So, What If We ARE Slumdogs?

Why should I write about Slumdog now, when the whole world has already known about it, debated the movie, sang songs of victory for India and the cast, and what not?

Because there are some things I felt strongly about and must get out of my mind.

No doubt the movie is an excellent cinematic achievement – with superb direction, great acting, amazing sound and other aspects of movie-making.

But…

For one, I strongly believe that Rahman should have got an Oscar long back and am glad that he got it for Slumdog. But it grates a little somewhere in my mind to know that Jai Ho is by no measure Rahman’s best composition. So the question: isn’t it like doing the right thing for the wrong reason (song)? Rahman has given much, much better music for so many films, including (in no particular order) Gentleman, Roja, Bombay, Lagaan, Swades, Taal, Saathiya…all in all, a long list with many, many Oscar worthies than Jai Ho. Okay, Jai Ho is good, very good in fact. But not that good. Not Oscar good.

As for the raging debate about how India has been ‘projected’ in the movie, I’ll say, Why create so much fuss about India’s image just on the basis of a movie? India’s image is not something that’s anyone’s fiefdom. Nor can it be ‘damaged’ by showing realistic scenes – however ‘shitful’ they might be – on the silver screen.

Let’s get it straight: Danny Boyle and team have done a commendable job in showing many of the ills plaguing ‘third-world’ India through an amazing (even if pretty contrived) narrative.

But, again…

Neither is Danny Boyle the first one to be enchanted by the crazy place that India is, nor will he be the last one. But multiple awards and the West’s growing interest in India (because of our vast, increasingly consumerist population that can keep their companies growing, and not out of any fatherly love – make no mishtake!) have meant that the contradictions and agonies depicted in the movie will be discussed for a long time.

So? So, how should a typical Indian feel about the whole thing, you know? To become a part of the ‘it’ crowd – which goes to multiplexes munching mountains of popcorn and guzzling gallons of carbonated sugar drinks.

Well, well, well…my suggestion is, dear, why do you want to be a part of this crowd in the first place?

If the movie has really shaken you up by showing a mirror to the kind of place you live in, why don’t you do something about it? From refusing to pay bribes to demanding your rights (from the political mafia) to helping out street and slum children, I’m sure you’ll find a whole lot of ideas. Why leave everything to the NGOs?

Boyle has done his job as a film-maker and gotten acclaim. But what about you? What about me? What about us Indians?

In the Name of God

The title of this post is the secondary title of a movie I just saw, the primary one (with the same meaning) being "Khuda ke Liye." Without intending this to be a review of the movie, I must say it's a great attempt to foster a better understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims. The underlying message is that no unethical, wrong or persecutional thing can be - or rather should be - justified in the name of God.

At least for me, the movie has done tremendously well in clearing some of the misconceptions and long-ingrained notions of what true Islam is. The very word means peace with God and a Muslim is one who "submits to God or the will of God". But the big question: Who is God and what is His will? Now that's where all those Muslim clergy - many of them rather than all - cause confusion amongst the impressionable and, often, uneducated, youth all over the world. How many of us have studied Islam and its tenets? (I certainly haven't. And while on my personal beliefs, I haven't studied any scriptures of any religion and am still an "explorer" when it comes to a single God - but that would be a series of blogs! But I do believe in the absolute values of ethics, morality and goodness.)

One sureshot way to multiply hatred is to blame an entire community of the wrongs done by a few. Painting the West morally bankrupt is as bad as calling all Moslems terrorists.

Why do most of us carry on with our ill-conceived notions of people who are "not like us"? Can we pause to understand the other viewpoint and, more important, spread that understanding? I think this might work better than shock and awe or terror and bombs...