taste of the country, and The Namesake touched on the experiences of the Indian diaspora, but for the most part we remained unexposed to the subcontinent’s endless cinematic possibilities.
Last night, watching “Slumdog Millionaire” sweep all four of the categories in which it had landed nominees at the Golden Globes—Best Screenplay, Best Score, Best Director and Best Drama—I wondered if that might finally change.
“We really weren’t expecting to be here in America at all at one time,” said screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, “so it’s just amazing to be here.” Composer A.R. Rahman thanked “one billion people in India,” while director Danny Boyle noted that everyone in Mumbai would be watching and celebrating. The camera cut back and forth between shots of Hollywood heavyweights—Meryl Streep, say, or Tom Hanks—looking appreciative, and the young cast of “Slumdog” literally jumping for joy. There was the sense that a group of relative outsiders were being given an unexpectedly, overwhelmingly warm welcome.
There’s still a few weeks to wait before we’ll see if it can land the ultimate welcome—a Best Picture win at the Oscars—but in the meantime, let’s hope that plenty of filmmakers, producers and distributors are taking note of the remarkable colors, sounds and stories brought out so evocatively in “Slumdog Millionaire” and of the numbers of skilled actors, composers, crew members and more, already waiting on the ground in India.
I don’t know about you, but I’d like to see more where that came from.
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Ram 01.12.09 | 11:15 PM ET
Hi Eva:
For many reasons, Indian everywhere (local as well as the diaspora) have adopted this movie as their own. I certainly hope that a lot of people go to check it out, now that it is getting unprecedented publicity.
There was an article in WSJ, a few days ago where they were worried about a possible backlash for Slumdog.
We’ll know on Feb 22.
Ram
Eva Holland 01.13.09 | 6:47 PM ET
Hi Ram,
I’ve heard the backlash rumours too - it’s funny how a movie can go so quickly from unknown underdog to front-runner with a target on it! Let’s hope the rumours are just that.
Dharam 01.15.09 | 2:07 PM ET
for someone who has lived in Mumbai all his life and knows what slums are about, here are my feelings about the kind of cinema danny boyle has createdmove over sharukh .. slumdogs here
armeet 01.25.09 | 11:19 PM ET
An absolute disappointment and an overrated film. With a totally unrealistic quiz show scenes. With the exception of the child actors, the adult cast (in particular the main actor) really let the film down. Kite runner or Milk are far better film with more realistic plots and greater depth.
michael 01.26.09 | 8:36 PM ET
we wrote a review after we atched the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” and we say yep it’s a nice one. You should watch this independent production from Regisseurs Danny Boyle (”Trainspotting”) not only because this movie won all 4 categories at the golden globe awards… more on http://www.dexflu.eu/blog/index.php/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire/
have fun!
Sambit Prem 02.03.09 | 2:35 AM ET
Scenes of poverty and squalour may appear romantic to Westerners and to our snooty elite but for us ordinary Indians they are nothing new. They are an everyday reality. However, one wonders what sort of mind can find such images aesthetically pleasing. Party-hopping socialites (for example, Shobhaa De after all her bombast of “enough is enough” after the Mumbai attack, went and watched a pirated copy!) who are distanced from such reality may find this film an “eye-opener” but for us it IS poverty-porn. It IS slum-tourism. The music/soundtrack and the technical quality of the film is excellent; but, overall, “Slumdog Millionaire” is unrealistic & overrated because:
1) The director seems to RELISH showing violence. Some of it (like the police-torture) is quite needless. And why was the boy arrested in the first place? On what charge? Was it realistic?
2) How can a boy growing up in slums speak such accented English? Even if one assumes that the language he actually uses to communicate with the game-show host and the police officer is Hindi (granting the director the creative license to use a language better suited for international audiences), there are 2 instances where it is stretched too far: (a) when the boy becomes a ‘guide’ for foreign tourists at the Taj Mahal & (b) when he becomes a substitute-operator at the call-centre.
3) When the boy uses his ‘lifeline’ during the game-show, his friend discovers that she has forgotten her mobile and has to run back for it. This is plain Bollywood masala! Did the director HAVE to make it so melodramatic?
4) How did the boy know who invented the revolver just by watching his brother use it?
How does his friend know about Benjamin Franklin (something which many Americans themselves don’t know!)?
5) “Darshan Do Ghanshyam” is NOT written by Surdas. It is written by Gopal Singh Nepali for the movie Narsi Bhagat (1957). This song is also credited as traditional and originally written by 15th century poet Narsi Mehta, whose life that film is based on.
6) After winning the game-show, the boy sits on the railway platform and nobody recognizes him! Considering the popularity of the show, is that realistic?
7) Two glaring omissions: To get invited to the show one has to answer several GK questions over phone or Internet. Even after making it to the show, a contestant can reach the hot-seat only after qualifying through “fastest finger first”. All this is conveniently forgotten in the film.
8) And of course the greatest flaw in the storyline: programmes like ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ are NOT telecast live. As a result the entire structure of the film becomes unrealistic. For a film that boasts of being realistic such a flaw cannot be overlooked.
The Academy will lose its credibility if this film gets the Best Picture or Best Director awards.
Joy Lynford 02.14.09 | 3:03 AM ET
Its really fun to watch out a poor guy from slums creeping to such great heights. but some time i feel this movie has fail to satisfy all masses specially Indians. There are many reasons to it. but fairly the director has played with words and hearts.
subrat 02.25.09 | 5:56 AM ET
I totally agree with Sambit Prem. I am sure he is a person with good taste in movies. Those were the points where I did not agree with the director. I find Dev Patel (the lead actor) totally expressionless while delivering the dialogues. Why the police will interrogate a person who wins some prize money? Did the people in the game show written an FIR? If not who did?
A R Rahman is very talented. There is no doubt in that but, the song Jai ho is not very much original. What I mean to say by that is anybody can guess it’s a Rahman song after listening to it because Rahman had given this type of music before. His music was much better in Rang de Basanti which went to the Oscars but did not even get nominated. That movie is 1000 times better than Slumdog.
I now think all these award functions are a mere marketing gimmick. Hollywood seeing a great opportunity in Indian film Industry right now, so all this is happening. Though this film is a British Movie but lot of people who were associated was Indians. So I think it was just used as a ground to lay the foundation of Hollywood in India. I don’t have any problem in that also as I just want good cinemas to be made. It’s the same as the marketing strategy by Body Shop who continuously choose Indian beauties as Miss World or Miss Universe to create a good Market in India.