Controversy or Opportunity?

Very recently, this movie has picked up a lot of publicity due to its nominations in the Golden Globes and the BAFTA's of this world. Typically its the other way around. A movie picks up controversy and then has a successful run. The major point of contention is that SDM portrays India and Indians in very bad light.

I watched the movie last weekend with high expectations. After all, it is the talk of the town (world). I thought it was a good movie, not an extraordinary one. It had excellent screenplay and a good story: a rags to riches story combined with a backbone of romance strikes a chord with most of the moviegoers. The performances, music and direction were good. Good, not great. Arrahman (my idol) has composed far more exemplary tunes in his career that has gone unnoticed. Anyways the world likes his music in this movie and lets leave it at that.

Now to the actual controversy. I thought it was a very abject and true portrayal of the slums in Mumbai. Did the director need to pick a guy from a slum? why not a middle class guy who went to the show? That doesn't have as much impact as a dirty, crap-covered, almost-beggar, gang-warfare affected dude making it big as a millionaire. So that was needed for the movie. Add that to the Western audience's interest in poverty in other parts of the world (Salaam Bombay, City of Gods) and you have a powerful combination to sustain interest.

We had some callers in the show last Sunday with some very interesting views on this topic:

Mala Padmanabhan (California) shared her experiences with school going children in the US and their 'ideas' of India. Mala mentioned that she was asked questions such as 'do you burn women in India after their husbands die' by these kids. She suggested educating the teachers in the first place about India and its culture and was optimistic that it would percolate down. Vishwanathan (Houston) commented that the best media for dispersing information on India was ourselves and the way we are perceived by others. That according to him was going to be more powerful than movies. These and other comment put the onus on us to be better ambassadors of India. I was expecting some heavy SDM trashing and instead returned with a very positive outcome to the discussion.

Look forward to more of these!