SMK King George V - Random Ramblings of a Clueless Mind

Random Ramblings of a Clueless Mind
the world as you know it, as i see it
A tale from the slums bags the riches, shame on you Bollywood..
So it’s Slumdog Millionaire fever around the globe at the moment, bagging eight Oscars out of its ten nominations...a truly amazing feat given that it hardly seemed to constitute what good ol' Americans would consider their cup of tea. But surprisingly, they loved it and that has made all the difference, to the cast, to the crew behind the film, and perhaps, to Indian cinema.

Given that the film is originally in English, with a British director I might add, it does not exactly fall into the Bollywood category. However, the storyline behind the film is essentially very much like your everyday Hindi movie, with a number a songs (Jai Ho in particular was awesome) and what else, a somewhat epic LOVE story. Why then did this movie receive so much praise and commendations at the highest level while most other Bollywood movies have thus failed to even get recognized by the larger audience? I'll tell you why. Two names: Danny Boyle (director) and Simon Beaufoy (writer). The contribution of these two people was critical to the film's success. Of course, Vikas Swarup (author of Q&A on which the film is based upon) also deserves some mention for coming up with the idea in the first place but in my opinion, the magical touch of those two did wonders. The actors were well, mere players in this project but delivered convincing performances nevertheless, so take nothing away from them.

The funny thing though is that there is a bit of an irony behind the success of this film. Allow me to point them out. First, the fact that it takes a British director to deliver Indian cinema from the slums (pun unintended) all the way to the freakin Oscars! Now we all know what the Indians think of the British and all but seriously, Danny Boyle has given Indian cinema hope! So forget that his ancestors oppressed yours and be thankful! After all, never before has an Indian based movie come remotely close to winning an Oscar although some have previously been recognized internationally. But hell, the Oscars?? Not even close!

Secondly, who knew that an Oscar winning project could be found in India's own backyard? Literally! Of late, many Bollywood producers and directors have been travelling to foreign destinations to shoot their movies in an attempt to expand their audience reach. Apparently the conditions in India were not interesting or appealing enough, so to speak. Well, wrong again. Danny Boyle comes along and probably says, "Let's show the world what India really is like, the core of it" and walla, the Oscars 'come a knockin'. Therefore, shame on you Bollywood for not thinking of this sooner. Turns out all the world wanted to see was your backyard and her you've been nosing around other backyards while overlooking your own.

It's also disappointing that some high profile figures such as Amitabh Bacchan chose to condemn the movie in the aftermath of its success. That clearly has jealousy written all over it. It musn`t be nice knowing that a foreigner accomplished something you couldn't and hence, instead of showing appreciation, you condemn its portrayal of the slums, which by the way is reality. No wrong done there.

The achievements garnered by Slumdog Millionaire has been a phenomenon like no other, something unimaginable even to the crew who intended it to be a low budget production that would perhaps gather an audience, but definitely not one this huge! Looks like the movie's title has complemented its reputation by raking in the millions and the future of Indian cinema has been given a lucky break, just as those child actors from the slums were. Perhaps they would do well to build upon it and make more movies like this. As of now, Slumdog Millionaire owns the stage...