Just read this well written editorial piece by Tarun Tejpal on Slumdog Mill. The title aptly puts it .. For those who seek the truth should be bonked on their heads. There are almost two kinds of bashers for this movie , overtly nationalistic ( deeply hurt and humiliated by the poverty porn .. bachchan and ilk being case in example) and the overtly critical bourgeoisie (who cant stop berating over the implausibilities and inconsistencies of the plot and screenplay). Possibly there's also a third group who would just dismiss the movie as middling , sentimental piece of art of manipulative proportions (I respect their opinion).
PORN by definition would be an activity to bombard the user with a combination of maybe images, sounds, film or words to stimulate the senses. I take umbrage at the first group for it to label SL as poverty porn, when for years I have been inflicted with the 'Amiri' Porn from Ghai to johar to almost every other bollywood with their cliched NRI porn, RGV's Sarkaar porn (satya being the precursor), Govinda porn to now the utterly ridiculous Priyadarshan porn ( poverty pron reinvented??) .. Poverty and slums are not devices of fiction. Bombay is infact a dirty city for most part chawls and slums littered over it when i visited it around 15 yrs back and its not unlike any other metro in India..
I am a very old fan of Boyle since I watched 'Trainspotting'. For being an exuberant piece of art rich with heroin induced stream-of-consciousness monologues and imagery, it was phenomenal. It was based in turn on a solid piece of work by Irvine welsh. So I was in turn expecting something close to that with slumdog. Even though being an disappointment in that regard , its almost visible in the initial chase and almost first half of the movie the same spirit and energy as from Trainspotting. It's not new but I am exhilarated to watch that being worked upon in India. The style is almost close to City of Gods ( just watch the trailor) but SM is replete with India and its cliches and still eminently watchable.
I would have been interesting for someone from India to make a movie on gameshows and reality shows when they are almost the most visible phenomenon on TV from Roadies, KBC, VOI etc.. But It took someone from outside India to pick over an obscure (possibly mediocre) Indian novel to narrate an story based in India though in process changing he religion of the main characters and added so much as a backstory about riots and bachchan..ofcourse he has to pander to the india cliches for an imapct to the global audience, for the insight into the true india... its for the same reason 'The White Tiger' by Arvind Adiga won bookers for an otherwise mediocre piece of work. poverty, Riots, bachachans, call centres, religion etc are the true Indian cover stories for the foreign media. So the inconsistencies and probabilities in the plot devices (for the language, accent and the peanut butter Sandwich) are all too acceptable to the western audience.
But then for a truly consistent portrayals like Salaam Bombay, Apu trilogy and possibly many others , it would hard to find some one even recognising them more so in india and less outside. I know very few people among my friends who actually watched Salaam Bombay which is superior film in all respects to Slumdog Millionaire for the slum, drugs, poverty , prostitution all the seamier aspects of bombay tightly knit. And uses almost similar plot device of actually using the slum children to enact the roles. For what it lacks is A R rehman soundtrack , a Bollywood inspired love story and in general pretty faces... so its not hard to imagine slumdog becoming huge hit in US more so with half the movie in English..
I dont think either Slumdog maybe deserves so many Oscars. But Oscars have always been cliched. Just watch 'The Reader' (nominated for best picture and actress) maybe Button too. Slumdog was swimming with the weak fishes. Best actress wins has always had its share of cliches (actresses stripping for their role ). Its truly remarkable for in any case for a Brit director to come to india , shoot onlocations (not in studio ) ,make amends with Indian sensibilities, most important of all to even manage producers to fund them for such an effort and then convince them to even use Hindi in half of the movie, masses don't enjoy watching subtitled movies.Oscar panel almost recognises it and awards the director and producers with their respective awards and even more so its hard for them to ignore the growing mass popularity of the SM. Though its very rare for the best movie and director awards going to same movie in an effort to please everybody.
Its not healthy to over criticise the movie and its easier in any case to do so when the irregularities are jarring and in your face in SM and when mediocrities like Jodha Akbar rule the roost ( its funny to see Gowariker taking himself so seriously).. We have always been over years exposed to escapist fares so Slumdog isn't that hard to be palatable. SM is not a complicated movie or layered in any case to call it classic and I doubt over the years maybe when we will get to see more such efforts it will remain one..For its obvious SM has already open doors for more money to come in for more collaborations.
First Post SM piece of news that really infact made me excited was Paul Schrader writer for some truly classics like Taxi Driver, one of my favourites talks about moving to India and write a thriller based in Mumbai. it would be interesting to see what he comes up with for what will he capture the city like as he managed to do in Taxi driver. The Maximum city will get its due then.
and now again with Danny Boyle planning a thriller in India, I can see that he is trying to have fun and for that I will ride along with him and can maybe re watch the first half of Slumdog in delight. If he can infuse so much energy in those frames in slumdog and trainspotting , it would be truly fascinating to watch a whole movie dripping with it.
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