That's what first came to my mind when I finished watching Oscars last night and cheering loudly for SlumDog Millionaire-a good-not-great movie which made a clean sweep of 8 awards even when pitched against great-not-just-good movies such as Curious Case of BB.
It is essentially a rags-to-riches story which may have appealed unimaginably to audiences across borders especially in a time when people are very rapidly getting dragged down to the rags from their riches. And the stark portrayal of the poverty,deprivation,frustration and humiliation that is an integral part of a slum-dweller's life in a less developed country such as India and that too in the financial center of the country, Mumbai, perhaps stunned the rich western world whose citizens hardly know the true meaning of the word 'slum-dweller', let alone witnessing the trials and tribulations of the same. All valid points and indeed this was a well made movie.
But 8 Oscars?
I grew up watching movies and have always maybe naively, considered the Academy Awards as a pinnacle of success in the movie world-not because it is the white world's award but because it is a huge stage that brings together creativity and talent from all parts of the world. But never for once did I feel that SM was a movie which deserved 8 of those awards in so many diverse categories!
Some say it was the magic woven by the publication agencies, some say Danny Boyle indeed is a great film maker,some say the movie is realistic and portrays a unique story-maybe.
But isn't it also possible that all this attention to this one movie was to ensure that a gateway opens up which paves the way to a series of future collaborations between foreign directors and producers and India actors, resulting in movies shot in India based on Indian themes but mainly marketed abroad? Cost of making such movies in Rupees of course, is much lower than producing/shooting movies in Hollywood yet the profits earned especially when the movie hits the bulls eye as SM did..run in billions of dollars! Voila!
Economists love to draw parallels (think current recession and 1930s Great Depression!)...and I don't consider myself an exception!
Circa 1992-Miss World and Miss Universe contests both won by two pretty Indian ladies and rest as they say was history! The floodgates were opened and Indian markets were truly flooded with western fashion brands,cosmetic products-you name it! And on the basis of the pent up hunger of a population of more than a billion..multinational companies in these industries ended up making enormous profits!
Circa 2009-A movie directed by a Brit and co-produced by an Indian wins 8 Oscars and Bollywood is already abuzz with talks of 'collaborations'..(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Hollywood-here-we-come-says-India/articleshow/4179949.cms)..it's a win-win for all ain't it?
Results? Let's just wait and watch!
Monday, February 23, 2009
stop thinking!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Bloggers-can-be-nailed-for-views/articleshow/4178823.cms
whatever happened to freedom of speech and expression in the world's largest democracy!!
does that mean us bloggers now need to think twice before penning down our thoughts? what's the point of being 'free' netizens then? what's the point of celebrating our independence every year when we don't even have the freedom to express our thoughts! infact..blogging should very well be banned in India then coz who's gonna take up the role of a censor to decide what is allowed and what is not! and in similar lines..bollywood directors should be stopped from making movies coz any theme is liable to be protested against by some group in the country! and Danny Boyle for sure should have been prohibited from making SM coz after all it nakedly exposes the 'slumness' of Indian slums and Dev D should be banned coz it perhaps makes fun of a great Bengali novelist! Likewise, our actresses should be banned coz they are wearing dresses that expose parts of their bodies in so many ways and even indulging in drinking/smoking on screen not to mention the acts of physical intimacy with the opposite sex! Print and online media should be banned too coz they publish articles on as taboo a subject as sex and books/novels on societal issues should be burned coz they pollute people's minds!
So basically we all should return to our primitive ways of living in ignorance and never think of expressing ourselves in fear that we may be arrested and prosecuted by the powers that be!
Bravo...!!
Reminds me of a popular movie of the 1980s named 'Hirak Rajar Deshe', produced by late Satyajit Ray (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080856/) wherein the king of the kingdom had a machine using which he could brainwash his subjects and make them say whatever he wanted...if bloggers can get arrested..then perhaps Ray had a great foresight!
whatever happened to freedom of speech and expression in the world's largest democracy!!
does that mean us bloggers now need to think twice before penning down our thoughts? what's the point of being 'free' netizens then? what's the point of celebrating our independence every year when we don't even have the freedom to express our thoughts! infact..blogging should very well be banned in India then coz who's gonna take up the role of a censor to decide what is allowed and what is not! and in similar lines..bollywood directors should be stopped from making movies coz any theme is liable to be protested against by some group in the country! and Danny Boyle for sure should have been prohibited from making SM coz after all it nakedly exposes the 'slumness' of Indian slums and Dev D should be banned coz it perhaps makes fun of a great Bengali novelist! Likewise, our actresses should be banned coz they are wearing dresses that expose parts of their bodies in so many ways and even indulging in drinking/smoking on screen not to mention the acts of physical intimacy with the opposite sex! Print and online media should be banned too coz they publish articles on as taboo a subject as sex and books/novels on societal issues should be burned coz they pollute people's minds!
So basically we all should return to our primitive ways of living in ignorance and never think of expressing ourselves in fear that we may be arrested and prosecuted by the powers that be!
Bravo...!!
Reminds me of a popular movie of the 1980s named 'Hirak Rajar Deshe', produced by late Satyajit Ray (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080856/) wherein the king of the kingdom had a machine using which he could brainwash his subjects and make them say whatever he wanted...if bloggers can get arrested..then perhaps Ray had a great foresight!
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