Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Oscar goes to Slumdog Millionare: The Credit goes to ??


The incredible performance of Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars brought in mixed reactions from world over. Some felt that the movie deserved it all, rest fought that it didn't..
But interested to note is the way the Indian politicians and British media are fighting to take credit of the success of movie. Here are some of the reactions:

Mr. Manmohan Singh:
"Congratulations, The winners have done India proud."

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi:
"They represent the finest traditions of our film industry and are an inspiration to all of us,"

Congress Spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi:
"a film of India, for India, by India" and also added that the "conducive atmosphere with emphasis on good governance contributing to an achieving India".
"We are celebrating it, not taking credit for the film". He referred to the first individual gold medal in Olympics by Abhinav Bindra, the Indian mission to moon, special status to India in the 123 agreement without signing the NPT, nine per cent growth rate and the country being the second fastest economy in the world, and of course the 8 Oscars for India-focused film as part of "Achieving India".


This seems to be a ploy similar to the one used by the NDA government before the previous general elections, just that the "Indian Shining" has now become "Achieving India".

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown:
“I am incredibly proud of the Oscar success of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and Kate Winslet, and I congratulate everybody who has contributed to the success. Britain is showing it has the talent to lead the world. I think we should be very proud of what are great British successes.
“It shows that Britain is leading the world not just in film but fashion, music and design - and long may that be the case - as a result of the great talent that we have,”

His reactions came in very quick, even before the Indians could snatch all the attention.

Here are different reactions from people more closely associated with the movie -

Danny Boyle

"There's one guy I should mention, we've mentioned a lot of people. I forgot a guy. The guy who choreographed the dance at the end of the film. He's called Longiness. And I forgot him off the credits. And I only found out about it two weeks ago. I'm an idiot and I apologize from the bottom of my heart, Longiness. Thank you so much. Finally, just to say to Mumbai, 'Unending, inseparable, unborn.' All of you who've helped us make the film and all of you of those of you who didn't thank you so much. You dwarf even this guy (gesturing to the statuette). Thank you very much indeed."


Frank Boyle (father of Danny Boyle)
"I think it's reasonable,He is not making films for me. He is making them for younger filmgoers so I won't say anything more about it. I really liked the music I thought it was wonderful."

Tanay Hemant Chheda
"It's unbelievable, it's still not sunk in. We are on the red carpet. Wow!"

Any guesses for what did my favorite performer in the movie had to say ??



Anyways, I think we all Indians should realise the fact that Slumdog Millionaire is essentially an English production, made in India. Let's not go overboard and call it an achievement or recognition of "Bollywood" in the West. So, the credit goes to all the people associated with the movie the Director, Producer, All the actors, the technicians, and support staff. And not to forget here, Vikas Swarup and his book "Q&A" (chosen as "The Most Influential Book of the Year 2008" by Kingstone Bookstore in Taiwan, the biggest chain store throughout Taiwan)which made all this possible..

2 comments:

Pankaj Parashar said...

the good thing is that this is based on an Indian story..an original one...and one must appreciate Danny Boyle...he made the story into a movie very beautifully..and used the music was woven into it very wonderfully...i doubt if any indian director would hv made it then the outcome would hv been the same...
there were some loopholes although...but now who cares :)

Harsha said...

Congress buys rights to use "Jai Ho" for its election campaign -
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Congress-gets-Jai-Ho-copyright-for-polls/articleshow/4220274.cms