Jai Ho!!

So finally Oscar dawned on Indian cinema!! Oops it was raining this time 8/10

What should I say which has not been said before about this movie? Virtually we have discussed this threadbare, so I will keep myself off the movie review. I am happy, very happy about everything associated with this great movie, especially for A. R. Rahman – The maestro. Above everything else, “Slumdog Millionaire” will definitely be an important milestone in the history of Bollywood.

I want to write something about those (who I don’t know why) are showering their verbal criticism on this piece of art. It all started with Mr. Big B, who as per his blog was not happy with the way India was projected in the movie. This thread was carried by so many others who added their own interpretations to it. Huh, come on what do you mean by all this? Is showing slums of Dharavi will tarnish image “India”, and keeping it under wraps will make us proud? What are we trying to hide and from whom? We have poverty, let’s accept this fact and let’s do something to remove this. The main issue with all these people around is that how a foreigner can came all the way from London and show us mirror which we have been hiding from for so long? In fact I read somewhere that why the Hollywood movies do not show the poverty of New York and other parts of USA? This is absurd. At least we do not have rights to challenge the freedom of media in US. It’s in Hollywood that a movie like “Harold and Kumar – Escape from Guantanamo Bay” is made. No one in India can dare to make a satire to this effect, have we forgot the fate of “Black Friday” and many more of its type? We are hypocrites, but why do you want to shadow a moment of joy with this hypocrisy?

I agree that Indian slums are not slums in true sense; there lives a great entrepreneurial class there, those of feriwala and small time traders who constitute the backbone of Indian city life. But the essence of “Slumdog millionaire” is not the poverty, it’s about the love and aspirations of an Indian who keeps his hopes alive in all adversity to become a champion in the end. Lets understand it for once and all, Slumdog is not about "Slum" in literal sense of the word, it’s about the journey from despair to hope, from failures to success.

The other great thing doing the rounds is that “Slumdog Millionaire” is not an Indian movie. It’s made by a British director; the technicians working in the team are foreigners. I want to ask just one thing – is the essence of this movie Non-Indian? Can we imagine the story of Jamal and Latika in any other country? The real actors of this movie – all the small children – have they came from Hollywood? Is there any sanity in such accusations? It’s for you to decide.

Some of our learned citizens have said that this is not the best from Indian cinema; A. R. Rahman has composed better tunes than one for “Slumdog Millionaire”. True, very true, I cannot agree more, but there is no denying the fact that “Slumdog Millionaire” is one among the best and A. R. Rahman has pulled the right strings in “Slumdog Millionaire”. At least we should give credit for it being one of the best, if not the best. As I said earlier, this movie will bring Indian cinema to centre stage of world cinema, and after that I hope none of those great movies made on Indian soil will go unnoticed. This is a start, let’s all of us happily be a part of this beginning.

As soon as the Oscars, were over, another set of analysis was put forward by some great minds of our country – “This is a conspiracy – with recession around the globe, Hollywood is looking for new market and what’s better than India – the 8 Oscars is just a gimmick to capture this market”. Believe me; such great minds should be preserved in some museum to show to our posterity, how much human minds can wander. Do Hollywood need any entry pass to Indian market? India is already a big market for Hollywood movies and so is US and UK a great market for Indian cinema. There is no need for anyone to conspire to bring to light this known secret. The only thing which is going to happen from “Slumdog Millionaire” is that from now onwards, Indian cinema will be taken more seriously, there will be more collaboration between the two poles of world cinema to bring out some real masterpiece for all of us.

It’s a time for celebration for all of us, for all Indian, from all religion and region, for all Indians living in different part of this world who are bound together by the unifying force of Indian cinema. It’s our day – Jai Ho!!