India: Reactions to Slumdog Millionaire

If you have not heard about Slumdog Millionaire then you must have missed all the buzz and the word of mouth publicity the film has got over the past few weeks. This surprise “underdog” film that almost did not make it to the movie theaters has won 4 Golden Globe awards and 10 Oscar nominations. Made on a shoestring budget of $15 million by British director Danny Boyle the film is based on Q and A, a novel written by Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup. The film consists of new and unproven film stars except for a couple of well-known Indian stars like Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan. The film (without giving away spoilers) is about Jamal, a poor, young man from the slums of Mumbai, who through a stroke of luck appears in the wildly popular TV game show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.” What happens? Does he win or not?

Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle. Image by Flickr user stits and used under a creative commons license

The film was shot by a mix of British and Indian crew in Mumbai, India and released late last year in the US and Europe. Last week the film was released in India. While the film got fantastic write-ups and reviews in the US, the film has got mixed reviews in India. Unsurprisingly, the film's music track by AR Rahman has got a consistent thumbs-up in India. The reviews and feedback of Slumdog Millionarie cover a fascinating array of opinions. Perhaps, the one blog post that created a lot of buzz are the remarks of Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan. A prolific blogger, Mr. Bachchan had this to say about the movie in one of his earlier posts:

“On blog, comments for the film ‘SlumDog Millionaire’ and the anger by some on its contents, prompt me to say the above. If SM projects India as Third World dirty under belly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky under belly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations. Its just that the SM idea authored by an Indian and conceived and cinematically put together by a Westerner, gets creative Globe recognition. The other would perhaps not.”

Predictably, Mr. Bachchan's comments were subjected to intense scrutiny by the media and bloggers. Just Jo writes in his post You Have No Idea Sir jee that while he has not seen Slumdog Millionaire that the slums featured in the movie are a reality in Mumbai, India. He writes:

“And if you haven't noticed, Sirjee, Hollywood has time and again featured the bad and sad elements of their society in their movies. Going by your argument, after watching Hollywood movies the world should be thinking that America is a country that consists only of criminals, racists, rapists, pregnant teenagers, drug-peddlers, pedophiles etc etc. But is that the case? They used this wonderful medium of Cinema to fight against those evils, Sirjee. And you become angry when the same is done here. Oh, in the process, you were also angry at the legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray too!”

Since that first post on Slumdog Millionaire Mr. Bachchan has written another post clarifying his statement and speaking to director Danny Boyle and Anil Kapoor, the actor.

Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and head of Infosys, India's largest IT services company has an very interesting post where he talks about how films in India are the “zeitgeist” of the generation. Nilekani draws a comparison between Indian movies of the 1970s and Slumdog Millionaire and notes the difference in the world views of the these two generations. He writes:

“The movie is at its heart, about aspiration, and about dreams coming true. This ‘common man’ Jamal, is not angry, like the Indian men of the 1970s. He is both hopeful and relentless, defiant and proud of his origins even as the people around him call him a ‘slumdog’. He knows better – that it doesn't matter where you come from, only where you are headed.”

But, what do the young Indians think about the film? Do they think it is a hopeful film about aspirations and dreams coming true? It appears that not every young Indian subscribes to the hopeful note in the film. PH of Desicritics writes that he did not find Slumdog Millionaire “engaging” and points out:

“Unlike his counterparts from the American South, Jamal never quite becomes the everyman's voice of his period in Indian history; we never hear him telling us other people's interesting stories from his vantage point as an ‘outsider’ …All this makes Slumdog a half-hearted, comme ci, comme ca endeavor that wants to both be a fairy-tale and capture urban poverty but falters on both counts.

PH concludes that:

“Slumdog, then, is at best an attempt to cook a saccharine dish in a bitter sauce.”

Meera Sinha, a young Indian American who is spending a year in India saw the film. She draws our attention to the reaction from from Mumbai slum dwellers, who have protested against the term “slumdog” to describe them. More importantly, Meera draws our attention to the debate the movie has generated and writes:

“This kind of healthy critique of popular culture will help us understand our relationship to the media and its representations of us.”

Whether people like the movie or not, the fact is that Slumdog Millionaire has started a conversation in India about poverty, entrepreneurship and Indian films. Hopefully that conversation will yield results.

Thumbnail images by Flickr users Richliu & dq, used under creative commons license.

51 comments

  • I’m an Australian and saw SD because it was mentioned on the radio and had no idea what the movie was about or who was in it or who made it before I went into the cinema. I think it’s a great movie and so did everyone else in the cinema. Indian people have nothing to be ashamed of. We outside of India do know that this movie doesn’t encompass everything about India; no movie can and no movie should attempt to. Australia is far from a perfect society also. We know that India’s engineering, science and IT standards are probably better than ours and that India and China will soon be the envy of the US and Europe and this is all good news for Australia. I hope that the success of SD causes a big export boost of Indian films to the rest of the world.

  • Arjun

    The name of the movie Slumdog M is itself insulting to the slum kids of Mumbai. A self-respecting nation should not allow others to referred their children as “dogs”. Can Hollywood make a film on a Brit illegitimate child and name the movie as “British Baster”? Only a dirty mind can conceive a gross scene in which a child jumps into a pit of shit in order to get an autograph from a movie star. The movie is nothing but a poverty porn and very sadistic. I wonder why westerners enjoy this movie so much.

    • Pearl

      I agree that the name used to describe the children is very derogatory, no human being is a dog, especially children. I loved the wittyness and self-preservation skills of these children. I do not think anything bad about India or Indians. Poverty is a reality even here in the USA.

      If anything, this movie brought out a reality that causes me to want to do something positive about it. Well, what did Mother Teresa do in Calcutta? Took care of the poorest of the poor, the forgotten ones and she saw Jesus in each one of them, and that is why she could serve in the way she did. Her work is continuing on because poverty is still a realitity there as it is in oher part of the world, USA included.

  • hi, i totally agree with tariq, i think no indians should proud of this movie, this is another version of

  • this is another verson of bbc news-shows indias poverty,they never show the progress of idia,always like to show the world that india is not developed after getting freedom from them.dont be proud of this film,shame on all indian actors and workers who worked for this british director just for mony and fame ,putting your country down

  • Ace

    Danny Boyle’s quote “The word slum is very offensive in Britain but using slums for Indians is no big deal for Indians.”

    Is it really Mr. Boyle. Or should we say ‘Ghetto’ for you Brits…..

  • Anjie

    Its a movie people. Every where you go has its bad areas.

  • Jayne

    No country can hide what is there to be seen by all.

  • AINDRI

    Slumdog is not an Indian film, its not a British film, it’s not an American venture. If globalization can breed outsourcing, then why can’t we accept this film as a global venture? All Nike shoes are “made in china” but Nike’s projected as an American brand because labor just does not seem fit into the product. Nothing lives isolation, look at how far the potato has travelled!

  • himanshi

    A lot of Indian movies produced by Indian Directors have shown about slums….Slumdog was directed by a Brit therefore it got this much hype.The story was inspired from an Indian novel…The simple question after describing all these facts remains that —- If this movie had been directed and produced by an Indian would it have got an International award?????????

    i believe no…The west still doesn’t recognize Indian Talent.its happy to c that a step has been taken by the west by awarding A.R rehman…

  • Pearl

    I am an Italian who lives in the USA. I have lived in various states in America and have seen poverty and drug infested places. I also have visited many foreign countries, including Pakistan and Africa. This movie, though it contained violence, it was a great movie. The reality of life sometime can be very harsh and sad, especially when it touches innocent children. I cried thinking about children around the world who are suffering at the hands of adults. They did not choose to be born, neither did they choose the color of their skin or their parents and country. Everywhere I have been, from the gettos of the USA to any thirld world country, I have fallen in love with these amazing children. They are intelligent, brave, survivors, and extremely witty. Their love is disharming and reaches the hearts of people like me. I have seen great potentials in all the children that have crossed my path. I have been enriched by them and constantly pray that God may protect them through it all. I am challenged to do something in order to make a differce in the lives of children around the world. Using the words of the beloved Mahatma Ghand, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

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