Oh hell, it’s happening again. The Oscars just happened last night and once more the mania over Slumdog Millionaire, Rehman, all the ‘unreal-award-winning’ and ‘I want a share of the hype’ begins in earnest. The last time was the Golden Globe furor when the media went crazy and NDTV awarded the movie ‘NDTV India’s achievement award’. What in the name of God is that? Hello, wake-up! It’s not even an Indian movie!Anything and everything that could be said about Slumdog Millionaire has been said. I don’t need to add my enlightened views really, I just saw the movie too late to honestly make an original opinion and post it on my page. I’ll just say I didn’t like it all that much. I was baffled, actually, that the movie got such humongous accolades. I mean one would expect it to be awe-inspiring, but it was just an average storyline. Total Bollywood style. The actors couldn’t act for nuts. The screen-play was no great shakes. I mean, watch movies like the “Aviator” or “Flight-Plan”, or even “Dark Knight” and you’d know what I’m trying to say. The pathos filled atmosphere which slums of India can generate too is not a new theme for westerners. Besides, I found “Blood Diamond” created more pity, if we talk of pathos. At least there was something new to see, what’s new about India’s slummishness? This time a Brit decides to lap it up in a movie.
A movie written, directed and produced by Britishers. What is so Indian about it other than the fact that it’s about India’s disgraceful third-world poverty? Indian media is going bananas calling it an ‘Eighter’ for India (referring to the eight Oscars won by the movie). How come? Other than Rehman, what’s Indian achievement in it? That we are a poor nation, and hence we provide great themes for the superior white gentry? Unfortunately the common Indian has only so much pride. No more, no less.
The only thing good out of it is that A. R. Rehman finally got a chance to be competing for the Oscars. That says nothing of the movie. Rahman always does brilliant work. He just needed a vehicle to get in the nomination, which Slumdog Millionaire provided.
That too was tainted for me when I recently read a blog which started with “It takes two South Indians to win the first Oscar awards for this Great nation”. Takes a racist to ruin the fun, doesn’t it? Next it’ll be the Muslims jumping for a piece of the pie. And that’s how the cookie crumbles. As though being a Muslim/South-Indian is what it takes to make a genius. Ha! I wish. This is not even the first Oscar India has got. And what’s an Oscar anyway?? What has it got to do with us? I perceive a national award in India as a greater honor than an ugly golden statue from the Americans any day.
