9:32 AM
starwin
We Indians are hell bent on showing the world that we can produce modern, contemporary films, and we no longer are the land of snake charmers and camels, as perceived by the west. The last eight years, we have tried to change the global outlook about India with technologically sound 'modern' films like Dhoom 2, Don-The Chase Begins, Dil Chahta Hai, Rang De Basanti and Rock On among many. Just as Ghajini made us all proud, by becoming the biggest money-spinner in India and abroad, in came an English film about Mumbai slums- Slumdog Millionaire.
Slumdog Millionaire which has won appreciation from all parts of the world, for glorifying the spirit of winning against all odds, raked in moolah by the hordes. The entire Bollywood fraternity and critics are proud about the movie and are even calling it an 'Indian film'. But the jubilant feeling of film critics and Bollywood is not echoed by sections of Indian society who are protesting against the film on many grounds, from depiction of abject poverty to usage of the word 'slumdog'. Also the movie Slumdog Millionaire has not exactly set the cash registers ringing in India, because the audiences here still warm upto the likes of Raaz 2 and Ghajini.
Does the Indian audience not want to own up to the fact that 80 percent of India still live in abject poverty? Do they not want to get real about reality? Are movies here just a route to escapism and living in a fantasy world, full of entertainment and dreamy romance, peppered by sizzling, cleavage revealing item girl?
The irony is that Slumdog Millionaire, a film about Indian slums recognized appreciation all over except India. In the similar vein, a movie called Anaconda which was marred by the US, was a big hit in India. Snakes, reincarnation and evil spirits have always been a fascination with Indians, which is why a movie made on anything that defines horror garners a good response in India. But this again is a fantasy thing, of a negative kind. Indians will lap anything contemporary and cool, but shy away from crude and cynical. So are we really opening up to new, age modern cinema?
Slumdog Millionaire which has won appreciation from all parts of the world, for glorifying the spirit of winning against all odds, raked in moolah by the hordes. The entire Bollywood fraternity and critics are proud about the movie and are even calling it an 'Indian film'. But the jubilant feeling of film critics and Bollywood is not echoed by sections of Indian society who are protesting against the film on many grounds, from depiction of abject poverty to usage of the word 'slumdog'. Also the movie Slumdog Millionaire has not exactly set the cash registers ringing in India, because the audiences here still warm upto the likes of Raaz 2 and Ghajini.
Does the Indian audience not want to own up to the fact that 80 percent of India still live in abject poverty? Do they not want to get real about reality? Are movies here just a route to escapism and living in a fantasy world, full of entertainment and dreamy romance, peppered by sizzling, cleavage revealing item girl?
The irony is that Slumdog Millionaire, a film about Indian slums recognized appreciation all over except India. In the similar vein, a movie called Anaconda which was marred by the US, was a big hit in India. Snakes, reincarnation and evil spirits have always been a fascination with Indians, which is why a movie made on anything that defines horror garners a good response in India. But this again is a fantasy thing, of a negative kind. Indians will lap anything contemporary and cool, but shy away from crude and cynical. So are we really opening up to new, age modern cinema?
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