Rahman, Kapoor sued for 'Slumdog' slander

A man who claims to fight for the rights of slum dwellers has filed a defamation case against music director AR Rahman and actor Anil Kapoor in a local court, alleging that the award winning film Slumdog Millionaire calls Indians dogs and slum-dwellers slum dogs.

Petitioner Tapeshwar Vishwakarma is general secretary of the Jhuggi Jhonpdi Sanyukta Sangharsh Samiti. Chief judicial magistrate   (CJM) Raghvendra Kumar Singh registered a case on Tuesday against Rahman, Kapoor and other Indians associated with the film. No charge was filed against director Danny Boyle, a Briton.

“Vishwakarma made it clear that he hardly expected anything positive from a British filmmaker as their ancestors described us as dogs. But what hurt him was that even Indians associated with the film hardly bothered to object to calling us a slumdog,” his lawyer Shruti Singh said. The first hearing of the petition is scheduled for February 5.

The CJM directed Vishwakarma to produce evidence in support of his complaint. The meaning of Slumdog Millionaire in Hindi is the millionaire dog of slum-dwellers, Vishwakarma alleged. A copy of the petition has been sent to the national human rights commission, Bihar human rights commission and the film censor board.

“I requested censor board chairperson Sharmila Tagore not to permit the release of the film in India under its present name,” Shruti said. The film is slated for release on Friday.