As February draws to an end, the entire film industry can feel the heat of the “Oscars”. Though the Official entry to the Oscars from India faced a setback, the country still has the tunes of A R Rahman, who has forced the entire world to swing to the tunes.
Danny Boyle, the man who has given hits such as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later has yet again hit the bull’s eye. This time he has turned his attention towards the slums of Mumbai. The slums of Mumbai has always been the centre of attraction and exploration for our Bollywood directors and we all have seen it on the screen several times (Salaam Bombay, Satya, Company, etc.) and this time the slum goes international. It had caught the eyes of Danny Boyle who has shown it to the entire world through his much acclaimed film ”Slumdog Millionaire”.
The Plot of the film is a fairy tale and the audiences are expected to keep their brains where is belongs and without giving it much stress, they are advised to enjoy their popcorn and watch Jamal win millions and also his lady love Latika.
Danny Boyle has done justice to the script and also has done a great job as a director. The slums have been shown as they are to the audience to enjoy, one cannot ask for anything better than that from Mr. Boyle and his crew. The entire cast crew of the film whether it is the child or the senior artists all have done justice to the film and all of them deserve applause for their performance.
Not to forget the man behind the soundtracks who has left the entire world humming to his tunes, Mr. A R Rahman, the man has once again proved to the world that he is one of the finest in the business. His work has not only been recognized but he has also earned three Academy awards nominations. It’s certainly a great achievement for him and a delight for his fans back home.
Well, the entire world is going gaga over “Slumdog Millionaire”, (even I have liked and praised the film), but at the same time a series of questions struck my mind.
1.Haven’t we seen better storyline or better films than Slumdog Millionaire, the same year of its release?
2.Haven’t we heard better compositions from Rahman?
(Well this one is for Hollywood where the entire world hears it, while the others were for Bollywood which only we and other Indians/people understanding Hindi listen to), over al we have had better composition from him.
So, why such a hype about this film “Slumdog Millionaire”?
In Rang de Basanti, Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra brought a British Girl to the country to direct a film on young freedom fighters; she landed up teaching the young and reckless youths of the country about patriotism. Well this time we have an English director who shows the entire worlds the actual life of the slums of Mumbai, the life of poverty and misery, the ugly and dark side of life that one leads after riots. Well we are aware of all these facts because we live by it but we need a foreigner to tell this to the world why are we too ashamed to tell our own story. (These areas of life have been touched earlier by our directors too but they failed to make an impact.)
It is really strange to note that the script, film location, soundtracks, cast and crew was in our own country but we saw the entire film from the perspective and eye of a foreigner. We go gaga about our film industry being one of the biggest in the world and sing praises about it, well my friends this same film industry has failed to produce a film which could win an Oscar and make the entire country proud. There are countries which are much smaller than our country but they have mastered the art of making quality cinema which has entertained the entire world and also managed to win Oscars. Our country has the finest script writers, finest actors, great directors, lyricists, music directors but still we fail to make one quality film which can be make the entire country.
Slumdog Millionaire has gained attention all over the globe and whether it is worth the attention is an opinion of the audience across the globe. I too praise the work and efforts of the entire crew, but the amount of attention and hype that it has created is just a little difficult to digest.
A R Rahman winning an Oscar would be a great achievement for him but not for our film industry, if the people say that, “Look at Slumdog Millionaire as an Indian film”, than I would consider it like “a daal tadka” with an English cheese taking away the entire taste, which certainly we Indians can’t enjoy. Can we?
It is high time for the Indian film industry to wake up from its sleep else again another film will be directed in our territory showing our culture and land but with another tadka and flavor of foreign director, and you never know it may win an Oscar again.
So, Dear producers, script writers and directors, please wear on your thinking caps and get moving, till then Jai Ho……..
