Slumdog saga

Though Slumdog Millionaire is not an Indian film in the strictest sense of the term — the producer, script-writer and director are not Indians — it is not difficult to embrace it as our own and celebrate its victorious performance at the Golden Globe Awards.

There are many Indian connections — the film is set in Mumbai, it has many Indian actors, veteran and new and it picks up on an idea from a book written by an Indian diplomat, Vikas Swarup. And of course, of its four awards one is for our homeboy AR Rahman, further consolidating his reputation as a truly global musician.

Since its release barely a few weeks ago, Slumdog Millionaire has become a big critical and commercial success in the US, driven more by word of mouth publicity than huge advertising budgets.

The theme — a rags to riches story with a twist built in — has found an echo among viewers, not the least because of compelling performances and an energetic pace of direction by Danny Boyle, known for his off-beat films like Trainspotting, a cult classic among movie buffs.

But it is undoubtedly the setting — the wretched slums of Mumbai, from where the protagonist emerges to win a television quiz show — that has caught the imagination of audiences.

The miserable existence of the average slum dweller, which we in India  know so well, is novel to the western viewer.  It has not gone unnoticed among reviewers in the western media that these awful images — gangsters, communal tensions and hovels that pass for homes — are a distant cry from the India Shining that has been projected so often in the last few years.

Indeed, the awarding of the Booker prize to the novel TheWhite Tiger shows that the seamier side of the Indian dream continues to have a resonance in western sensibilities. The White Tiger’s victory left many Indians underwhelmed; who is to say that when Indian audiences finally see Slumdog they will not be equally put off?

For now, the victory of Rahman and indeed the film itself must be celebrated. Unlike many other Hollywood films, this one has used Indian resources in full. This reaffirms the wealth of talent available here. Secondly, the recognition of Indian artists in the global environment — and not merely among NRIs— is a step forward for the industry.