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Perspective
Slumdog and
After Effects
by
Pramod Khilery
Slumdog Millionaire is an exception though not wholly. How often have we
seen any work of art from India or about India getting western nod not
being castigated by one section or other in India? Ranging from some
nondescript group to Government of India itself, everyone has been
touchy when it came to portrayal of India through artistic means. A
western gaze, behind or before the work, no matter however much slight,
only added to the disrepute of the work. So we have instances of books
being banned, paintings being burned, films being prevented from taking
shape and artists behind them being accused of selling India’s seamier
side to their personal gain. India as a whole never partook in their
glory.
It can’t be termed a co incidence when almost everybody who brought
India laurels from foreign shores especially from west confronted
resentment and indifference back home. Recently when Arvind Aliga won
the Booker prize for his debut book he has had his share of caustic
criticism for dishing out squalor of India to his western readers.
Expectedly the coveted prize did not do any good for the sales of his
book in India. His claims of being an insider were ripped apart by
adducing his stints abroad. Kiran Desai was lucky to have got only a
mute disapproval of her book and magazines which dare to publish
Arundhati Roy’s articles get letters spewing venom in abundance from the
claimants of nationalist disposition. Despite being a master auteur
Satyajit Ray could never get all India recognition and on most occasions
was resented and ridiculed by leading cinema personalities including the
showman Raj Kapoor. Booker of Bookers winner Salman Rushdie first tasted
the swill of ban not in any other but in the country where he was born.
In addition we have many instances when foreigners casting their
artistic eyes on India found themselves thrown out of country.
Slumdog, despite being a work of Briton depicting the financial capital
of India in its filthiest avatar, has more or less escaped both official
and public ire. Surprisingly we did not get to see any major protest
either from chauvinists who consider themselves custodians of Indian
culture and past or from those whose sensibilities are thinner than a
grain of sand. In stark contrasts to earlier responses India is looking
up to its performance in Oscars. So what is it about Slumdog that did
not make Indians angry despite certain provocative remarks emanating
from those who hold considerable influence over them?
The question assumes even more importance in the wake of the fact that
most NRIs felt certainly embarrassed by the portrayal of India in this
film and had tough time watching the film in the midst of foreign mainly
white audiences. The dynamics of watching a film about one’s nation
completely changes depending upon where and with whom the film is being
watched. And when the film in question happens to be a departure from
fairy tale romance the passion runs even more high. NRIs must have tried
to read the contours of white faces when screen was bursting with filth
and slum seemingly unfit for any civilian inhabitation. Far from the
nation when the patriotic feelings tend to float on surface even a tinge
of snigger on foreign faces becomes a cause for discomfiture. This
expounds the predicament most NRIs had watching the film.
But when the same film was watched by Indians here in India amongst an
audience comprised of only Indians it was not the reaction of the
‘others’ that they were concerned about but it was what was there on the
screen. For us Jamal was not a protagonist representing India but just a
character whose free spirit and histrionics made us laugh. Even when
Jamal thought it fit to dip into a pit of shit and ran towards Amitabh
Bachchan in a way no Indian child no matter however much poor can ever
think of doing it was not the crap we allowed to disturb our mind but
Jamal’s ‘come-what-may-I-will’ attitude that we admired and enjoyed.
A Briton may have overdone certain things and that too ironically in the
name of reality but no longer are we naïve enough not to be able to
separate fiction from fact. Any fiction may have its seed in the fact
only but a fact deprived of the nonchalance, freedom and imagination of
fiction will just be a banal statistic not what we call art.
So when we saw eyes of a child being gouged out by beggar mafia we knew
it may be truth and turning our eyes blind to it won’t make it false but
at the same time we did not forget that there are other truths also
which are not tough on eyes but eye pleasing. This time India has been
able to see a film just as a film. It only lends credence to the
assertion that over the years not only India but Indians have grown
also.
It is high time that west also recognize Indian talents other than which
holds mirror to Indian society abut its fallacies. We can’t repudiate
the bitter truth that had Slumdog not been directed by a Briton it
wouldn’t have become the kind of global success it did. We can’t blame
the skeptics when they say that Indian poverty sells in west because
facts back their claim. Apart from ‘Lagan’ and ‘Gandhi’ every other film
or for that matter any piece of art that west thought worthy of their
recognition centers around only one theme yes, Indian abyss. Even
‘Lagan’ is a rustic story and ‘Gandhi’ too like Slumdog was a foreign
venture. So the fact that a Briton filming what allegedly pleases
western eyes becomes a success is not at all surprising. What is
astonishing is the way India shed their inhibitions, broke their earlier
lenses and reveled in the success and story of the film.
But unfortunately we can’t say the same about west. It is yet to come
out of its illusions and inhibitions. Deeming that no Indian film was
ever considered good enough to get an Oscar nod it is pretty safe to
assume that some preconceived notions preclude west from looking at
Indian cinema in a dispassionate way. How else do we comprehend that in
nearly 100 years of its history Indian cinema couldn’t come up even with
one film worthy of being the best film in foreign language cinema
category? Even the great Satyajit Ray had to content with a general
award like lifetime achievement at the fag end of his life.
And this grudge becomes even weightier when we see the current toast of
Oscars Slumdog using every stereotype for which Indian cinema has often
been scoffed by westerns. Lack of logic, co-incidences, song and dance,
two brothers parting and venturing in opposite directions and then
meeting and living-happily-ever-after are the ingredients Slumdog
heavily relies on stringing them with the doses of reality. I need not
mention here a number of classics from Indian cinema which will never
gather the dust of the time and will keep furthering the cause of Indian
cinema.
People may claim that Oscar is not the be all and end all and ‘Noble’ of
cinema but we can’t wish away the fact that Oscar makes for an
international approval of the work and not only brings one an
unprecedented recognition but also catapults to a level from where one
is visible and audible to the whole world. So despite Oscar’s arguable
status as the absolute award people in the film business will keep
craving for the coveted trophy. Indian cinema may have more viewers than
Western cinema can ever boast but still it is considered loud and
escapist.
Slumdog may not be an Indian film but it has definitely helped Indian
talent get a global exposure. A. R. Rehman’s three Oscar nominations and
Resool Pookutty’s one will go a long way in making other’s road to
global recognition a little less bumpy. Indian cinema which unjustly
bears the burden of derogatory epithet Bollywood can begin treading a
new path from here. Slumdog may prove to be a watershed moment if west
acknowledges new talent and Indians leave no stone unturned in cashing
in on this wonderful opportunity. Not only will it lead Indian cinema to
a world wide artistic recognition but also extricate it from the image
of being kitschy which is not that far from truth. The acceptance of a
film that sparked a debate about its being India bashing or India
celebrating amongst Indians should abet both Indian film makers to let
the art of cinema rule in its full blossom and west to be more
appreciative of creative talent from India regardless of any propensity
towards its favored subjects.
February 8, 2009
Read Also:
Slum Dogs and White Tigers
by Dr. Neria Harish Hebbar
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