jhopadikutta crorepati

Slumdog millionaire was the first ever movie for which an Indian has won the award for the best music composition. This honor went to AR Rahman. In fact, this movie can pretty much be known as a Bollywood movie since most of the cast and crew were Indians. Danny Boyle was probably the only white guy around. And it has gone on to make history by grabbing eyeballs and four awards in various categories at the Golden Globes , which are known to be the forerunners to the Academy awards. So in all probability, Slumdog might become a Plumpdog with loads of awards in its kitty.

I saw it few days back and yes, I liked it a lot too. The scenes are very realistic , for a director who has only done research and not lived in the underbelly of India. It always used to be the case that foreigners generally only see the perfumes of India and not the stench that comes with it. The rich and riotously dirty colors and hues and smells are too pungent for anyone who has not grown up in India. Indians from all walks of life have definitely tasted this bit of the the Great Indian Middle Class. It permeates through every pore. It enters one's living room and remains there. In the sofas and in the children's school trophies.

The movie showcases how a person rose from the slums to win at a contest that gave away 20 million rupees. That is, 2 crores. This amount is definitely more than enough for someone's educational aspirations, and a comfortable level of living. It would definitely have been a dream come true for Jamal Malik(Dev Patel) who got both money and love on the same day. That's one thing that one doesn't see very often but happens on a regular basis in Bollywood movies.


Most of the scenes are very well shot, with the camera always in motion, never still, giving one the impression that they are also a live witness to what is happening. It gives the movie a realistic and very cosily rustic feeling. The slums are portrayed as they are actually are. Dharavi has a slum locality, to put it mildly and it was well portrayed. The cheerful horrors that the small children in slums undergo is shown, though not the entire picture. All in all, the movie definitely lingers in one's mind, thinking about the situation in India and the horrors and the aspirations of all these Indians...

But there's one thing that the foreigners who have loved the movie are forgetting -- The whole of India isn't like this! Just because we won the golden globes and the booker prize for those creations that showed the worst of India, it doesn't mean India looks like this all the time. This is one part of a country which is fast developing and doesn't make way for those who cannot survive... In no way does it indicate that other countries offer better lifestyles for their citizens. It just means that this is just one scenario which we Indians can understand and identify with. It does not represent India as a whole. If we Indians watched Letters to Penthouse and read Archie comics(source:The Inscrutable Americans), do those movies represent America as a whole? Obviously not! There are layers and layers in every society and the same applies to India. Perhaps, if corresponding layers were to be considered, their net incomes, net expenditures, lifestyles and states of mind were considered, then the American and the Indian would, perhaps, be at par... Maybe the Indian even being a few notches higher, due to the satisfaction obtained from the small pleasures of life.

All said and done, being an Indian is always a source of pride for all of us, from the Dharavi slums to the posh TajMahal palace and Oberoi-Trident hotels. It's just an irony that while one was hailed, the other was almost razed, and both happened pretty much at the same time. But then, that's India for you. A happy copious bundle of contradictions. Jai Ho!