Two sides of a coin
There is a sizeable section of the society which feels that the movie is showcasing the plight of a chunk of the country's population to mint millions. It is not tune with India's new age image of the next super power in wait. Think of a mixture of imagination cum reality mixed in Jodha Akbar leading to Rajput uproar and subsequent ban of the movie in theatres. So, if someone is trying to make a movie based on theme which is not (or) has not been so uncommon in our country, one can understand the resistance from people who have been priding themselves on the new image of our country.If one looks at the statistics such as Human Development Index (127/177), poor Child malnutrition rates, etc., the argument wouldn't have risen in the first place. Even for the so called foreign investment, that has put us more prominently on the world map, India's rank in terms of friendliness of procedures to grant approval ranks pretty low. The process has lot of approvals and hassles involved. It is one thing about being patriotic and staunchly defending your motherland. Acting in denial is a completely different story. Just because we see the brighter side of moon doesn't rule out existence of a dark side. Wait, I'm not here to take sides about being pragmatic or euphoric. This is just a riposte to so many posts floating around.
I don't know what pre-conceived notions the mud slingers had before seeing the movie. I, for one, went with a completely blank mind, expecting to see another host after Amitabh and Shahrukh hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati.That's all I had information about before I saw it (mine was a small screen experience, so I can understand all unhappy souls who had shelled heavy amounts expecting to see a Van Gogh artistry come to life in a motion picture).
Maybe,a hard dose of reality?
I would like to draw some instances which still have relevance in the new age India. Hindu-Muslim Strife still holds. I read atleast one article in editorial in a week about this. Remember, Mani Ratnam received death threats and stones were pelted at his house after release of Bombay.That's the treatment India's ace director got. This movie, though short, did feature a small scene wherein a Muslim ghetto is demolished by Hindu activists.
The movie supposedly begins in the late '80s wherein kids still used to go gaga over Amitabh Bachchan and when they become teenagers, there is also mention about Shahrukh Khan in the movie.
I feel, that people have a right to feel aggrieved about showcasing that period when it was still seen as land of snake charmers and as a nation mired in financial trouble and which subsequently had to open up its economy.I also empathize with people who feel what's the need for a foreigner to come and show the dark side of India in bright daylight? However, does our risk averse approach help us make movies out of this world? Do our directors have the resources and proficiency in them to direct Brad Pitt and make an out-of-this-world movie like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"? In fact, we have such a rich mythology and our country is a motley of different cultures. Take this, it's been ages since a mythological movie was released on our famous epics, such as Ramayana or Mahabharata. Especially when there are studies mentioning that Mahabharata war was the birth place for nuclear weaponry, wouldn't it make an interesting story for a movie? Hope Mani Ratnam's Ashokvana serves the purpose. Also, treatment meted out to Mani Ratnam post Bombay means we will never get to see daring and indigenous projects on burning issues. Contrary to this, Michael Moore could make Fahreinheit 911 in U.S. Frost/Nixon is a full length documentary movie on how a playful media anchor managed to get Nixon to confess on Watergate scandal. Can some film maker come forward and make a movie on Bofors scandal (still congress till May 2009 atleast)? Will someone have the guts to make a movie on the Shankara Mutt fiasco that happened in 2004, for instance? Will someone have the courage to make a movie on Godhra incident and also put up a disclaimer saying 'based on a true story'?
Marketing - Job well done
One thing these makers of Slumdog Millionaire did was to garner good publicity for the movie. Danny Boyle, is a well known name in UK and U.S., having directed Trainspotting (features a similar scene wherein a guy jumps into a latrine commode, yuck) and sci-fi movie 28 days later. Asian base was covered with A.R.Rahman (Remember Warriors of Heaven and Earth, Maestro is no longer stranger in China). If you want a South American touch, this one looks like the cousin of City of God, a brazilian movie. It was marketed as a feel-good movie as how being positive can turn life around and help regain lost love for a slumdog. Cliched theme it maybe to us, but still formula movies work in Bollywood and I think all those who claim to be fans of Rajnikanth or Shahrukh Khan can have no right to demean this movie as being run-off-the mill stuff. The movie was marketed as a much needed change giving hope and optimism to a world shrouded in negativity and chaos. Take this for instance, Ford CEO is earning $1 a month salary. I read in yesterday's economic times about 'Riches to Rag', the issue being that Obama's first move apart from restriction on H1B visas has been to cap salaries of top executives in U.S corporations.The ingenious financial instruments of Lehman, which were supposed to be fail proof and yielding perpetual returns like a Kalpa Vriksha tree, failed miserably...Sometimes, we want to see something that we can't do or something we wish to see in real life in reel world. I am sure, the timing of release of Slumdog Millionaire, which had the reverse theme of 'Rags to Riches' and which had already generated the desire amongst the audience worldwide, courtesy, its marketing effects, led to its success. I guess the film started before Lehman crisis struck. So, it looks like even the film unit wasn't expecting the movie to become such a big hit.This effect seems to have had a say in Oscar panel's nomination list too.
Worth so many nominations?
I was quite impressed with the screenplay of Simon Beaufoy and Rahman's background score. Intertwining 3 different time slices and coordinating them in a sequence is not something that has been tried many times before this with so much effect.
The songs are definitely not Rahman's best. Ada, Ghajini, Yuvvraaj, Jodha Akbar all fare much better. In fact I read that Jai Ho could not be accommodated in Yuvvraaj and was dangling around till it was fitted in at the end of Slumdog millionaire. A nomination for 'Jai Ho' sounds terrible to me. In fact, I haven't listened to it fully even once. 'O Saya' sounds peppy and energizing, but it kind of again reminds of 'City of God', the picturization included.
The background score is quite brilliant.Whenever,the movie slows down,Rahman pitches in to retain audience interest. Again, less of innovation, more of proper packaging. He had only 15 days to finish the score.'Liquid Dance' reminds me of 'Rangeela theme'. 'Dreams on Fire' is western version of 'Netru illadha maatram'.Few originals like 'Mausam and Escape' and 'Paper Planes' are worth mentioning. Didn't Rahman do the same in Bombay Dreams also? I feel it as a vindication of my faith that all these originals were good enough for oscar nomination by themselves. Let the base be the same, just remaster it. We should all be proud that our own musician can just remaster some of his old works, that were made for us, and present it to the global audience. We have got the first sample of something that is reaching the world after a decade.The feeling itself is pretty different.
All analyses and justification apart, I didn't expect 10 oscar nominations. Golden globe wins and Screen Actor Guild wins have also swung the balance in Slumdog's favour. I feel Golden globe nominations reflected what it truly deserved. After that, it has been 'Halo effect' all along. I feel Slumdog stands a real chance in Adapted Screenplay and Music Written. However, Benjamin Button was too excellent and it will be a close contest. Music written, I feel Rahman will triumph over Alexander Desplat. Benjamin Button's score was much in tune with the movie, sober.
Winners don't take it all - Bigger Picture
Oscar wins always don't go to the deserving. Who can digest John Nash aka Russell Crowe being overlooked for Denzel Washington for best actor in 2003? There are a lot of behind the scene incidents, like a press ruckus in this instance.
Towards determining a proper marketing mix, apart from studying consumer behaviour, there is a need to study macroeconomic factors at work and also competitor behaviour. I'm not sure about how good all competitors are and whether the panel did a comprehensive competitor study, but macroeconomic factors such as struggling economies, political tensions, terror attacks, cultural policing have all played a part in different parts of the world receiving warmly what is a typical movie story. Having said that, it's reel after all and I would suggest all movie lovers to sit back and enjoy whatever part they like and appreciate the finer aspects of the movie, if they can.As Indians, we know who we are, what we have crossed to be where we are today, and I don't think one movie is going to throw us back to the stone age or change the world's perceptions of new age India. In fact, any supposed criticism should be acted upon in a positive way to eliminate it.
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