ID :
41381
Sun, 01/18/2009 - 20:53
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/41381
The shortlink copeid
Is India still the `slumdog` for Western audiences?
New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) "SlumDog Millionaire" has won
over the Western audiences with its 'fairy tale in a Mumbai
slum' storyline but back home the film has opened up a heated
debate about the stereotyped representation of India and
Mumbai in the Western films.
None other than Bollywood's Big B, Amitabh Bachchan
joined forces with the critics of Slumdog in his blog.
"If "Slumdog Millionaire" projects India as Third
World dirty under belly developing nation and causes pain and
disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that
a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most
developed nations," Bachchan wrote.
"Its just that the SM idea authored by an Indian and
conceived and cinematically put together by a Westerner, gets
creative Globe recognition. The other would perhaps not," he
said.
But despite the astounding success achieved by the
film, which is being touted as the next big winner at the
Oscars, Bishakha Dutta, a documentary filmmaker based in
Mumbai, is articulate about her disappointment with the much
hyped film.
She says, "The film takes each and every cliche there
is about India and Mumbai and puts it in its plot. The result
is a film that takes you from one horror of Mumbai to another,
in a plot that is incredulously unbelievable."
Shyam Benegal, veteran film maker who is credited as
the pioneer of art house cinema in India refuses to take sides
and says "I have not seen the film but answering the question
from a theoretical point of view, as a foreign director
filming in India, Danny would view his surroundings as a
foreigner would and that is natural."
"Richard Attenborough made a film on Gandhi in 1982
and it went onto win eight Oscars; I too made a film on Gandhi
but it did not get that sort of response. That is because
Attenborough could place Gandhi in a cultural context that
could be easily understood by a western audience," Benegal
says.
"But an Indian film made by an Indian director is
different because he brings a completely different perspective
to the table, one that might not be well understood by a
foreign audience," Benegal told PTI.
So is there a invisible ceiling that bars Indian
directors from entering the haloed and glittering gates of the
western award galas; does Apartheid still exist in the film
circles of the West!
Many would try to answer the question by throwing up
the name of Satyajit Ray who won an honorary Oscar in 1992 for
Lifetime Achievement. But can Ray's work be taken as
representative of the larger diaspora of Indian cinema,
especially India's popular cinema, Bollywood?
Bacchan had an opinion on the above question. He wrote
in his blog, "The so called commercial escapist world of
Indian Cinema had vociferously battled for years on the
attention paid and the adulation given to the legendary
Satyajit Ray at all the prestigious Film Festivals of the
West."
"And not a word of appreciation for the entertaining
mass oriented box office blockbusters that were being churned
out from Mumbai. The argument, Ray portrayed reality. The
other escapism, fantasy and incredulous posturing."
Satyajit Ray apart, India and Hollywood go a long way
back, from Peter Seller's Baxi in "The Party" to Dev Patel's
Jamaal in "Slumdog Millionaire," India and Indians have
figured aplenty in Hollywood films, usually the stereotypical
lampoon in awe of the wonderful west, with oily hair and funny
accent.
So are all works by foreigners culprits of having a
lopsided view of India.Despite her harsh criticism of
"Slumdog"?
Bishakha says that an out and out judgment on all
works by non Indiand would be inappropriate and unjust.
"The book that came the closest to capturing the true
spirit of Mumbai was "Shantaram" by Gregory Roberts, who is an
outsider, so to say. But it taught me a lot about Mumbai,
things that I did not know about the city I live in," said
Bishakha.
The world got it's first taste of India during the
60's with Merchant Ivory films which brought together Indian
and British artistes with stories that were based in the
Indian milieu. PTI
over the Western audiences with its 'fairy tale in a Mumbai
slum' storyline but back home the film has opened up a heated
debate about the stereotyped representation of India and
Mumbai in the Western films.
None other than Bollywood's Big B, Amitabh Bachchan
joined forces with the critics of Slumdog in his blog.
"If "Slumdog Millionaire" projects India as Third
World dirty under belly developing nation and causes pain and
disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that
a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most
developed nations," Bachchan wrote.
"Its just that the SM idea authored by an Indian and
conceived and cinematically put together by a Westerner, gets
creative Globe recognition. The other would perhaps not," he
said.
But despite the astounding success achieved by the
film, which is being touted as the next big winner at the
Oscars, Bishakha Dutta, a documentary filmmaker based in
Mumbai, is articulate about her disappointment with the much
hyped film.
She says, "The film takes each and every cliche there
is about India and Mumbai and puts it in its plot. The result
is a film that takes you from one horror of Mumbai to another,
in a plot that is incredulously unbelievable."
Shyam Benegal, veteran film maker who is credited as
the pioneer of art house cinema in India refuses to take sides
and says "I have not seen the film but answering the question
from a theoretical point of view, as a foreign director
filming in India, Danny would view his surroundings as a
foreigner would and that is natural."
"Richard Attenborough made a film on Gandhi in 1982
and it went onto win eight Oscars; I too made a film on Gandhi
but it did not get that sort of response. That is because
Attenborough could place Gandhi in a cultural context that
could be easily understood by a western audience," Benegal
says.
"But an Indian film made by an Indian director is
different because he brings a completely different perspective
to the table, one that might not be well understood by a
foreign audience," Benegal told PTI.
So is there a invisible ceiling that bars Indian
directors from entering the haloed and glittering gates of the
western award galas; does Apartheid still exist in the film
circles of the West!
Many would try to answer the question by throwing up
the name of Satyajit Ray who won an honorary Oscar in 1992 for
Lifetime Achievement. But can Ray's work be taken as
representative of the larger diaspora of Indian cinema,
especially India's popular cinema, Bollywood?
Bacchan had an opinion on the above question. He wrote
in his blog, "The so called commercial escapist world of
Indian Cinema had vociferously battled for years on the
attention paid and the adulation given to the legendary
Satyajit Ray at all the prestigious Film Festivals of the
West."
"And not a word of appreciation for the entertaining
mass oriented box office blockbusters that were being churned
out from Mumbai. The argument, Ray portrayed reality. The
other escapism, fantasy and incredulous posturing."
Satyajit Ray apart, India and Hollywood go a long way
back, from Peter Seller's Baxi in "The Party" to Dev Patel's
Jamaal in "Slumdog Millionaire," India and Indians have
figured aplenty in Hollywood films, usually the stereotypical
lampoon in awe of the wonderful west, with oily hair and funny
accent.
So are all works by foreigners culprits of having a
lopsided view of India.Despite her harsh criticism of
"Slumdog"?
Bishakha says that an out and out judgment on all
works by non Indiand would be inappropriate and unjust.
"The book that came the closest to capturing the true
spirit of Mumbai was "Shantaram" by Gregory Roberts, who is an
outsider, so to say. But it taught me a lot about Mumbai,
things that I did not know about the city I live in," said
Bishakha.
The world got it's first taste of India during the
60's with Merchant Ivory films which brought together Indian
and British artistes with stories that were based in the
Indian milieu. PTI
