Slamdog Millionaire

The whole world has woken up to the fact that Indian Cinema is a force to contend with. However, is it right to give Slumdog Millionaire the credit of having achieved this for us? While it is quite right to say that this film has improved global perception of Indian cinema, this view is limited to the contribution of a few Indian individuals like the technician, Mr. Pookutty and the one-and-only Rehman. (It is a British film, for crying out loud!) These people have won their awards purely on the merit of their skill. It is heartening to see an Indian technician competing with the best in the world and receiving mighty accolades as this. It was even more heartening to hear him speak at the Oscars. 

I watched the movie before any of the debates had begun. There was nothing I had heard about it to harbour any bias towards or against the film. Yet, as I walked out of the multiplex, though I could recognise the fact that it was indeed a well-made film, I felt a tremendous anger within. I would not go as far as to connect it with mighty and clichéd words like patriotism. But, yes, it was the Indian in me that revolted to any appreciation other than technical.

 In the days and weeks that followed, one has witnessed, heard and even been a part of innumerable debates regarding the portrayal of the Indian nation. The Indian populace has become very liberal. They have become open enough to look at cinema purely as art, quite conveniently. They saw nothing wrong in the depiction of India. I wondered every time I spoke to these people, if they were actually being liberal or if they were just insensitive. I concluded, it was, in most cases, the latter.

Third world! A taboo word almost. And that’s what I would have perceived of India from watching this film, had I not been an Indian. Agreed we have slums. Agreed, we had fraudulent practices. Agreed, we have nasty underworld that uses slum children to beg and go as far as blinding them in horrendous beastly ways. By all means cinema has the right to portray these truths. These are real problems and India is not in denial. We acknowledge this situation. But is there all there is to show? 

You go all out to show the filth, what with shit ponds and open sewer pipes. But why is there not a single scene in the film that shows Marine Drive or any of the thriving locales of Bombay. Mumbai is India’s financial capital! It’s an important hub in International finance and economy. Why then isn’t there a single mention of the development? Oh there is!!! The older brother of Jamal sits atop a building in construction and shows off to his little brother, the sprawling complexes and multi-storied towers and buildings standing tall, in the same area that once comprised of their slum. But guess what? He proudly tell Jamal that all of that belongs to the underworld. It’s the underworld who owns all of that, he says. So what is the message? Whatever development we hear of, is gratis the underworld? Nothing to do with India shining, India booming and what have you? After killing their tormentor and freeing the poor girl, they run to a hotel.  The hotel is deserted! The doors of the rooms in the hotel have swipe slots. So presumably, it is not a cheap hotel, but a star hotel. With no light? No attendants? No reception? I wonder?!! I wonder?!! 

The thriving BPO industry!? “Hello! Never trust the Indian BPO!” says the Slumdog Millionaire, “They let “chai-walas” answer calls, posing as technicians! They lie!”

Some people felt the film was very intellectual in subtly portraying important events in Mumbai’s history. They showed the emergence of Amitabh Big-B as a superstar. They showed the Hindu-Muslim riots during the Babri Masjid – Ram Janma Bhoomi tragedy. But wait. Why did they not show Hindus being attacked my Muslims in the riot? Why did they only show Hindu extremists attack the Muslim slums? In addition, wasn’t the “Mumbai Bomb blasts of 1992” a major tragedy in the history of Mumbai as well? Perpetrated by the underworld dons and Terrorists? (I refrain from the temptation to point out that the dons and the terrorists were Muslim.) Why then would this singular event be of such interest to the makers of the film? To show a little boy dressed as Ram holding the bow and arrow (he actually dressed so elaborately in the middle of a riot!) to provide the answer Jamal would one day need? Remarkable intellect, indeed! 

A waiter at a restaurant comes in with an order for, among other things, a bottle of mineral water. And most casually, he fills tap water in a used bottle and seals it with glue. Most arguments to this have been, “Well, its true. It actually happens!” I cannot refute it. Viewed by itself, maybe seems a harmless take on cheap hotels. However, in the midst of this incessant India-bashing through out the film, this only re-iterates the depiction of India and all its industries as spurious. Who can give me an assurance that this is not done in Europe, London or in the US? If you cannot, then would you be able to point out one filmmaker from these countries who might have had the courage or heart to show this on camera? And even if you might manage that, show me one such film that might have been raised to the skies and even awarded an Oscar!!! For Christ’s Sake!!

 In one of these discussions, when all defence against my criticisms failed, one said, “it is after all an adaptation of a book (Q & A)! So they’ve shown whatever is in the book!” now I have not read the book (and frankly don’t intend to). So I cannot comment on that either. Presuming they have stuck to what the book says, I wonder since when filmmakers became so loyal to the books. Haven’t filmmakers in the past edited screenplays to accommodate sensitive areas? To my knowledge, they always have. I have rarely come across a film that follows the book as it were a Bible.

 This depiction of Indian society and Indian cities is sinister. It is a deliberate attempt to cast a slur on the global image that India has built for itself. Despicable, to say the least.

 Two of the most incinerating lines in the film were the ridiculous “You wanted to see the real India? This is the real India.” And the response to this is an American woman flashing a Dollar note in charity to the boy saying, “Now I’ll show you the real America”.

 The real America did honour this, indeed, by handing out several Oscars to Slumdog Millionaire.