On “Slumdog Millionaire” & Prejudices – Guest Post by Saurav Basu
       Back in the good old days when Satyajit Ray often made the most sublime neo-realistic cinema, one Ms. Nargis Dutt caustically charged him with selling Indian poverty abroad. Yet, Satyajit Ray”s films did not feature Calcutta”s slums but the villages of Bengal. There was an undercurrent of poverty in his major films like Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Pratidwandhi but there was human irony. No romanticizing poverty yet ultimately a resounding affirmation of human dignity. Who can forget the immortal scene in Aparajito where a guilt ridden Apu, a poor Brahmana boy rejects his priestly duties towards his mother”s last rites and opts to pursue a modern education instead. Ray”s father was a Brahmo and he himself a recalcitrant Hindu, yet his cinema encompassed everything that represented the best and the worst of Indian civilization ethos.
       Through the vicissitudes of times, India has emerged as a global economy shedding both its Nehruvian rate of growth and the associated stereotypes, although we are admittedly a third world country with sub Saharan level hunger and human development indices. Yet, a share of its misfortune may be attributed to being surrounded by two failed states whose burdens of jihadi terrorism and poverty India has to suffer. Even the slum is an artificial socio-political construct and misrepresents Indian poverty. Indian slums have unpaid electricity accounts yet even today thousands of Indian villages wait electrification; slums have NGOs operating in vain while villages still await their first permanent school buildings. Slums create and sustain criminals yet millions of Indian villages represent a morally and ethical superior way of life and hospitality. Slums in India are infested by some over 30-40 million illegal Bangladeshi migrants who constitute a sizable secular votebank.
       But contemporary film making seems to have appreciated little of these ground realities; instead we find a rehash of the old and improbable rags to riches story in an ultra-regressive style. A magnificent Mumbai slum, two Muslim brothers, a Hindu mob killing innocent Muslim women, criminally amputated children singing Surdas”s songs, Hindu policemen torturing an innocent Muslim boy and a diabolic Hindu game-show host who hands his Muslim contestant to his Hindu police which hates the Amnesty international, and voila, you have all the ingredients for a “secular” potboiler which is on the road to the Oscars! You might argue that it”s not realistic but only fantasy since there is greater probability of winning the jackpot on a lottery ticket without being abused by the police than winning the top prize on a quiz show with 15 unique questions.
       But then you can be kidding with the graphic depiction of blood curdling anti Muslim riot in which a Hindu mob slits the children”s mother, the Indian policeman electrocuting the Muslim suspect or the gory scene of the amputation of the street children by the mafia who are then forced to sing Surdas”s bhajans. The book by Vikas Swarup has the main protagonist named as Ram Mohammad Thomas who was conveniently transformed into a Muslim boy, Jamal Malik who lost his mother to a Hindu mob to make it sound in the author”s own confession more “politically correct.”
       When was the last time in Indian History when an unprovoked Hindu population took to violence? For the record the Mumbai riots were incited by fanatical Muslim mobs in the face of the Baburi Masjid demolition. Moreover, it beats me how the consequent Mumbai bomb blasts triggered by local Muslim gangs can be disassociated from the Mumbai riots? And the much maligned Bombay Police recently lost sixteen of its bravest men while defending the city”s freedom of speech and expression against Islamist zealots who wanted to replicate in India, a 7th century Arabia.
       More disturbingly, you have the depiction of the blue bodied Rama whom Hindus consider as Maryada Puroshottam [the best among men] threatening to terminate the existence of the innocent Muslim children. To a question on with which weapons is Lord Rama depicted with in popular iconography, Jamal Malik the protagonist does not remember the grand Ram Lilas which happen across the country or Ram Kathas on televisions. Instead, a Hindu kid dressed like immaculately like Lord Rama stand in the mid of a slum in a threatening pose. And one cannot miss the hatred being portrayed in the face and looks of that young Hindu kid, younger than even Jamaal. Even a 5 year old Hindu kid is a communal bigot and Rama is responsible for all the communal crap. Muslims are seculars and victims by definition. And we need one white director to tell these things to the whole world. Not only this we have forcibly amputated children singing Surdas”s bhajan pining for a glimpse of illusory Krishna?
       This insensitive jaundiced anti Hindu view is reminiscent of Indian leftist cinema where Hindu male characters are black and Muslims white! Remember, Mr and Mrs Iyer where a Hindu mob was searching for circumcised dicks and didn”t even spare a Jew in true Nazi fashion! Never mind that in world history, Hindus are the only people who don”t carry an atom of anti-Semitism, but the director”s flight of “secularist” fancy won critical acclaim. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in his film Uttara shows a band of Hindu goons burning a Christian church made in service of the lord”s lepers and raping an orphan girl in the process. Expectedly, this rather original gruesome way of story-telling won him the national awards! In the Tamil hit, Dasavathaaram, we find an anti-historical situation fantasizing Shaivite intolerance against Vaishnavs where Ramanujam”s disciple is shown fighting Kulothunga Chola. Based on a solitary description of Chola antagonism in Ramanujam”s writings, we discover the Chola fanatic stealing the idol of Vishnu from Srirangam, ironically the same temple complex which was plundered at least five times by Islamic armies. Similarly, Kamal Hassan in his movie “Anbe Sivam”, shows a pious Shiva devotee injuring the hero who is rescued by a group of benevolent Christian nuns. Previously, in the 70s when anti-Brahmana movement in Tamil Nadu was at its peak, we had Brahmana priests routinely paraded as rascals in Tamil movies.
       “Islamic” sensitivities have extracted book bans from both British and Congress governments. Girja Kumar in his “Book on Trial” has reproduced dozens of cases where Hindu books critical of Islam or the Prophet were banned, and the authors faced arrest or were killed. Salman Rushdie”s flight and Taslima Nasrin”s plight is well known. Lajja almost faced a ban because she had exposed the genocide against Hindus in Bangladesh. Movies on the state of Kashmiri pundits, victims of Islamic genocide against Hindus of Bangladeshis, the Hindu victims of the North East against Christian separatism and also the historical crimes by the armies of Islam and inquisitory Christianity are taboo in a “secular country” They cannot see the light of the day because they are inimical to communal harmony and hurt minority sentiments.
       This ostentatious display of anti Hindu sentiment is of course lost on the jingoists or those ABCDs who go gaga over such pernicious cinema. Sincere critics questioning the dumb plot where a slum boy grows up into a sophisticated leftist JNU product with a flawless English accent are censured by appealing to the authority of the Golden globe awards. They keenly forget the film was precisely designed for that, appeal to the racial sensitivities of those who really matter! Therefore, even the liberation of Jamal is not through out of any indigenous worth, but through an internationally funded poverty alleviation game show [Kaun Banega Crorepati recedes into its international avatar, Who wants to become a millionaire].
Saurav Basu
*** End ***
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First they plunder us and then they film our ruins….
Hats off to British ingenuity…..
What is with Indians and Dogs, looks like British cant complete their phrases without mentioning Indians along with Dogs.
When I saw the movie I too felt the same way. Who has time to correct the image of India? Right! Every body thinks rubbing off some cash with such movies in the name of creativity, and poverty. And in last get away by saying “Vande Mataram”.
Wasn’t there a section of “Views and Counter-views” in Times of India a few years ago on the Op-Ed page…
If there is still one, I hope such issues are discussed. I wish Shantanu, Yoss and others get a chance to voice an opinion there.. this is getting too much..
Wow! Over-react much?
Superb stuff.
Enough said.
Hi,
I watched the movie and felt disgusted of watching some kind of scenes. India is now fully exposed by this movie. Nothing has changed in India except the poverty, corruption and violence which rised dramatically. The politicians are made responsible for this kind of situation where they will fight for seats in elections and forget about the problems faced by the people. And the people who break the laws also made responsible. No body questions why the scams and crime happening. That’s why no body fears. We should change to change India. It’s in our hands. No country is better until it is made better!!
Ideally instead of celebrating we should have banned the film in India for portraying India as a whole in such a pathetic situation. We have seen in the past banning films in India is not something new if Deshdrohi, water and the likes can be banned why not this? Once again we are giving way to the western way of thinking and acting things.
Excerpts from Alice Miles’ review in The Times (UK): Shocked by Slumdog’s poverty porn
how much crap you guys write and think. Seriously how long did you think to write that last line “Therefore, even the liberation of Jamal is not through out of any indigenous worth, but through an internationally funded poverty alleviation game show [Kaun Banega Crorepati recedes into its international avatar, Who wants to become a millionaire.”
Just wondering – whats wrong with sophisticated leftist JNU products? Or are those views not welcome on this blog?
I heard about this from someone who returned from a vacation in the US… she watched the movie in the US and said she felt even more terrible. The India we live in has so many faces, yet this is the face that the world probably loves to see. Sad.
I agree about on suitable viewers. I was so enthu., to watch this movie with my kid as it is hollywood movie but all about India. But what, in few second I have to tell him lets stop watching! every words of disgsuting is described in the movie. Who could take a big deep in a septic tank? Not even a poor kid can do that!
I think british directors are fulfilling British last and lost dream of making India poor and tattered by making such movies and showing such scenes- see this is India!. Loosers! They now know their dreams are never going to be acheived and fulfilled.
Therefore, even the liberation of Jamal is not through out of any indigenous worth, but through an internationally funded poverty alleviation game show
I was thinking the same thing, and wondering why the leftist-liberals who are so antagonistic to capitalism missed this very obvious “redemption through a capitalist game show.” They should be criticizing the movie for this alone.
There is no Hindu India or Muslim India as depicted by here. I guess the author never travelled much across India.
I am in South India and here the division is purely based on language and hence deep hatred. You either belong to the group of tamil, telugu, malayali or kannada or you are an outsider.
For tamils, anyone outside of tamilnadu, is a north indian. And they hate everyone from any other part of india!!!
SDM at least shows the real threat that India faces today rather than the politicians/fanatics below the bindya claim and cry and then create divsion.
Let’s not forget all those Hindus who participate regularly is denigrating India. How about starting with those actors who played the roles in the movie –Anil Kapoor etc.
We can all learn a lesson from the Jews. You never see the denigration of Israel or the Jews in the public sphere because they all stand together to defend their motherland–and Israel is their matrubhoomi even if they are American Jews, European Jews or even Indian Jews.
Dear readers,
There are determined Indians who care about their country and identity. See how an Indian friend of mine fought a bitter battle against racism. He did not fall even when his job was at stake. He stood for dharma. Check this out.
http://ambikaz.wordpress.com/
Jai Hind
The Jews never have had a macaulay designing their education system and a generations of brown sahibs to further such thoughts. In our schools where young minds are moulded, the pride in being a hindu/indian is NOT inculcated.
The Arundati Roys, Vikas Swarups, Ramachandra Guha’s are spawned as a result of this education.
Yet all is not lost. If we have the will to strategically overcome such thoughts where hindutva is shown as a bad word and being soft on christians, muslims amongst others
Inspite of this system there are ways to overcome by using the very tools that the system provides especially media. Someday this has to happen
Movie Making is a business..the movie has to be “sold” to audiences…People buy things as per their perceptions…The over-riing perception in the western world about India IS the poverty….even after a short holiday abroad..when one returns home…the stark contrast hits u…therefore imagine the impact on the foreigner?
Sadly poverty is our reality…. amonst others ie the progress/ economic ascendancy, spirituality, thebrain pool etc…
Instead of doin a ‘pakistan” and pretending it doen’t exist….let us address that issue and as a nation bring poverty to a level that it’s impact on first exposure is not as intense…
On the depiction of Lord Ram…well maybe a campaign could be started, and the depiction toned down a bit…tho i do believe the story is written by a Hindu and the little girl Latika is hindu…also a victim of that riot….
I forgot to mention something else, talking about dogs, even my friends’ incident involved a statement something to that effect “Indians have to be on tight leash”
See my URL. Thanks.
Great write up…
You have brought out the feelings shared by majority of proud and self respecting Indian nationals.
Just by giving ‘Osacr’ and ‘Golden Globe’ things, they cant fool Indians to watch the mother-f***ing porn movie showing the deliberately biased side of India (The British love to see such aspects of India and our stupid media fools who are forever servants of British, licking their boots, loved the shame which was shown). Britishers hate Hindu nationalists more than India, hence the mandatory showing od ‘bad Hindoooooo’ and ofcourse are shit scared of Muslims, esp. Paki variety and they are pally with Pakis, and even tried hard in Kashmir going to them.
Very disgusting movie…
I remember the scene in Munnabhai MBBS, where in ‘Circuit’ asks the foreign tourist why he doesnt go and see Taj Mahal or other things in India? the tourist answers he wants only poor Indians and hungry Indians…..
There is definitely a no-so-subtle anti Hindu bias in this film besides the poverty. Not just this film, most Hindi films are in the secular mould i.e. Hindus are shown as rioters, religious fanatics and Muslims are the victims.
If a film is (ever) made on the book Lajja which depicts the genocide of Hindus in Bangladesh, its sure to be banned in India and ostracised in the West. If a film is (ever) made on the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus from 1989, or the horrors of Jinnah’s Direct Action, or Partition from Hindu viewpoint, they’re going to meet the same fate. Such films will never be made by people the likes Danny Boyle or any of our mainstream secular, cosmopolitan film-makers.
The English language newspapers and TV channels, Hindi film fraterity and the government educational institutions form the ‘Matrix’ that most educated Hindus mistake for reality.
The author instead of reviewing the movie has turned it into a tirade against Indian Muslims using the same old arguments.
And Mumbai riots were incited by fanatical Muslim mobs, oh please!
I expect to read more balanced articles at a blog whose guiding principle seem to be Satyameva Jayate.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for the review, it gives me an opportunity not to see it.
In one of my earlier mails, for the sake of our “original Tarique” I had said about how the west uses the bait of a few recogonitions to get the huge Indian market. The Miss World, the Miss Universe etc. to get their cremes and their hair oils into India. Today they need to address the issue of growing Hindu self recogonition.
People like Shri Zed, Sri Sri Ravishankar, Swami Dayanada Saraswathi, have created HISTORY by giving back the self worth and Self respect back to the Hindus.
They have taught them to respect themselves and today we have schools run by the Hindus which have proved themselves worthy of being respected as good educational institutions.
The British have never forgiven the Half Naked Fakir to have removed the CROWN JEWEL from their hands! Even their stalwarts in their Parliament have stated on record that INDIA is their prized possession and if they lose India they lose their empire; History has proved it. They lost India and they are stinking in their black hole.
They have nevere forgiven Indians for proving more HORNY than possible. Their Memsahib had been S****D systematically by one of the eminent leaders of India.
How else to get back Degenerate, degenerate and degenerate!!!
Forget it my friend ann Oscar makes no difference to our aim of getting BHARATIYA PRIDE back on stream. This is only a blink of the eye.
To get few left over drinks, some pats on the rear and some caviar we have a some more degenerates joining the crowd to berate the Bharatiyas.
Friends TODAY WE ARE A FORCE TO RECKON WITH. WE HINDUS ARE CONSIDERED IN A SPEECH ON AN INNAUGRAL SPEECH OF A WORLD NATION!
Yes sir we can. We can get over this wart. We Have sustained for a thousand years of rape, pillaging and dsetruction of our way of life and our sructures of our way of life.
This is only a method of terrorism.
We can fight it. We will overcome it as we have done with the Moslem hordes, the Christian Marauders. We will Overcome this also.
Regards,
vck
Kudos! to all who worries about identity of India.
@Kiran P
I will read the link what you have asked. Kudos to him!
I always tell my friends who gets timid by racist people that one needs a determination to take the bull by its horn than and than we can solve the problem. Just sitting in corner and thinking about injustice will never work. Now a days public are in fashion to label those as ” not constructive” who fights for injusice and racism. In the last the same will be awarded for making racist free country.
Did any one found how film fraternity reacted to this who swears by the country they live in. Like “Proud to be Indian”, and sings “Vande Mataram”.
Oscar and Golbe awrads suggest us “What they do is Grandiose affair, and what other does discard it as rubbish.
@Indian,
The first comment on this topic hits on the nail on the head. For the first time in my life I felt proud of Amitabh Bacchan, for taking a stand by rubbishing SDM.
The last Hindi movie I saw was ‘LOC Kargil’, I usually don’t watch any bollywood masala since I don’t want to fund mumbai mafia or terrorist sympathising Khans ( may be not Amir but other 2 have shown where their heart is ) From day 1 I strongly recommended my friends not to watch SDM. Same with “Love Guru”. I think Indian community needs to be continuously alert and educate fellow Indians on these issues. Nobody else will. Eurocentrism is the root cause for most evil in this world. Media and movies are their latest weapons. Brainwashed and India negating desis lap it up without gauging the consequences.
About my friends’ incident please read and spread the word. Thank you.
There is an article in the Mint by Priya Ramani eulogizing the ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. I have thrown the first spear. Hope other people join in and drown the left-liberal voices.
Check this link for the article:
http://blogs.livemint.com/blogs/first_cut/archive/2009/01/23/
what-s-your-slumdog-opinion.aspx
Please read this paper on the East India Company. We should never forget the rape of our country
http://www.portraitofindia.com/liberal1.htm
Dear Nishka
Thanks for that link. here’s another.
http://www.hinduwisdom.info/European_Imperialism.htm
Kiran P
I also felt bad when I saw the movie, not because it portrayed the slums but because it portrayed a hatred towards minorities which I believe is over hyped. Just imagine if God of some other religion(in this case Rama) was portrayed as a party to rioters (in this case hindus) what an outrage it would have been. Would we still be proud for it, or curse the director for being communal. I bet.
Please stop hindu bashing because its comfortable and can be done so easily
Come on. Every thing that the film shows happens in some place in India. (well almost, the little kid dressed as lord Ram in the midst of a riot is over the board). The fact is there are people living in slums in India in wretched lives like as shown in the film. It is nice that somebody makes a film on their lives. These people are as much Indians as you and me.
In the end, this film is pukka bollywood : a feel good film with an improbable love story in it.I enjoyed it very much. But don’t think it doesn’t deserve all those golden globes.
We should just watch the film in a relaxed mood, and forget it behind us. It doesn’t deserve all this political commentary.
Dear vakibs,
Naivette has limits! Unfortunately we live in a lopsided worked dominated by Eurocentric media hellbent on showing third world esp. ‘hindoo’ India and profiting from it. Evangelical terrorists will loot India further with the cloak of doing charity and such. How about making Oscar worthy movie showing the Defrocking of Evangelicals involved in pedophile business or other evils of western society?
Meek Indians accept all and want to be in a relaxed mood and forget it all?
Come on!
oops lopsided WORLD in prev post.
@ Kiran P
I read the link. I must say Bravo! and other information is also very useful. I recommend everyone to go through aleast once.
Very well written. It is a shame that some in India actually like the movie. It just shows how divided we are and how willing we are to lick a White man’s bottom.
Even a small country like Khazakstan took out a full page ad in New York Times against the movie “Borat”. And Borat was just an out-and-out comedy which nobody took seriously. Now this movie millions of people around the world perceive to be the only reality of India. Already I saw an article in a leading American publication. I was very excited to read that since I am a big fan of Rahman. The article said “Rahman is very courageous as he converted to Islam, in a country where Muslims are routinely persecuted, as seen in the movie Slumdog”….What doesn’t this guy know that all the three leading men of Bollywood are Muslims and they don’t need to endure any “routine persecution”
I saw a petition against this movie at http://www.petitiononline.com/slumdog. Not sure if it would be of any help though.
Another thing we could do, log on to yahoo, imdb, indiafm and give this move an F rating
From: ‘Slumdog’ stars sued for ‘defaming’ India’s slum-dwellers
Those who are really serious about this Slumdog Millionaire issue and want to protest. I got some email through one friend, where one can protest the movie.
Oscar committee head Mr. Sid Ganis (president@oscars.org) Head of Writers Guild Patric Verrone (pverrone@wga.org) Head of Directors’ Guild Michael Apted (laraine@dga.org)
email- anil@anilkapoor.net
website- http://www.anilkapoor.net/html/index.html#
Personal view: Nothing can be done! Did we get anything by protesting M. F Hussain’s paintings? Some were not even ready to recognize that paintings were obscene. Whats the limit! By now we have adjusted and got accustomed in habit of taking everything in the taste of creativity. Aren’t we?
Attitude of Indians: Lets leave all these kind of issues on the shoulder of hard Hindu org for protest. And by doing this we all know what will be the outcome. Double shame! And those who have big dreams of making India free from all evil will not come out and speak a word about it.
@Vakib
–Lets somebody makes films on them–
Do you think this is the only solution for removing poverty? And what about the role of govt in making this poverty on larger scale. If one need to make movie than it is on Congress govt., and show the world how they ruled the country in last many years. And you think poverty dont exist in other parts of the world? Whats about starving and poor Philippine, Mexico, Thialand, Africa and many many I can add in the lists. Lets ask them to make a movie on human rights abuses and poverty in China which is 10 times higher.
I just recieved another one that we can all sign, it’s from HJS. Here is that link.
http://www.hindujagruti.org/denigrations/protestslumdog
http://www.dailypioneer.com/152164/Slumdog-is-about-defaming-Hindus.html
By Kanchan Gupta.
Excerpts from two independent reviews of SlumDog Millionaire. First from Slumdog is about defaming Hindus by Kanchan Gupta
***
Next, excerpts from Slumdog Millionaire: Another Husain? by Himanshu Jain
Ouch. Ouch. I am absolutely stunned by this one sentence in the column:
“When was the last time in Indian History when an unprovoked Hindu population took to violence?”
Movie review aside, good grief!, how can this gentleman even ask this question. Admittedly, my recent indian history is not excellent but having lived through the demolitions I can very safely say that the Babri masjid demolition looked like an “unprovoked hindu population” taking to violence. This is unless the author prescribes to the notion that it was provoked due to the duress Hindu’s were subjected too, during Mughal times. If we were to keep basing our provocation on events that are in the past, and, ergo, out of our control then the cycle of voilence will never end.
I’m so disappointed that such a comment made it’s way to your blog.
Dear Megha,
How many were killed, injured, whatever in the act of this unprovoked hindu violence that made you go ouch ouch? A little clarity would help?
Concluding part of a review by Dennis Lim
(Hat Tip: Atanu’s blog)
“If we were to keep basing our provocation on events that are in the past, and, ergo, out of our control then the cycle of voilence will never end.”
Meghan, OK. So, no more talk of Gujarat and Modi either as it was in the past, and was out of our control. 🙂
Somehow I have a feeling you’ll draw your line of which past matters and which doesn’t right after the 1984 Sikh riots.
Sorry, Megha. I misread your name as Meghna and misspelled it. 🙂
In the midst of Islamic Terrorism don’t forget Evangelical Terrorism making inroads in India. Check the hot discussion at http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005606.html#comments
See posts 204 and 206 specifically.
If you understand evangelical terrorism you will see how portraying India as ‘bloody nation of hindoo nation persecuting minorities’ through media and now movies like slumdog fits their agenda of conversion by hook and crook.
Islamic terrorism is easy to deal with as christian west will deal with too but who’s going to bell the cat, the bigger terrorist: the Evangelical terrorists who are from west?
This is worse than Islamic Terrorism
With ‘Nagalim for Christ’ and now asking for piece of Orissa for christians the evanglicals are bigger threat to the nation. With money and media and world’s misguided sympathy in their favor who can stop a cultural genocide in the making?
Do people know about CIA’s plans?
http://compreligion.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/09/chritian-plan-to-convert-india-the-role-of-american.htm
Wake up.
Kiran: The appropriate post for discussing Conversions, Proselytization etc is here.
Thanks Shantanu. I was banned from Sepia Mutiny for voicing some unconvenient truths. Later I learnt it’s Kerala christians site, no wonder they have sympathies for missionaries. I have asked my friend to link with your conversions related material. Excellent thoughts there. Thanks again.
Here, one more review
Don’t see “Slumdog Millionaireâ€. It sucks!
http://blogs.siliconindia.com/Arindham/Don’t_see_“Slumdog_Millionaireâ€_It_sucks-bid-58Hfxy0s9957947.html
http://blogs.siliconindia.com/Arindham/Don’t_see_“Slumdog_Millionaireâ€_It_sucks-bid-58Hfxy0s9957947.html
Excerpts from two *must read * reviews of Slumdog Millionaire.
First, Is Slumdog Millionaire worth the praise? by Matthew Schneeberger
…Enough was enough. For an hour and a half (and for Rs 250), I had watched a right proper Brit and a middle-class Mumbaikar stumble through cheesy dialogue, all the while pretending to represent the Mumbai slums.
‘It’s official,’ I thought. ‘Slumdog Millionaire is massively disappointing. It’s inauthentic and vain. And it’s making a mockery of Hollywood’s annual awards season.’
The realisation saddened me because I tried hard to like the film. Desperately, in fact. From the moment I had first heard of acclaimed director Danny Boyle’s plan to shoot a movie in India, I positively swooned.
…So when Indian friends pronounced themselves ‘woefully underwhelmed’ with the ‘overrated’ film, I dismissed their opinions and instead turned to glowing reviews in the Chicago Tribune, the Wall Street Journal and others.
“Ingrates,” I secretly said of Slumdog’s Indian critics. “Finally, someone has shown you the heart of your own city, the city you thought you knew. How dare you pass judgement! See the steady stream of awards? The four Golden Globes? Pick up a copy of the New York Times and read what Danny Boyle has done for you!”
…And, despite the temptation of easy available pirated DVDs, I waited for the official India release, hoping for the full ‘movie-going’ experience. I was prepared to be blown away. Really and truly, ready for blast-off.
But, from the start, during the torture scene, which itself was painful to watch, something didn’t feel right. Maybe unrealistic expectations had siphoned away my enjoyment. But countless times before I had entered a movie theatre with high expectations, yet left completely satisfied.
Maybe living in India had dulled some of Slumdog’s romance. But I know a Delhi-based German expat who calls it the ‘greatest film ever made’. It’s just that, ultimately, I found Slumdog Millionaire to be decidedly average. An earnest, talented outsider’s cursory glance at Mumbai slum-life. But the best film of 2008? Worthy of all the awards and accolades that Hollywood has to offer? Hardly.
…Some argue that it’s not a documentary, just a movie. I understand. My complaints with the screenplay have nothing to do with the coincidences or the question-and-answer inspired flashbacks. Those were cute. They drove the story. They were digestible.
It was the absurdity of slum-kids knowing all about Samuel Colt, the completely inauthentic (and cliched) call-centre scenes, the bizarrely callous game show host, the indifferent studio audience, the implausibility of a hardened Mumbai gangster asking for a sandwich, the doubtful CST rendezvous (Ever seen CST at 5 pm? The phrase ‘needle in a haystack’ comes to mind), the ubiquitous Queen’s English, the improbability of a fully-clad mini-Ram ready to wage war on Mumbai’s Muslims. But, most of all, it was the disastrous performance of the lead actor, Dev Patel.
…Before seeing the movie, I thought those who claimed that it portrayed India in a negative light were being ridiculously defensive. Having seen it, I understand where they are coming from. Yes, Mumbai has squalor and violence and cruelty. But it has great humanity and brotherhood and character, none of which were adequately represented in the film.
One of the first negative reviews of Slumdog I read was from the blog The Great Bong, who absolutely lacerated it. In it, the blogger wrote, “Well yes these things do happen in India. However the problem is when you show every hellish thing possible all happening to the same person. Then it stretches reason and believability and just looks like you are packing in every negative thing that Westerners perceive about India for the sake of crowd pleasing.”
He goes on to propose a film about an outlandish string of events happening to an African-American boy in the US, and says, “Even though each of these incidents have actually happened in the United States of America, I would be accused of spinning a fantastic yarn that has no grounding in reality, that has no connection to the ‘American experience’ and my motivations would be questioned, no matter how cinematically spectacular I made my movie. At the very least, I wouldn’t be on 94 percent on Tomatometer and a strong Oscar favourite.”
He’s right. Say an Indian director travelled to New Orleans for a few months to film a movie about Jamal Martin, an impoverished African American who lost his home in Hurricane Katrina, who once had a promising basketball career, but who — following a drive-by shooting — now walks with a permanent limp, whose father is in jail for selling drugs, whose mother is addicted to crack cocaine, whose younger sister was killed by gang-violence, whose brother was arrested by corrupt cops, whose first born child has sickle cell anaemia, and so on. The movie would be widely panned and laughed out of theatres.
That, to me, is Slumdog Millionaire: contrived, pretentious, absurd, hollow, inauthentic, a pseudo-statement about social justice. And yet today the film stands on the precipice of Hollywood’s highest honour, the Academy Award for Best Picture.
***
Next, some excerpts from the review by GreatBong (referred to above):
…There is a difference between clever film-making and great film-making. Make no mistake, Danny Boyle is immensely clever. “Slumdog Millionaire†is made as an out-and-out “crowd-pleaser†through proper audience-targetting which is done in the same careful way the Chopras target the lovey-dovey high school/college crowd and the Anil Sharmas target the uber-patriots.
This crowd-pleasing is done through punching together as many stereotypes that Westerners have about India as is humanly possible. People live in garbage heaps. A character jumps into a huge heap of human excreta and without batting an eyelid comes running out covered in brown slime, as if its the most natural thing in India, to get an autograph of a star. The hero, a Muslim, sees his family slaughtered by Hindu rioters and sees along with it a rioting kid (presumably) dressed as Lord Rama, in blue paint and with a bow and arrow in hand, standing as a sentinel of doom, an image whose indelibility in the character’s mind becomes a principal plot point.
A character is booked on the flimsiest of charges and then he is beaten black and blue in a police station and given volts of electricity.
What else? Let’s see.
Child prostitution. Check.
Forced begging. Check.
Blindings of innocent children. Check.
Rape. Check.
Human filth. Bahoot hain sahab.
Call centers. Oh yes most certainly.
Destiny. Of course.
…
Well yes these things do happen in India. However the problem is when you show every hellish thing possible all happening to the same person. Then it stretches reason and believability and just looks like you are packing in every negative thing that Westerners perceive about India for the sake of “crowd pleasingâ€. Because audiences and jury members “feel good†when their pre-conceived notions are confirmed. On the flip side, nothing disquiets a viewer as much as when his/her prejudices are challenged. So Boyle does the safe thing.
Let’s say I made a movie about the US where an African-American boy born in the hood, has his mother sell him to a pedophile pop icon, after which he gets molested by a priest from his church, following which he gets tied up to the back of a truck and dragged on the road by KKK clansmen. Then he is arrested and sodomized by a policeman with a rod, after which he is attacked by a gang of illegal immigrants, and then uses these life experiences to win “Beauty and Geekâ€.
Even though each of these incidents have actually happened in the United States of America, I would be accused of spinning a fantastic yarn that has no grounding in reality, that has no connection to the “American experience†and my motivations would be questioned, no matter how cinematically spectacular I made my movie. At the very least, I wouldn’t be on 94% on Tomatometer and a strong Oscar favorite.
…Which brings us to the main weakness of “Slumdog Millionaireâ€. There are way too many things you have to “accept†in order to enjoy this supposed “glorious celebration of exotica†, too many plot contrivances, too many loopholes you can drive a truck through that you have to turn a blind eye too.
Suspension of disbelief is one thing, after all movies are not logic proofs. But “Slumdog†sometimes gets so focused on the “scents†(excreta) and “sounds†(pain) of India that it does not bother to even try to make some of the fantastic coincidences look even moderately plausible.
***
Lets get a glimpse of what is happening in so called developed country. Child abuse! One dont need slums of India to go out and make a movie. There are many other hair raising news that we cannot even think of it publishing. Right!
I just hope and pray God that Govt and its departments keep working and citizens keep informing responsible department about it.
Only relief is Govt is working and awake in developed countries.
http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/582843
walking into this expecting a ‘feel good’ movie I was totally ambushed. I feel like a lot of the incidental background scenes opened my eyes to the awful poverty in India and much of the world. but the deliberate, manipulative and violent plot offended me. I do not accept dramatized torture- especially of children, as entertainment. I reviewed the movie here
http://kmareka.com/?p=2778
and would appreciate comment from people who know Indian politics and culture. this site has been very enlightening, I would not have caught the religious references, being a Unitarian from Providence, Rhode Island. Where I drive every day past a street shrine to a 17 year old boy shot and killed for no reason at all.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4107647.cms?TOI_mostcommented
It is by Tarun Vijay. Very well said!
First Nandan Nilekani’s review
And then a reply from Deepak Kamat
I agree, I read most of Nandan’s book and its not portraying India great and there is no mention of its great history and rich culture (even present culture). He even sounds to justify AIT. However, he has done well in all other aspects in that book. He is a pure corporate guy and a great business leader with little knowledge about Indian culture and history.
Just my personal opinion on the book, not to judge him as a person. I have great respect for Nandan.
I think I am obsessed tracking everyones feel of SDM. But this is awesome
http://www.currybear.com/wordpress/?p=2316#comments
ENJOY
Indians being called Slumdogs!
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/n/i/top_stories/2867/
Thanks for sharing the links Kiran.
Film is not “celebration of creativity”…..it is just any other movie made with goody-goody feel on human relationship and Love prevails non-sense. It is just that it is made by a westerner and distributed by “Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures”…hence it made a global opening….
India is portrayed as a pathetic slum which west wanted to see as they do not want to tarnish the image which they comply with.
Rest stupidity of congress to take the credit is cheap and they should try to do something for country rather than taking a bath in the glory of some movie.
Mr. Basu:
It is a sickness to constantly view yourself as the victim through this obsessive, singular frame of Hindu vs. all others, even in the guise of film critique.
There are depictions and imagery in this film that need to be seriously questioned – but when you go over board in your denial and rationalization of gross mistreatment of others on part of violent fundamentalists who call themselves Hindus with the patent excuse that it is always the other that started or perpetuated it – you lose all credibility.
Case in point: when Babri Masjid was demolished and some muslims in Mumbai rioted – they started it?!! and that made it OK for Shiv Sena goons to go on a rampage to kill, rape and pillage the most vulnerable of the vulnerable as an act of collective punishment – and that actually happened, no matter the denials, I know from experiences of muslim workers in my aunt’s home garment business. And then the Bomb Blasts in the AFTERMATH of the bloody riots – that makes Muslims the sole culprits of all the violence???
If your peeve is that the ‘seculars’ are tilted in favor of villification of Hindus while turning a blind eye to when they are at the receiving end of victimization – you yourself are no different in principal in your villification of Muslims at large while turning a blind eye to the victimization with this ‘nara’ of ‘they’ started it, they being a reference to all 150 million Muslims of India.Your biases are as clear as the day when you designate Indian villages to have a morally and ethically superior way of life than the slums – why? because supposedly slum residents are majority illegal Bangladeshi. Have you ever lived in an Indian Village or in a slum, for that matter, to know the difference?
I really wonder if you have ever cared to get to know or interacted with any Muslims on a personal, human level or had an honest conversation with them with a view to understanding as opposed to making judgements. A little self reflection please – will go a long ways toward Dharma. Do not use this movie made by a Briton to start a muslim hating fest or cry hindu ‘defamation’ for everything under the sun, so that there can never be any reasoned, rational discussion.
As for the film, I do not know if all calamity can befall one slum dweller, but how many of the commentators offering insight into this subject on this blog have seen the inside of a slum or have any actual first hand or even second hand experience of what life is like for people living there.
Incidentally, if a film were made which showed all calamity be-falling an African American, what would count is whether African Americans thought of it as portraying their real life experience – no Whites single handedly, in this day and age, would get to laugh it out of the theatres based on their perceptions and assumptions of what it is like to be African American – who are a lot better off than your Indian slum dwellers, considering Americans by and large don’t start foaming at the mouth with ultra defensive, hurt sentiments unlike the well to do, elitist Indians who would rather live in their rosy pretend world for the everlasting ego-kick than face up to the realities of the nation in how it treats a vast majority of its people.
How else that Slumdog Millionaire, which literally defecating on India from the first frame (a child who plunges into a sea of crap to get an autograph of Amitabh Bacchan), is a tobacco? Some scenes from the film are, however, in the perverted imagery of director Danny Boyle, because we can not find them in the book by Vikas Swarup, an Indian diplomat, whose film is based. The hero of the film (which is not Muslim, but many religions: Ram Mohammad Thomas) does not pass his childhood in Bombay, but in a Catholic orphanage in Delhi. Jamal’s mother is not killed by “Hindu fanatics’ in the book, but she abandons her baby, of unknown religion in a church. Jamal torture is not a television presenter, but an American who wants the Russian who bought the television rights of the game. The scene of tears three children abandoned in the rain is also not in the book. Jamal and his heroine from colliding when they are teenagers and they live in an apartment and not in a slum.
http://francoisgautier1.blogspot.com/2009/02/india-poverty-and-cliches-slumdog.html
I am on the verge of retirement from the Energy sector, which I have observed from 1979. Listening to Indian film music has always been my favourite pastime. One must congratulate AR Rahman for winning an Oscar with such a below average score. One thing which struck me was the clever tactics of the West. Give by one and beat with the other. This they have been doing from time immemorial. If you look after 9/11, just to show that the West is not against Muslims , they have been giving awards to them and at the same time bombing them also. For example , the Nobel Prize given to Mohammed Yunus of Bangladesh was given for Peace, when he did work in microeconomics. It should have been given for economics. Then they gave it to the Egyptian, M Al Bardei who shared with IAEA. At same time they are after Iran and many other countries , who want to swirch over to nuclear energy with some light to dire consequences
Now coming to the movie SDM, they have very cleverly picked up AR Rahmans very poor score compared to his other better scores and given an Oscar. This has been done purposely to show that the West is not against Muslims and show that how the West spotted a talent and that too a Muslim and how only when we make films that an Indian (Asian) under us can only win awards. That is why a very poor score has been given an Oscar Award. Even the film was below standards. Ir has all been done with a purpose. I am happy that Indians have understood this well. The initial media euphoria will be there, but Indians must educate the other Indians about this strategy. It has been 62 yrs after independence of India ( I am a Sri Lankan) that a new plan has been evolved to make money out of India.
Then there is the energy sector, which I worked. Till 9/11, they were having a gala time by increasing prices of oil and not providing funds for alternates to oil. Come September 9/11, large amts of money is being diversified for natural gas , which is abundant in many countries. The work on Hydrogen storage with safe standards has recd maximum impetus. With Europe and Japan becoming serious on this , one feels , a safe storage will be possible. This fuel will replace the fuel for aeroplanes , bec the hydrogen fuel idea came from the fuel cell used in rocket launching for space. What I want to drive home is that , the upsurge in Energy reseacrh will lead to alternates , which will bring down the Oil prices to very low level and stop money flow for all terrorism. One feels that this aspect all have missed.. So till that time , one hand of the West will give award to Asians esp Muslims trained by them and the other will do something else. So wait till the fuels come into action . 9/11 has hastened that and hope it will come to stop all terrorism. Once you stop money flow, then you see even awards will stop to films made by them and to Indians (Asians), as they will have less work to do by the other hand.
Rajeev’s take
http://rajeev2007.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/reflections-on-slumdog-millionaire/
*** COMMENT EDITED ***
paul courtright…weighs in on ‘slumdog’, as usual with vacuous banality and lack of insight
http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/2009/02/paul-courtright-idiot-and-bigot-weighs.html
*** NOTE by MODERATOR ***
@ Kiran: No personal insult please.
christist Evangelist director Using Islam to Batter Hinduism
http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/2009/02/christist-evangelist-director-using.html
Slumdog Millionaire makes Millionaires at the cost of Slumdogs
http://satyabhashnam.blogspot.com/2009/01/slumdog-millionaire-defame-hindu.html
article written 1908, The famine part is very interesting . You can understand how it broke the back of India.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/190810/nationalist-india
I just read the blog above my post. post 64. Francois Gautier , hope I have spelt right his name, has pointed the difference. So why not make a movie on the real story. The writer of the novel would I think be happy for remake of his novel in ditto fashion. If the British have distorted the story for their convenience, why not the French present the real story as written by the novelist. The novelist obviously wanted to make money and the Brits have given him pounds and he meekly submitted to wholesale changes . Now the French , who are better in making movies than British , should hand over Euros to the author and make the real one. This would be real competition. Indians and French should collaborate, but do not expect Oscars. The writer of the novel by making pounds and Euros would have happy retired life in India. He can have the cake and eat it to.
Worth reproducing in full: Man Bites ‘Slumdog’ by Sudip Mazumdar in NEWSWEEK, dt Mar 2, 2009
On the way to see “Slumdog Millionaire” in Kolkata, I had my cabdriver pass through the slum district of Tangra. I lived there more than 35 years ago, when I was in my late teens, but the place has barely changed. The cab threaded a maze of narrow lanes between shacks built from black plastic and corrugated metal. Scrawny men sat outside, chewing tobacco and spitting into the dirt. Naked children defecated in the open, and women lined up at the public taps to fetch water in battered plastic jerry cans. Everything smelled of garbage and human waste. I noticed only one difference from the 1960s: a few huts had color TVs.
I still ask myself how I finally broke out. Jamal, the slumdog in Danny Boyle’s award-winning movie, did it the traditional cinematic way, via true love, guts and good luck. People keep praising the film’s “realistic” depiction of slum life in India. But it’s no such thing. Slum life is a cage. It robs you of confidence in the face of the rich and the advantaged. It steals your pride, deadens your ambition, limits your imagination and psychologically cripples you whenever you step outside the comfort zone of your own neighborhood. Most people in the slums never achieve a fairy-tale ending.
I was luckier than Jamal in this way: I was no orphan. My parents came from relatively prosperous families in East Bengal (now Bangladesh), but the newlywed couple lost practically everything in the sectarian riots that led up to India’s independence. They fled to Patna, the capital of northeastern India’s Bihar state, where I was born a few years later. The first of my five sisters was born there in a rat-infested hut one rainy night when I was 3. My father was out of town, working as a construction laborer 100 miles away. My mother sent me with my 6-year-old brother to fetch the midwife, an opium-smoking illiterate. The baby was born before we got back, so the midwife just cut the umbilical cord with a razor blade and left. My mother spent the rest of the night trying to find a spot where the roof wouldn’t leak on the newborn.
My parents got us out of the slums three years later. My father landed a job as a petty clerk with a construction firm that was building a dam, and we found a home. It was only a single rented room, but it was better than anything we had in Patna. I went to school nearby. Sometimes a teacher dozed off in class, and a few of us would sneak out the window to steal ripe guavas from a nearby orchard. If we got caught we could count on being caned in front of our classmates. Sometimes it would peel the skin off our backs. By my early teens I was running with a local gang. Membership was my source of confidence, security and excitement. We stole from shopkeepers and farmers, extorted money from truckers and fought against rivals for turf. Many of my pals came from broken families with drunken fathers or abusive stepmothers. Their big dream was to get a job—any job—with the dam-building firm.
Those days ended abruptly when we challenged a rival gang whose members had teased some girls on our turf. Both sides suffered serious injuries before police arrived to break it up. My parents didn’t try to stop me from fleeing town. I made my way to Ranchi, a small city then in southern Bihar. I took on a new name and holed up in a squalid neighborhood. A local tough guy befriended me. He and his partners liked to waylay travelers at night. He always kept me away from his holdups, but he fed me when I had no other food. I also fell in with a group of radical leftists. I didn’t care much about ideology, but they offered the sense of belonging I used to get from my old street gang. I spent the next five years moving from one slum to another, always a step ahead of the police. For money I took odd jobs like peddling newspapers and washing cars.
I might have spent the rest of my life in the slums or in prison if not for books. By the time I was 6, my parents had taught me to read and write Bengali. Literature gave me a special refuge. With Jack London (in translation) I could be a brave adventurer, and with Jules Verne I could tour the world. I worked my way up to Balzac, Hemingway and Dostoevsky. I finally began teaching myself English with the help of borrowed children’s books and a stolen Oxford dictionary. For pronunciation I listened to Voice of America broadcasts and the BBC World Service on a stolen transistor radio. I would get so frustrated I sometimes broke into sobs.
I started hanging around the offices of an English weekly newspaper in Ranchi. Its publisher and editor, an idealistic lawyer-cum-journalist named N. N. Sengupta, hired me as a copy boy and proofreader for the equivalent of about $4 a month. It was there that I met Dilip Ganguly, a dogged and ambitious reporter who was visiting from New Delhi. He came to know that I was living in a slum, suffering from duodenal ulcers. One night he dropped by the office after work and found me visibly ill. He invited me to New Delhi. I said goodbye to my slum friends the next day and headed for the city with him.
In New Delhi I practiced my English on anyone who would listen. I eventually landed an unpaid internship at a small English-language daily. I was delirious with joy. I spent all my waking hours at the paper, and after six months I got a paying job. I moved up from there to bigger newspapers and better assignments. While touring America on a fellowship, I dropped in at NEWSWEEK and soon was hired. That was 25 years ago.
My home now is a modest rented apartment in a gated community in New Delhi. I try to keep in touch with friends from the past. Some are dead; others are alcoholics, and a few have even made good lives for themselves. I’ve met former slum dwellers who broke out of the cage against odds that were far worse than I faced. Still, most slum dwellers never escape. Neither do their kids. No one wants to watch a movie about that. “Slumdog” was a hit because it throbs with excitement, hope and positive energy. But remember an ugly fact: slums exist, in large part, because they’re allowed to exist. Slumdogs aren’t the only ones whose minds need to be opened up.
There is an autobiography of nun written by Kerala Nun on the goings on in a Kerala Chruch. Why don’t some well to do guys buy the English translation and send some copies to the makers of Slumdog Millionaire and to Danny Boyle. It would ne interesting to see if they make a movie out of this. Will they have the guts?
Is the objection to the film per se, or to the fact that it was made by white-skinned Christians? The slumdwellers who objected did so mainly to the dog in the name. The middle class Indian’s use of the word zoppadpattiwala contains more contempt than the gora sahib’s word. For us, these slums are a bloody eyesore that need to be wiped out because they diminish the value of our own property, harbour criminals and are a visible embarassment anytime we have a visitor from abroad. Sanjayji, Jagmohanji and Rukhsana Sultanaji still enjoy a lot of support from us for the beautification drives in Delhi.
The unfortunate thing is that quite a lot of people live in slums because they do not have a choice. Got a job in Mumbai and need a kholi? Virar? Forget it – even Boisar is too expensive. I have seen people practically living in the trains like the Flying Rani or the Deccan because they could not afford to shift to Mumbai. The other choice is Dharavi. Quite a lot of middle-class people, government servants, teachers, workers in MNCs stay here. It also has quite a lot of legitimate business enterprises providing decent employment to people. So there is no need to look down upon a slum. It shelters people who are forced into the cities by poverty in the villages and erosion of their relevance in the rural economy. It shelters quite a lot of people without whom our cities would grind to a halt, but refuse to vanish once their job is over. The Americans can chuck out a H1B the moment his need is over, how can we chuck out our bai, the dudhwala, the pan wala, the roadside mechanic? If they went to stay in Boisar, they would not be at our service at six in the morning.
Yet out of this filth, people emerge – they educate their children, and sometimes, by the grace of God, they move out to better surroundings. Sometimes the area itself upgrades. And we have this wonderful story of Sudip Majumdar. The film’s story becomes humdrum and mundane, compared to real life. Shantanu, thanks for this post.
There is also a very close link between communal violence and slums. This link is the real estate mafia. The slums occupy valuable real estate. Communal riots are a convenient time for clearing real estate for development. There is even a case when rioting that was going on between upper caste Hindus and lower caste Hindus suddenly took a Hindu-Muslim turn. Reason? There was a slum on which some builders had an eye. The gentlemen in khaki helped, as usual.
Muthu, why don’t you check out this link?
http://www.hermenaut.com/a48.shtml
These films aren’t XXX rated porno flicks. They were made by reputed movie makers. There were no fatwas, nor were the film sets broken up and thrown into the Ganga. Obviously, even in Italy, creative people care two hoots for the Vatican.
@Jayadevan
My point where I dont agree-Zoppadpattiwala contains more contempt than the Gora’s word. How can be that? It is the word for home, made with using materials other than concrete building material. It is the word used in dictionary too! Right? Why I raised this point because in India we regard English as a superior language. Instead of saying “Buddhu” we say “stupid”. Because our mind recognise somewhere that english is superior so “Buddhu is more inferior than stupid”. What is the difference? It is the shame we feel in using our language. This is my views.
When we go out of the country every citizen speaks in
their mother tongue when they are in their group, they dont look or compare at the word in their language inferior to the word in English. I have heard some languages which almost sounds as if they are shouting at each other. But they are not ashamed of it!
How come foul language in english can be considered superior than the the similar word in our mother tongue? Zoppadpattiwala is not foul word. But somtime the way people
use it we think it as a slang or showing irreverence.
The other interesting point riots between upper caste Hindus and lower caste Hindus- I dont have anything against you but where it happened, when and between who? May be happening in slums and I am not aware of it. Small fisticuff
s or verbal violence is common all around the world but riots? May be you used the words in rush same like me I do some of the time.
@Indian,
For the gora, this is like Animal Planet or National Geographic. We do not really have any emotions towards other species, do we? For us middle-class people, the slumdwellers are our unacknowledged poor relatives, a constant reminder of the fate that awaits us if we slip one rung on the ladder. They are like a contagion, from which we have to safeguard ourselves. So we try to – forget our commonality and distance ourselves. We tell or children not to play with those dirty children, we walk faster when we have to cross the area. This is but normal, and we will not find this fear in those insulated by levels of affluence or education. They move on a different plane, and can think of joining up (the SPCA?) to help these creatures. This is not particularly Indian. In any country, we have seen that the newest wave of immigrants are normally treated the worst by their immediate predecessors. The word in itself is not pejorative. It is the way we say it.
Item #2 was in 1985, when Madhavsinh Solanki had tried the divide and rule policy by fiddling with the reservation policy and pitching Hindus against one another. The main antagonists were the Thakores(OBC) and Patels. This was when I really came to know what caste meant. And the use of pejoratives for the lower castes like dheda. I had known caste prejudices existed, because BC colleagues used to matter-of-factly discuss how they had to stay in slums because they were refused houses on rent in upper-caste localities, and their children’s changed surnames. Any way, the Muslims were clearly out of the picture. Suddenly one night, the whole scenario changed. Ahmedabad was a tinderbox at that time. 100 odd textile mills closed down, the rest gradually dying, unemployment, frustration and anger everywhere. And starting a Hindu-Muslim riot is easier than making a cup of tea, even in normal circumstances. The bade log have professional stabbers who create panic, they have the cops. If the cops and the bootleggers have an argument about the hafta, the result is a communal riot. This one was spectacular, though, the cops firing more than 300 rounds in one locality, an inspector shot dead, and war was declared. First real Hindu-Muslim clash after 1969. The army had to be called in. Later on, we come to know of the real reasons, from friends in the media and police. Even in 2002, repeated attempts were made to burn the zopadpattis in the Sabarmati riverbed. The people were waiting for this, and they saved their homes. It is another thing that now the riverbed is being beautified, and these people are in the way again.
hi shantanu,
Comment 64 was just a cut and paste from Rajeev’s blog and he just says it ‘as it is’ curtly!
So here’s another from his blog
http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/2009/03/story-in-irish-times-how-slumdog.html
actual link
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0228/1224241983386.html
@Jayadevan
So Anamat Andolan is riot? Violence took place because of some students agitating for the reservation and anti reservation system. It was also on the national level where V.P Singh lost his seat of PM in later years. It wasn’t a riot between upper and lower hindu caste.,as per my knowledge. It was just an protest against reservation.
@Jayadevan
Thakores’ are not OBC? Because, I had many Thakore friends when I was in the state. They are almost like Kashmiri pandits, their ancestors belongs to Kashmir. As per my knowledge Patel will never ever come in to the picture of reservation. They are the least interested in it. They hardly compete with anyone. In short they are landlords. Again what kind of Patels you are mentioning is also Important. Many have adopted the last name “Patel”. Higher plane and lower plane all depends on the way we think and keep habits is my understanding. Any one born in poor family or in slum, who keeps high and right values will always regarded as a person of higher class and respectable. No matter from where he comes.
The word “dheda’ is banned in Gujarat and punishable offense to call anyone as Dheda.
I am not in debate with you, correct me if I am wrong.
@Indian,
Any agitation in Gujarat is accompanied by internecine violence. This time, as the dispute was caste-based, it followed caste lines.The usual attacks on Harijans, throwing burning rags on their shanties etc. The only problem was that the Thakores, who used to be the sword arm of the upper-caste forces were now ranged against them, because Solanki’s adjustments favoured them. I remember the panic in the upper caste ranks when the scales were tilted. The Thakores are numerous, influential and quite a few of them possess firearms. Panic! Guy I knew who had a small workshop making rolling shutters and grills turned over to manufacture of spears and dharias (remember the bill-hook Sunil Dutt carries in Mother India?), of course at four times the normal price. The BSF did night patrolling. We had all night vigils safeguarding our homes from the Thakores. There was a riot all right.
And the Thakores are OBC Kshatriya. Take a look at a list of Congress candidates.
http://www.gujaratcongress.org/2list12.htm
The Patels were indeed bothered by the reservation issue. All Patels are not landlords and rolling in agricultural income. They need education and jobs. This was cutting into their chances. An imitation Patel (a Scheduled Caste who had just changed his surname) would not be perturbed by the reservation. would he?
Oh, nobody calls anyone dheda to his face. It is only used when referring to them. And I was advised not to use quite a few words in the hearing of lower caste people – this advice came from both the high caste users and the low caste targets.
I went through the list. This are not the kind of Thakore, I am talking about. The kind I am talking about are not Kshatriyas they are Brahmin and very rich in culture. I had been to their places, sometime stayed with them. They don’t have any connection in politics and villages of Gujarat as they were too outsiders in Gujarat.
I dont agree with your Patel stands. Can you please check how many upper caste patel in offices and administration jobs in past as well as in present. Also in civil services too. They are the least interested. May be some students who are included in university groups may have demonstrated.
And Yes I too remember Shiv Sena who kept vigil for us whole night, when Muslim mob with what you have mentioned weapons attacked the near by temple at night and had a plan to attack Hindus resident next day. I still remember one lady who rescued cows been killed in market by one muslim butcher in Rickshaw. Do you know that incident! I do remember my cousin in passenger rickshaw passing by muslim area chased by muslim mobs with open swords and weapons what you have mentioned above in hands of Sunil Dutt. And Kudos to muslim driver who saved 2 lives by turning and speeding rickshaw as fast as he can. Trauma ans suffering she went through is unmeasurable, because she never show this kind of weapons in her life time in reality.
@Indian,
The point I was making here was that slums are valuable real estate. I think we know, at least in Gujarat, that communal riots happen quite conveniently for the new rajas and maharajas. There are enough issues lying around. pick up one, brush it off, arrange for a few murders and leave the rest to fools like us. We get frightened of marauding mobs of “them” (about whom we have been hearing horror stories since childhood), their nefarious plans, the rumours of sophisticatd weapons they have, get together to protect our families, and the pre-emptive strikes on “them” are an automatic corollary. It is fear and ignorance of each other that drives all the violence. When people live together and know each other, there is no killing based on your choice of barber or tailor.
http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2006/sanity.htm
Ram Rahim Nagar is hell. The air is noxious. The gutters overflow with chemicals and sewage. The people are poor and uneducated. It is safer to drink a Coke rather than to accept a cup of tea, because the water is contaminated. They know nothing about our glorious past. All they have is a trust in each other and a healthy distrust of, as they told me, “Aapke jaise sharif log”.
The media debate on Slumdog Millionaire is just plain storm in a teacup. The poverty in slums is not a because of the film. It is there and has been there for anyone, who care to see. The accusation that the film-maker has made hay at the expense of the depravity of the prevailing conditions in slums, seems to suggest that the situation would have somehow improved, had the film not been made. On the contrary, the film at least brings the slum related issues to the fore and would help at least some of them to dream and realise the dream.
http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/apr/14/us-radio-host-indians-are-slumdogs.htm
This is what I feared. They got the new term to describe Indians.
Yes, thar Limbaugh comments was expected and here are my feelings , Ref Post 84.
Cry, thy beloved country.
When words are hurled by a sentry.
You rejoiced when Oscars were awarded by the gentry.
Cry loudly,for they have awarded your countrymen to name call workers of your country.
This is Sahir’s Banawat Ki Duniya.
That Hall of Fame, that Jai Ho is all Yeh Takto ki Duniya.
Yeh Awards mil bhi jaye tho kya hai.
85 comments interesting . It would be interesting to find out or study the impact of SDM in recent race attacks on Indians only in Australia.
Good point Avinash…
For a counter-perspective have a look at Sanjeev’s posts (Sanjeev has been living in Melbourne for the past several years)
Shantanu, I deleted all the emails I recd by mistake or you can say not realising the reactions SDM would cause for Indians living overseas about the impact of SDM on Indians being stereotyped as slumdogs. I wish I had retained them. There is an element of crime as Sanjeev says , but so many and it seems it has been for 18 mths, but accelarated more and become more often after the release of SDM. About ABachan refusing doctorate, is a matter of personal feelings. The rediff clip in 84 was sent to me by many and there is SD terminology being thrown at Indians. I wish I had retained those emails.
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20090615&fname=Australia+%28F%29&sid=2
The author is an academic in Australia based in Sydney.
Just go thru this and see if you can access the web site. A different view point to Sanjeev Sabhlok in Melbourne.
Extracts from the article.
The colonial management of Indigenous issues, the attacks against Indian and overseas students are continuing events in Australia’s long racial history. And if some of the attackers prove to be from non-white communities, this is still an effect of the legacy of racism and stereotypical assumptions about overseas students. Unless there is an open debate about these issues, racial incidents will continue to occur.
I was outraged by this craven article by Jug Suraiya in Times of India blog titled “We are even more Racist than Aussies”. You can find the link here
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jugglebandhi/entry/we-re-even-more-racist
Here is my response it which I could not post in the original site due to limitations of length. Kindly accept this post
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Jug Suraiya’s article is repulsively colonial, dangerously dis-informative, intellectually lazy, and totally and absolutely shamelessly craven.
Antecedents of racism : Wikipedia defines racism as “the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” further it says racism usually denotes prejudice, violence, discrimination or oppression. The history of modern racism can be traced it’s biblical roots where the descendants of Canaan son of Ham, the degenerate son of Noah are cursed to be black in color – and a slave to all others. Through years of European colonization – this has been used by Europeans, Americans, and white settlers all over the world as justification of subjugation of Africans, Indians, south Americans and other people.
Modern racism as opposed to various forms of exclusivism and xenophobia – in other cultures – historically is an exclusively European colonial and more specifically Anglo-Saxon and dutch construct. In later times this sentiment was couched in terms like ‘white man’s burden’, ‘civilizing mission’ etc. It is the same mindset that led to outrageous historical fiction such as the ‘aryan invasion theory’ and the straitjacketing of the various communities of India into ‘castes’ of the British legal and governance systems, and the stereo-typification of Indians and particularly hindus as heathens, in need of upliftment by a christian British establishment.
Consider the Aryan invasion theory : this hypothesis is a direct descendant of early indologists’ assumption that india was populated very early by descendant of Noah arriving in from the Levant through central asia. This later morphed into race based invasion model and ultimately a linguistic-historical hypothesis which ascribes Indian civilization to questionably white, judeo-christian roots. In spite of the fact that it has no support in scriptures, archeology, genetics, geo-archeology etc, first world – primarily white – academia still hasn’t fully rejected this hypothesis. Why so ? Because this hypothesis grants white people high antiquity and a grand civilizational , and civilizing framework. This is racism of subtle but stupendous dimensions.
Constructions of castes : It is claimed that the Maratha warrior-hero Shivaji belonged to the Shudra caste, the chief protagonist of the 2nd battle of panipat against Akbar – Hemu – who had anointed himself chakravarti was the son of a saltpeter merchant, again a shudra, Chandragupta of the Maurya’s apparently belonged to a tribe of peacock rearers – again a low caste. The myriad tribes that fought tooth and nail against Mughal expansion into south India were outside the pale of castes. Dharampal – the gandhian scholar – in his study of pre-colonial british archives claims that upto 75% of Indian kings then came from what are today backward castes. He claims that free education for instance was available to all irrespective of castes. We must realize that the current caste dynamics, including may be a reflection of the divisive practices of the colonial british in India.
Colonial studies have a demonstrable history of creating social rifts were none existed. One can quote examples of Rwanda, Srilanka, India, Israel, and northern ireland to demonstrate the same. Racism has a horrendous history of genocide stretching from the americas, through africa and asia down to australia. Blindly equating it with exclusivist, or prejudicial attitudes of some Indians is intellectually lazy.
Most of our current education has not changed much since colonial times – we still imbibe and profess the same attitudes as those of the colonial british. Our elite congratulate themselves on the impeccability (or at least neutrality) of thier english accents. our first prime minister described himself as the last englishman to rule India. The long and short of this is that a lot of us have internalized european and particurly colonial british attitude discourse on India. Therefore the tone of Jug Suraiya’s article which can be summarized as “how dare you despicable divided natives complain about a white man’s racism ?”. Hence his article is repulsively colonial.
Southerners may feel disaccepted in the north – presumably because of the color of thier skin. The experience of northerners is not much happier – ostensibly because of thier apparently violent nature and linguistic traits. As a south Indian brought up in the north, and claiming to have not personally faced such discrimination anywhere, I must hasten to add that southerners have not been targetted en-mass in the north, nor the otherway round in the south. Similarly problems of caste, religion, linguistic affiliations, choice of food are the many areas where differences, prejudices, and plain erroneous perceptions exist. This may lead to many things – playful banter, hurtful comments and sometimes violence – but never genocide – and they do not make Indans racist. Violence and the nastier aspects of discrimination – as prevalent in the European experience – are never the norm in our society but exceptions. It may be a reflection of economic realities and social conditions. The government and educated people in general do not deny it – and an acceptance of the reality prevails in any discourse on Indian society – as visible on this forum. Again as far as the debatable preference by Indian’s for white skin is concerned, how would one categorize the white practice of tanning. White people craving to become brown is okay, but brown people preference for white skin is not okay – is this not racism in itself – isn’t the author implicitly attributing some special qualities white complexion whose pursuit is sinful. Our history, mythos and tradition are witness to innumerable gods, goddesses, heroes and heroines of dark complexion. Where does the author stand on these aspects of our society. Since the article skirts the above stated issues and makes blanket assumptions about some abstract entity called Indian racism – which only serves to divide rather than understand, reconcile differences and unite – his statement is dangerously dis-informative.
Since independence we have scarcely tried or understand and correct mainstream discourse about ourselves, our civilizational ethos, what we stand for, and where we stand on various issues of human interest. Even in this age Westerners continue to vaguely view quarrelsome divisive dirty third world people – a perception our elite has done nothing to rectify. Our once widespread Indic culture has retreated from central-asia, Afghanistan, most of that part of India that is now Pakistan and Bangladesh, Indonesia, Tibet etc. Successive governments have let down Indian’s in various parts of the world including Fiji, Uganda. it is the resourcefulness of Indian origin people themselves and their connectedness with their native ethos that has seen them successfully negotiate these issues and emerge successful. The past few centuries have been witness to the invasion and occupation of our lands, slaughter and enslavement of our people, relegation, exploitation and appropriation of our heritage, usurpation and subversion of our history, and loot and pillage of our riches. In view of this history Indian. Yet Indians have displayed a remarkable absence of vengefulness. Are these not traits to be celebrated ? Does this not qualify for at least some mention of India’s tolerant ethos. Since no obvious research has gone into the article, and since it simply regurgitates colonial ideas about division amongst Indians it is intellectually lazy.
While we should not tar all of Australia as racist, we must move to protect Indians wherever they are. This can be done not just by sending missives to the Australian government, but by analyzing and rebutting colonial assumptions about India, by rejuvenating pride Indian’s have in their ethos and heritage, by not running down Indian’s and Indianness at the alter of just about any other latter day idealogy. Racism can be beaten by making Indians accomplished, successful, self-confident. Our ancient teachings stressing the unity of all existence, love, righteousness, purposeful action, and empathy for life are very relevant in this context, We must realize however that if we do not respect our self – we will not earn someone else’s respect. If we take pride in and applaud some white man making a movie calling us ‘slumdogs’, we should have no qualms about being treated as slumdogs either. Jug Suraiya’s article does not even pretend to any empathy towards fellow Indians undergoing many an ordeal in Australia, instead it treats all indians as slumdogs – apparently to ease his ‘white’ conscience nurtured through years of ‘macaulayist’ conditionaing – hence it is shamelessly craven.
Avinash: Thanks for the link…I will have alook.
***
Rajiv: Thanks for a thought-provoking comment…I will respond later.
*** COMMENT EDITED ***
Prior to the Babur Masjid demolition, over 300 temples were destroyed in Kashmir between 1985-89 by Islamic terrorists. However, Hindus didn’t seek vengeance with Kashmir as the excuse
…Hindus were protesting against a profound symbol of Islam imperialism along with the thousands of other sites where flourishing temples were replaced by mosques. Why cannot Muslims voluntarily return those sites…is it some Islamic commandment?
The author does not justify the excesses committed by Hindu zealots. He seems to protest against the portrayal of Hindus as the unprovoked perpetrators of violence. Also, why this paean for Bangladeshi Muslims who are known to have collectively violated Hindu human rights..
Can it be denied that sections of Muslims with highest growth rates and recalcitrance to modern education especially amongst their women, are holding the development of India hostage to medieval dogma….
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The true story of Edwina M and Nehru has been shelved. ToI news report
…but a mutilated fiction of Vikas Swaroops Q & A , SDM showing Hindus in bad light was allowed. Why must the producers want the GOI’s permission to shoot a true story, when SDM , full of lies about Santan Dharma was allowed to shoot in India. They can create the sets overseas and have actors from UK or USA. There are many NRI’s who can play Nehru. What a travesity of justice? Have the producers lost their guts?
Excerpts from Koenraad Elst’s review of Slumdog Millionaire:
…About this Oscar-winning movie, the following points have been made on Hindu forums, and by Rajiv Malhotra at last week’s Montréal DANAM conference, and partly also by Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup, the very author of the book on which the movie was based:
1) The poverty and neglect in Mumbai are a bit overdone in the movie. ..Now that India is projecting a less miserable, more modern and confident image of itself, this movie revives the Mother-Teresa image of India as the ultimate in material and human misery and in heartless exploitation of fellow human beings. If you have seen the movie, you will have noticed that, as French India-watcher François Gautier puts it, “Slumdog literally defecates on India from the first frame”.
2) The book’s protagonist is a transreligious pan-Indian kid, Rama Mohammed Thomas (the commonest names for Hindus, Muslims c.q. Indian Christians), abandoned as an infant in a church by his mother, whose religion remains unknown. The movie turns him into a Muslim kid, Jamal, orphaned by a Hindu mob killing his mother in a pogrom in the name of Rama. The insertion of a quiz question about “the weapon with which the Hindu god Rama is depicted” (a total non-starter as quiz question in India, because everybody knows the answer: a bow) and Jamal’s memory of seeing a boy with hate-filled eyes enacting Rama-with-bow at the start of the anti-Muslim pogrom, serve to give body to the mediatic fiction of India as a land where an overbearing Hindu majority terrorizes hapless fearful minorities.
The effect is to drive the nail deeper into the coffin of Hinduism’s former reputation for tolerance and confirm its newly crafted image as hateful and a threat to non-Hindus.
…That is how Western interests like to imagine India, among other reasons because it justifies their anti-India position in the Cold War (as during the Bangladesh war of 1971) and its support to Pakistan even now. It also allows them to take a pro-Muslim stand and to depict Muslims as victims rather than terrorists, which looks progressive in the West’s internal multiculturalism debate. For the US, pro-Muslim positions in South Asia (like in the Balkans or in the question of Turkey’s EU accession) serve to appease Muslim anger at the American support to Israel in the Palestinian question.
…3) Jamal is handed to the police for torture on the pretext that he must have cheated, for how else could a “slumdog” know all the answers? In the book, this is done by an American visiting India in connection with the legal rights to the quiz format. In the movie, it is done by the Indian quiz master, who comes across as a lurid incarnation of the well-to-do Indians’ smug and callous mistreatment of their poorer fellow-countrymen. Likewise, the movie’s American tourists in Agra are an incarnation of sanity and benevolence contrasting with the barbarity of the ambient Indian society. This is a throwback to colonial-age stereotypes about India as a backward society in dire need of benevolent Western intervention.
My dream some days back.
It is 1938. In remote village in Bhelpur, the village mukhiya is angry and he gives a speech that we have to find out who translated the Mythili libaaz of inheritance in a twisted manner to Lord Boyle and Lord Simon in English. Yes , after three days, they find a new Indian Civil Service (ICS) recruit who was posted in Kenya earlier had translated all this in a twisted manner. The Mukhiya was furious to learn that Vikram Roop, the ICS had done this twisted translation. The villagers with the Mukhiya plan their action. They go to the learned Daulatram to show this and what action could be taken. The twisted translation had made them loose most of their land and they had become paupers. Slowly they plan. Daulatram comes with a smelly obnoxious idea. Why not make Lord Boyle, Lord Simon and Vikram Roop wear only a langot and dip them in a pit full of excreta. †Excreta !!! Excreta !!! shouts the Mukhiya to Daulatram. Daulatram responds †Sirf unko excreta yanike goo me doobana hai aur phir upar keechna hai. Unko maloom hona chaiye ke hamara goo karne ki jagah aur udhar ka samne wale sara zameen ko lekar, hamahe kitna parashani pahuchayiâ€.
The villagers of Bhelpur unite and when all unite there is success. The day of the dip arrives. The entire village watches the three wearing a langot and being dipped in pit of excreta. The Mukhiya is jubilant at this. He keeps on shouting †Excreta!!! Excreta!!! and the villagers shout in chorus in their own way. The chorus resounds †Excreta!! Excreta!!! as the three are lifted up and dipped back into the pit of excreta for number of times.
I also shout †Excreta !!! Excreta!! and with joy fall off my bed in my sleep. The cleaner who was cleaning my hotel room, (it was early morning) was a bit confused. First he smiled and then he asked me †Are you doing some excreta analysis†I said “No†getting up from the floor. The cleaner said †It is all shit now , no more excreta†He inquired whether I was hurt. Fortunately the joy of the dream , made me only scream , as I feel on my fleshy portion.
I did not talk to him much, but inquired with him as to whether he was doing a part time cleaning job. Yes he said , I studied upto intermediate in college and then hard times came , I had to do a correspondence course with this cleaning job to support.
I knew in 1938 , shit had not arrived. I brushed my teeth and had coffee and then looked at the mirror and said to myself †You have a script now , just expand itâ€
It is some days now after the dream, but just see how in the subconscious , I am still unhappy. I leave it to some good script writer to expand on this and write a full fledged story. Go ahead readers, the sky is the limit if you are not bothered about the credit.
Gajanan , your very short write up is creative. Someone can expand on it. Since you have given a open acess for expanding the story line, I wish all the best for its success.