Slumdog Oscars

I have a good memory attached with this film......not for the film alone....but there were two more reasons....firstly it was my first date with my "would-be" :P ..........& secondly after a long time I was back to my Favorite theater of my college days...The old & nostalgic "New Empire" ....at the heart of Kolkata!! Although I was shocked by the condition of the theater...no maintenance at all...almost at its last stage standing like an outdated performer in front of those few remaining loyal fans.....making way for the "multiplex culture"!!

Apart from these two factors the film was good too as expected.......a film made from heart....and also with some good research work (not enough though) from a British director to make such a film on India. The music was great too!!

.....But I was speechless when I found it won 8 Oscars......I had a thin idea about how these awards work....still....8 Oscars for "Slumdog millionaire"? It’s too much!! Once again my old idea about ACADEMY AWARDS was cemented.......its miles away from being a judging standard for foreign culture films. How can the juries judge a film from a totally different culture from there own?? They heavily depends on the marketing of that film & the way they portray it in front of them......the content of the film comes much later in the queue!! I wonder how SLUMDOG was better than TAARE ZAMEEN PAR?? Maybe because the TZP subject was not based on “hungry Indians” or “Slums”. Watching the former I felt it was a superb story & could have been presented far better by some of the recent Indian directors than Danny himself. Not because they are better or worse than him.......but just because they are far more aware & attached to the subject.......doing some research on India is not enough to understand her essence…I really felt the essence was missing in the film.......it really looked like the India as watched by the eye of a western tourist!!

Sometimes I wonder how they judge the emotions represented in a different language?? I remember watching "Panther Panchali" with subtitles in English......felt like 50% of the taste or meaning is missing (or misinterpreted) when translated in English.....still they find it to be one of Ray's best work......indeed it is.....but what about his other works....how many of his other films are known to the outside world?? The reality is that they only accept to watch India as they love to watch.......the poor, dirty, “land of the snake charmers” kind of movies will sale like hot cakes….anything else & its not “Real India”!!

And the most unfortunate thing is that we Indians are still very much dependant on western recognition……unless & until someone is recognized by some European or American organization, they are not valued in his/her own country too!! Satyajit Ray was a “good” director in India before he got an Oscar……but after that he became an “Excellent” director ……the critics were the same…..just the First world recognition & an Oscar in his hand changed the “quality” of his movies overnight…..!!













Also you will find these Oscar films as some Brands…..attaching your name with it might bring an Oscar to you too……..performance or content doesn’t matter……only marketing & belonging to the right group matters. Films getting around 10 Oscars……will show you what I mean!! Rahman got 2 Oscars for Slumdog…….although he had given his best long ago……and this was only an average album for his caliber…….he got recognized only for riding the right train!! Thousands of classic performances in numerous low budgeted or low publicized films go unrecognized every time because they missed the train!! That’s why I don’t believe in such awards as the ultimate recognition of an artwork……..it only helps me to pick up some good movies & performances…….not in deciding the best!!