Will Slumdog win?

In the last 2 months, it has been hard to read any entertainment news without reading “Slumdog Millionaire”. The Oscar buzz, the protests in India, the controversy over child actors, the music of A.R Rahman (and surprisingly not much about M.I.A).

I saw the movie the weekend it premiered in the U.S. without any expectations. My reaction to the movie was – a well made film with an interesting story. But I failed to LOVE it as I couldn’t emotionally connect with the main characters. Reason: the kids were great (really awesome), but as soon as they turned teenagers, they became British. As soon as I heard the 13-year-old Latika, training to be a prostitute in the slums of Mumbai, mouthing dialogues in English with a refined British accent, the characters didn’t seem genuine enough. Jamal seemed too suave for an uneducated guy who had to “slum” it out. The movie soon turned into a Disney version of a fairytale of Jamal and Latika. Not that it is a bad thing; I just couldn’t feel for the characters like I did for, lets say, the family in “Little Miss Sunshine”.

Very few people, including Indians, had the same reaction. Infact, that is usually a sign of a good movie - it’s engrossing enough that the audience doesnt notice things like it was shot in black and white, or it had subtitles, or characters were switching languages, etc. I am happy Slumdog is getting credit for being such a movie. I am sure if it were based in another country, I too wouldn’t notice or care for the authenticity of accents and appearances of the main characters.

So, what do I think of the protests in India? Notable people, like Amitabh Bachchan, who have said that the movie doesn’t portray India in a good light, are living in denial about India’s poverty. The slums do exist. The riots, the exploitation of orphans, it all happens and happens in their backyards. Then there were protests on the word “dog”. Danny Boyle didn’t expect to make a runaway hit and unfortunately the title it didn’t translate well in Hindi. I can understand the sentiment; no one wants to be insulted by foreigners. Can you imagine the outrage if a movie had “Jew” and “Dog” in the title?

Regardless of how I feel about the movie, I will be rooting for Slumdog at the Oscars tomorrow. Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan are one of the finest indian actors and deserve it. And for A.R Rahman, who is my favourite Indian music composer. If not for anything else, I will be rooting for Slumdog for the little kids in the movie- that was my favourite part of the movie. I sincerely hope the success of this movie does indeed transform those kids' lives. That will touch me in a way no other Oscar winning movie has.