Slumdog Milionaire: Its A Wonderful Lie

As I put in ink whats intended to be an unbiased critique of certain aspects of SM, Im quite aware that itll have shades of a pejorative. Thus, Id like to begin by pointing out that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Most of it, especially the scene with the Mumbai slums was spectacularly shot. The background score melded consummately with the story-telling dynamics. It embellished it, gave it depth and appropriately extended the visual delight to its aural condensate. It was so absorbing that I still remember the tingling in my stomach, the consolation and relief at the end, when Jamal and Latika were finally united to the hypnotizing theme called Dreams on Fire. Bottomline calling it an enjoyable underdog-wins-against-odds movie sure. A touchingly told, racy story certainly. But best movie of the year definitely not. The Holka Dot Plot Now, Im not here to probe into the jarring plot holes, or the inane jumps in the story line. Im prepared to digest, in order to not digress, the fact that the orphans who only spoke Hindi till the age of around 6 could suddenly speak fluently with an English accent by listening to tourists. Ill even buy the astronomical odds of a chai-wallahs success and ease in finding his brother in a call centre. Ill ignore the flimsiness of assuming that nobody noticed that Indias beloved dark horse-turned-VIP had disappeared and was being administered third degree. The predictability of the storyline is easily condonable, as is the inclusion of Taj Mahal, just to have something the western audiences would like to hook on to, however implausible landing there from Mumbai may be. But, the irritating 80s Bolly-masala-flick black-and-white characterization unarguably pushed it down a few notches. Exhibit A: Why did Anil Kapoor (a TV show host) need to be gauche enough to make inappropriate jokes about Jamals poverty? Or, for that matter, be corrupt, deceitful and inherently evil in all possible ways. Neither did lots of other people. But thats not my point right now. My Problem What unsettled me was the clearly deliberate portrayal of India as composite of the worst it has in terms of the people (poor and selfish), the cultural-ethos (warmongering intolerants) or even the cities (slum conglomerates). The Cinematic Permit Abuse I agree that movies can only afford to be a small window to a culture, and, as art theyre not obliged to deliver a complete expression of the culture. Well thats acceptable so far as it does not mean that you go so far in bracketing your window that it becomes an outright attempt at illuminating the worst of a culture, so long as it is slightly congruent with peoples misconceived beliefs and stereotypes. Case in point: The fact that it was deliberately to typecast a culture was authenticated by the scene in which the Americans have their car vandalized by a gang of Indian kids, and the kid says You want to

see real india, this is real india. I was like: Alright its a movie.. the boys a scoundrel.. kernel of truthartistic license and all. Swallow your pride and dont be offended. Thats when Mr. Boyle decides to go one step further (too far) and shows the rather obscenely philanthropic American do a, Well, here is a bit of real America son and hand him a rummage of dollars. Gimme a break, what was he thinking? Was it like hmm.. you broke my car and ruined my vacation, so although I should be royally, no violently ticked off at you Im sure theres a very valid reason behind it that I cant understand. So heres lots of money to deter you from ever trying that again with an American. Something this blatantly racist, even Lisa Lampanelli would not attempt. Starkly contrasting the people of one country as insanely benevolent and the others as thieves isnt quite congruent with my idea of a fair and liberal expression of art. In addition, feigning transcendence over cultural boundaries is as sham and ironic as Osama sending a get well soon card to Obama for a toothache. More Abuse Next and equally surprising is the application of third degree torture to a nationwide phenomenon as if it were the standard way of functioning of the Indian judiciary. Showing a venal cop is different, but showing that electrocution is norm nudges it beyond credibility. Furthermore, the scene where the boy gets Mr. Bachchans autograph while caked in feces is just Boyle indulging himself in his oft repeated scat fantasies. The least expected from the kind gentleman would be a public its not you, its me apology. On a side note, as a fan of Mr. AB, I can formally testify that he would refuse to autograph anyone covered in butt brownies. Poverty Porn One thing that I cant help noticing is that whole world around Jamal is the antagonist. In Boyles interpretation of India first Jamals mother is killed in religious riots. Then, the person who appears as a messiah turns out to be a vile eye-gouging, child abusing monster. He grows among lowlifes who cheat good people and vandalize their property. His brother, his only companion in all the crises so far, suddenly forgets all solidarity and rapes the love of his life (Theres an obvious plot hole here). The people he meets after this are gangsters. Thats it! Id like Mr. Boyle to find one ethical Indian character in the whole sociosphere he created. The Indian culture does not forge a completely venal, corrupt, and abusive world. Also, violation of human rights, and -la-Gitmo torture are not rampant there. This is a motion picture version of hate speech and Im surprised that people other than Eric Cartman saw it as anything but that. Testimony to its success in profiling is my personal knowledge of people who were so fascinated by the exotic impoverished land they wanted to visit the country and help put the people out of their misery. Unfair sociological stereotyping - something that the Temple of Doom did flagrantly, this movie does more insidiously. What masquerades as a shocking reality, is just a medley of

scenes of pain intended to conform to twisted and cynical third world clich. While many bask in warm sympathy, mated to a reassurance of how much more ethical their society and culture are, I react exactly the same way as anyone from Britain would if the exact same story were set in London. But still is trueisnt it? To a certain extent. Everything in life is grey some things may be darker, some lighter. While making a movie, the director is naturally very aware of the exact hue he gives to the screen. India has poverty, but it has goodness. Ive had a fallen wallet returned to me by a rickshaw-wala, who, despite his inadequate means simply returned a purse which probably contained more money than what he earned in a month. I know people in my country who give food to the poor because theres money left when theyve fed themselves, just like many elsewhere. There certainly are those who will swindle you the moment youre off your guard, then some who wont work without a bribe, but find me a place without them. Perhaps an economically less sufficient nation would have a few more than elsewhere, but the India I saw in the movie was definitely not the one Ive seen in my twenty years there. And just so you know, India isnt all slums. Look up Wikimapia, and zoom into any city. Less than 5% of the worst case and less than 0.1% on an average would be Boylean. Thank you for reading. The epilogue. Boyle was quoted (not verbatim)in The Telegraph saying that direction and being a priest was the same job, in the sense that both were just bacically lots of poncing around and telling people what to think. Bravo sir, you did that well. You just didnt hide your strings well enough. Thank you. Shaurya Verma
*Inspired by nightlong discussions with hallmates & lots of blogs. Loved the music & the montage in the last scene. On a remotely related note, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Wall-E and The Dark Knight were better, by a mile.

On a remotely related note, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Wall-E and The Dark Knight were better, by a mile. tlong discussions with hallmates & lots of blogs. Loved the music & the montage in the last scene. On a remotely reltlong discussions with hallmates & lots of blogs. Loved the music & the montage in the last scene.