Bow-Wow or Wow?

Posted on | January 26, 2009 | Comments

Aunt GG & uncle Oscar have stirred up a debate here.

One side is wagging its tail in the afterglow of “India’s” 10 nominations.
The other is baring its fangs at the laid-bare-naked rendition of Mumbai’s “underbelly.”

One side lauds the Indian actors and music maestro Rehman.
The other says it’s a case of a westerner’s take on India being applauded by westerners – nothing for us Indians to celebrate.

Let’s set a few things aside first.

I liked the book when I read it – long back.
I liked the film when I saw it – recently.

No debate there.
Not even a whimper.

The trouble seems to have started with the doggoned film winning it.
Now that it has won at the GG and could win at the Big O, the time seems perfect to:

1. bristle at the fact that the darker side of India is yet again the target of global eyeballs.
2. howl out loud at the city’s inhuman apathy towards Dharavi
3. snap at the heels of a new term called poverty porn

I am not going to debate which side is right or wrong.
Rather focus on the fact why all this barking is actually happening.

It is NOT because:

1. Dharavi has been a victim of state apathy for eons.
2. This film again focuses on the grimmer side of our reality.
3. Anybody actually gives a shit about any ’slumdog.’

Would anyone have raised such a hue and cry had the film flopped at the international circuit?
I don’t think so.

The book didn’t raise as many hackles when it was released.
Why has the film done it?

Because it has won.

Never mind the fact it has been made by an non-Indian.
And applauded by Hollywood.
It has won.

You can ignore failures.
But you cannot ignore an artist’s finely crafted impression of an unignorable real issue.

So if you ask me, what’s the best thing about Slumdog Millionaire?
That it is very well made.
That’s why it raises hackles, draws applause, invites debates.
That’s what any well-made film does.

This one has won.
Let us applaud it.

As for the Dharavi-Mumbai-Poverty-Porn Debate Society – if they really felt this strong about the issue, they must have been debating it since years, probably doing a lot about it since years as well.
In that case, they should take a break from all that hard work, go see the film and enjoy some well made cinema.

They have earned the break.