Sunday, January 18, 2009

The 'Slumdog' Issue


The past few days have been filled with criticisms and counter criticisms about ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. It’s literally been a food fight of sorts!!! While some prefer to go out in the open with their opinions others claim to merely pass on the ‘opinion of the masses’. But I am not gonna debate upon that.


What I want to point out is that, if the film makers of Bollywood claim their right to ‘creative license’ that they deserve, why aren’t they as ready to let others have a bite out of it too.


Agreed (even though I haven’t seen the film yet), SM brings to the forefront the slummy side of the city; it exploits the crime and sleaze in the city and indicates it to be the only things that the city has to offer. Agreed the westerners who have never been to India may be ‘delighted’ to see Mumbai in such light. But this isn’t any different from the fact that thousands of Indians flock to enjoy the crime infested movies by Ram Gopal Varma. Why don’t critics (and the common public) oppose him for exploiting the Mumbai’s crime scenario and projecting it as a city full of crime?


The bitter truth is that we accept anything and everything that comes from a fellow Indian, but it hurts our ego if the same comes from a foreigner. What a shame!!!

4 comments:

Mohammed Musthafa said...

well said! i hate the way they're raising a hue and cry over this...they're even blaming A.R. Rahman...at a time when he should be applauded for creating amazing music....pity we havent grown up yet!

ARJuna said...

Thank you for the reply Mohammed. The criticisms seemed even more pointless to me once I had seen the movie with my very own eyes. A superb effort by the complete SM team. Thanks again

Anonymous said...

hi mate!

please watch the film. it's a bit unfair and injustice to the film if you comment on it based on general publicity. In a country where you need police protection for people celebrating valentine's day, it's normal that this movie is seen negatively.

I've watched this movie 4 times. I loved it. I've written by detailed review in my blog. Please take a look. http://www.vjkrishna.com/2009/02/13/my-favourite-movies-slumdog-millionaire/

Cheers
vjkrishna.
http://www.vjkrishna.com

ARJuna said...

Dear VJ, as i mentioned earlier I did see the film and I sensed that most of what I had written without seeing it turned out to be right!!!
thanks for commenting please do so as often as you can.