A Tale of a Movie.....

In recent times, the most discussed topic in India after the Satyam debacle is the movie Slumdog Millionaire (SM). This feel-good, rags-to-riches tale of a Mumbai slum dweller has stirred the nation and its filmdom. Lots of opinions have been flowing for it, lots against it, analysis on why it won all those awards including the 8 Oscars, was the movie a complete “poverty-porn”, was it a brilliant work of art by the movie-maker, did it win only because it was made by a non-Indian, is it the portrayal of the real India, etc have been some of the topics in contention.

The poverty ridden slums of the infamous Dharavi in Mumbai…...prostitution…...communal violences..….children forced into begging have been exposed to the Western (and our Eastern neighbours!) audiences. I agree that it shows India (or rather a part of India) in poor-light and I will also join the voices that speak out stressing on the fact that India is not made up of only these. We have a lot of good things to showcase too. But, most of our “Bollywood” movies are shot in foreign milieus, with the protagonists wearing the Guccis and the Pradas and the Armanis, driving flashy automobiles, working on dream jobs, enjoying holidays and singing songs in the most lavish locales. Can all these be classified as movies which showcase the real-India!？If the same people who thrashed SM are contented with these movies, then is it hypocrisy? If movies such as these are the movie-maker’s artistic freedom that he has willfully taken as a part of being in the creative arena, then why can’t movies such as SM also be seen in that frame? We are the world’s largest democracy and the primary rights of a democrat are freedom of expression and speech. So if a movie-maker has exercised these rights in creating something, purely for entertainment (..and to rake in the moolah), why are so many of us crying foul?

I recently read an article on TOI which mentioned that the movie Mission Impossible 3 was called to be banned by many Chinese since it had a scene shot in Shanghai where apartments were shown with clotheslines outside their windows!! That’s typical China for you. They do not tolerate (err.. their Government do not tolerate) even a slight alteration to the way they want the “others” to perceive them…and they can afford to do that since they are not a democracy yet!

Shantaram, a novel by Gregory David Roberts, paints a similar picture of Dharavi, where he has expressed his shock and dismay at the condition of people’s lives in these 10000+ houses. What is our government and the average Indians (and not so average Indians such as Mr. AB) who are ashamed of a part of India being projected that way to the West doing about these slums? This “underbelly” of India is showcased in the movie only because it exists in reality!! Instead of being “reactive” to such movies and books, I hope now that these people step forward to revive these slums, so that more movies featuring it do not crop up again, reeling a section of the country into unwarranted dissensions.