Every now and then a good movie comes out that is congratulated for its artistic merit and originality. This year, that movie was Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Since its arrival in the U.S., “Slumdog” fever has spread across the nation. The Oscar award nominee encompasses the life story of a chai walla, or tea server, named Jamal, and the struggles he encountered living in the slums of India. The reason that such a life-story arose? He was a contestant on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and was accused of cheating. How could such a lowlife know the answers to so many questions, enough to win more money than any “slumdog” could even dream of?
The answer: his life experiences have tipped him off, in some way or another, to every question. Whether it was knowing that a $100 bill displayed the face of diplomat Benjamin Franklin or which film Amitabh Bachan starred in, Jamal had some experience to give him the answer. Of course, the story would be incomplete without a heart-felt love story, traces of familial bonds and dysfunction, and an overall happy ending.
Those who watched the movie came out of theaters feeling a wide array of emotions – happiness, sadness, guilt, thoughtful reflection, anger and disbelief. First-year Truett Adams thought the movie was a huge success and raved about its merit, “I thought the movie touched on a lot of moral-truth issues and it hit really close to home – for me, at least – for a country so far away.”
Others were quite content with the film but were a tad bit more skeptical about the commotion it seemed to cause. Aneesha Kudtarkar, a first-year, boarded the boat of skepticism recently: “I liked the movie a lot, but I don’t know that it deserved to win some of the awards that it did.”
And then there were the few that were slightly disappointed with the end-product. Rashmi Anandampillai, a first-year international student from India, loved the movie after initially watching it. “I couldn’t stop talking about it. It was so well done and I have followed the progress of some of the actors for quite some time.” But her perception quickly changed after realizing how the film had affected everyone. “India has progressed so much in the last couple of years that it just seems anti-climactic that a director creates a film that focuses so much on the slums it almost makes every bit of effort to bring the image of India up useless; economically, politically, and socially. It’s just sad that it’s all westerners see in us now.”
Kudtarkar disagreed. “It’s not a movie-maker’s responsibility to represent an entire nation, it’s his responsibility to make a good movie and tell a compelling story.”
If that’s the case, then Boyle definitely succeeded in this feat.
In the end, I suppose it’s great that attention has been brought to the dire situations in India, such as the slums, violence and corrupt politics, but where has it left India in the eyes of westerners? Will India forever be known to the world as the slum that could never climb the social ladder? With all the progress that India has made in the last few years, it will be interesting to see just how easily swayed the public will be in changing their perceptions.
Nureen Gulamali is a freshman advertising and sociology double major. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].
