A director from the west comes for a jolly old trip to India and directs a movie which, as they say, would change how movies are made in bollywood. More than that, the movie, as the cast and crew and most critics claim, presents, for the first time, the true face of India to the world. All I would say that, contrary to the claims made, all it puts forth is anything but the truth, and I shall give good reasons, in defending my say. The movie is an assault on the Indian culture and customs, and more evidently on a common Indian, and what hurts even more, is that they've hired some real good indegenous talent to crack a provocative, but lame joke at the Indian society . The cruel, mean and inhuman image of a common man in India, it portrays, has little to do with reality, and I would know that better as a middle class Indian, then some exotic production company.
Well aware and silently proud of the better living standards they enjoy and luxuries they can afford, its easy for the big label directors and production houses of the US to look down upon the less fortunate countries, and sympathise with them, cause it makes them feel proud and benevolent at the same time. The portrayal of India, has more to do with forcing out a connection between the social issues India faces with our cultural follies, than with the problems themselves, and though the connection holds to an extent, but its pretty obvious that it is merely one among a pool of other factors, that have led to the problems we face now. Rather, if anything, India as a whole is slowly but surely geting out of the rut its been in, for years.
Does a movie deserve any award, if even the society that it portrays, can't identify with the movie, leave alone, appreciating it, which is but evident in the way Slumdog Crorepati( the Indian release name of the movie) rockbottomed at the box ofice on day 1 of its release in India. And to be fair to them, they couldn't have approved of this spanking of the Indian culture and society. We are smart enough, I guess to make out that the movie has not made a name for India in the world, rather it has made us ill famous yet again, in the ragged old way. Its about time that the world acknowledged that India is not some useless piece of junk which can be sympathised with, when one feels guiltty of unjust and unfair behaviour, and we have moved on from the phase when that used to be our image. So, may be its time for the first world to shut up and move on as well.
Anyways that's my opinion and opinions may differ. So, the main objective of the post is to find out what the common man's opinion is, of the movie which has been lauded and praised by the critics all over the world.
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