David Denby, the movie critic of New Yorker dismisses Slumdog as “fairy tale for adults” and states: “What I will remember of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is a disorderly exploitation of disorder, a kind of visual salad of glowing rotten fruit, constantly tossed. I object to the way that the director, Danny Boyle, orchestrates Jamal’s life. Boyle has created what looks like a jumpy, hyper-edited commercial for poverty—he uses the squalor and violence touristically, as an aspect of the fabulous.”
The editor of La Lassurophobe on the other hand says, “Boyle has captured the rich tapestry of Indian life, expressed how a country so mired in such extreme poverty can manage to triumph as one of the world’s great democracies nonetheless. The Bollywood dance number that finishes the picture shows there heroic people thumbing their nose at tragedy and daring to be happy despite their circumstances. Rather than turning into bleak, morose devils yearning to bring forth a dictator like Stalin, the people of India choose hope and defiance.”
Bravo we say to Slumdog Millionaire; it winning 8 Oscars would be a minor victory for those who struggle for democracy throughout the world.
Dear members, what do you think the movie means for India and its image? Would you like to discuss this issue with the much accomplished Ms. Neelam Man Singh who has established her forte all over the world through theatre and who has studied other societies while treating the audiences the world over to some excellent plays directed by her.
Ms. Neelam Man Singh will be our chief guest this Monday, 2nd March 2009 and talk to us on the current debate of what Slundog Millionaire means to India and the world.
AP
