I recently had the opportunity to watch one of India's most talked about films, Slumdog Millionaire. Slumdog Millionaire; a truly fascinating film that manages to be harrowing, invigorating, stirring up emotions of joy yet tear-jerking, all within its 120 minute screen time. The film depicts modern cinema at its peak. It revolves around a boy named Jamal Malik who grew up in the slums of Mumbai. It begins with the lights dimming, the thematic music sets in with the crowd applauding, depicting the biggest moment of Jamal’s life as he reaches the last question on India’s ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’. On the show, he introduces himself as a call-center assistant; a chaiwala (a person who serves tea) working in Juhu. The concept of person prototype comes into play here. When the host of the show Prem Kumar encounters Jamal, he fails to fit "his description" of someone capable of winning 20 million rupees. How can a boy from the slums of Mumbai know all the answers? It’s a question that leads to Jamal’s arrest, under the suspicion of cheating. Jamal reveals the sometimes joyous but most often tragic events of a childhood living in the slums with his older brother Salim and friend Latika. How their journey of survival lead him to the answer of each question to prove his innocence. The perfectly written screenplay and musical score fit the frame of this careful crafted masterpiece to the tee.
The film has received its fare share of criticism as most Indians question Boyle's depiction India. Slumdog Millionaire is a product of a westerner's view on India and is said to be a stereotype of "India" in the western world."If SM (Slumdog Millionaire) projects India as [a] Third World dirty underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations," Mr Bachchan wrote in his blog.
"It's just that the SM idea authored by an Indian and conceived and cinematically put together by a Westerner, gets creative [Golden] Globe recognition. The other would perhaps not." - BBC News
This comment by Mr Bachchan brought to my notice that perception is truly influenced but psychological as well as social factors. Its is obvious that Mr Bachchan being a native Indian would perceive India to be a rapidly developing nation; which it is. As for Mumbai City, know to most Indians as “the city of dreams”, the director has depicted it to be "a city of slums". It is probably our culture or the fact that we have grown up in a country like India that the slums and poverty sometimes go unnoticed.
Answering the charges, Beaufoy, the writer of Slumdog Millionaire told The Daily Telegraph: "I'm puzzled that he would say that. Of course there is brutal stuff in there, but he can't say any of that doesn't happen. None of it is made up, it's all there on the streets for people to see.
"It's strange. I depicted the place as I found it, really. I wandered around the slums for weeks, talking to people. It was very important to me to spend time there because you can't just parachute in as the middle class white guy and say, 'Line up the slum kids.'- Telegraph.co.uk
Here I noticed that psychological factors like the characters the director and writer came accross and also his experiences with the local slum dwellers convinced him to portray India and specifically Mumbai the way he did.
Wrapping it all up, it doesn’t matter what director Danny Boyle is depicting; be it the unsettling scenes of child exploitation or the moments of melodramatic joy, the film has entertainment written all over it. Boyle’s direction exuberates energy that manages to blend together every dramatic shift in chronology, locale and sentiment. The sweeping shots of India’s horrifying poverty and trash field plains encompass the directors knack of aptly portraying his vision. Last but not least, Boyle injects the humility and charm into Jamal’s character that gives the film a satisfying conclusion. So satisfying a conclusion, might I add, that it had me completely overcome with tears of joy. It is a tale of unswerving love that sends you out of theatres feeling like a millionaire!!
And for those of you who haven't watched Slumdog Millionaire yet, here is a short trailer to provoke your interest.....
