An Indian View of Slumdog millionaire

After its feat at the Golden Globe, nominations for the Oscars and rave reviews of the west, Slumdog Millionaire, rechristened as ‘Slumdog Crorepathi’ hit the Indian screens on Friday. As any other enthusiast I checked out the movie on Friday itself.

Being a patriot, what hit me first was the depiction of India. Probably the timing of the movie was wrong, especially when patriotism and the concept of oneness are gushing into every Indian’s blood after the 26/11 incident. With the downturn also hitting us badly, we Indians probably want more gratification that “India is safe, secured and is a heaven on the earth” kind of stuff rather than a gruesome portrayal like this. May be this is the reason.


Kushwant singh rightly said “Indians don’t laugh at themselves”. Yeah we don’t, and we certainly don’t laugh if others make fun of us. It’s not a service that “Slumdog Millionaire” has done to tell Indians who we are. Its business man! Business over an Indian mockery is surely not a relished one.

AR Rahman is definitely the best. But Slumdog Millionaire is certainly not his best. Indians have heard far better scores than Slumdog Millionaire. But it’s again undeniable that it required a Slumdog millionaire to get him to his most deserved place.

Technically the movie was brilliant. A good fairy tale, in a wrong Indian context.

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