A Slice Of The Oscar Glory...

First and foremost, a hearty congratulations to Mr. Gulzar, Mr. Pookutty and Mr. Rahman. I would also like to congratulate the complete cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire and all the rest of the Oscar winners.

The reason I waited so long to publish a post about this historic event is that I wanted to witness the reaction of the print media. And I must say I got what I wanted, all the front pages at the newsstand were flashing Rahman’s images. The insides of ‘The Times Of India’ were gushing with how-when-where-what of Rahman’s life and also loads of ‘Slumdog’ trivia.

Amidst the pride-oozing journalism, the fact that disappointed me the most was that all of it was mostly about ‘Slumdog’, it’s cast and Rahman. Save an article or two, there wasn’t much mention of the other two Oscar winners - Gulzar and Resul Pookutty. I was surprised to see a banner that congratulated Rahman and urged it’s readers to wish Rahman by smsing to so-and-so number (what about congratulating the rest of ‘em winners???)

But this one really took the cake - The UPA govt. claims that the Oscar wins were a result of their leadership!!! These people will do anything for grabbing attention.

All in all, it makes me feel proud to be an Indian, to see deserving fellow Indians achieve recognition for their talents. Jai Ho and Jai Hind.

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!!!