[Assam] Slumdog Millionaire

[Chan Mahanta]

Hi A:

>  as a person of Indian origin, I found the movie very very depressing --

*** That is actually a positive trait. Shows you are not insensitive 
or desensitized like  the Indian establishment, its intelligentsia, 
its middle classes.

Thanks for your input. Always good to have another perspective on things.

I too thought it was kind of strange that the Quiz Host was behaving 
so nastily towards the kid.  Since I don't watch desi -TV, and had a 
peek or two once at the American  Idol contest where some of the 
judges put the contestants down rather rudely,  I thought perhaps 
Indian TV picked the idea up too.


>"they are muslim, get them" was not very constructive either.

**** While it may not be 'constructive' or even be provocative, that 
DID happen though, didn't it? And more than once , not just in 
Mumbai.  Am I incorrect about that? If it did or does happen, I would 
think it is legitimate to show it. Because the idea is to make an 
impact on society by exposing what people would rather not see or 
hear.

Looks like the Houston desis, by and large, reflect that same 
mind-set, avoiding  confronting the realities of India, just like 
their peers and kin back home. It will open in St. Louis this week. 
In SF, the house was packed--by desis and natives.

>I think Seven Pounds was much more realistic and showed a real 
>purpose of life and love.

*** Are you suggesting that because SDM was so brutal to your 
sensitivities and the fact of one character, the Host of the Show 
might  not have been accurate, the whole movie  was  NOT realistic, 
and was without a purpose, like Seven Pounds for example ?  I would 
say it would seem bereft of a purpose only to those who would wish to 
avoid dealing with reality, the Indian reality that is.

I was truly horrified by the life in Dhariva ( spelling?) portrayed 
in SDM , even though I saw just as bad, or actually worse  and lived 
beside it, a mind-boggling shantytown named Shahpur-Khanpur, in 
Ahmedabad. Does the name say something to you? Even in the sixties, 
Ahmedabad was touted to be
one of India's most affluent.

c-da




At 12:21 PM -0600 12/22/08, Alpana B. Sarangapani wrote:
>Inspite of all the rave reviews, as a person of Indian origin, I 
>found the movie very very depressing and somewhat unrealistic. Great 
>ending but was also hopeless-ly painful.
>
>There are also some wrong attitude problem it showed, like, the show 
>host (Anil Kapoor) putting the young man down saying 'a Chai-wala is 
>gong to win a million' etc, and putting him down every chance that 
>he got was unrelistic. It does NOT happen in today's India. I watch 
>most of the 'reality shows' on TV and have never seen the show-host 
>insulting the guest like this. For example, in all the Music shows 
>like SaReGaMaPa, Chappar Phar Ke, etc., the Music Directors, the 
>judges, the hosts are so encouraging to the participants that the 
>show-host's attitude was totally unacceptable.
>
>The riot scene, and caption on the screen "they are muslim, get 
>them" was not very constructive either. When trying to portray a 
>real life type of story, the media should portray a balanced and 
>real picture.
>
>
>BTW, the theater here at Houston had only 7 people (including us 
>two) watching the movie with us.
>I think Seven Pounds was much more realistic and showed a real 
>purpose of life and love. Will Smith showed another side of his 
>acting talent - a flip side of his usual acting style.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>"In order to make spiritual progress you must be patient like a tree 
>and humble like a blade of grass."
>   
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Send e-mail anywhere. No map, no compass.
>http://windowslive.com/oneline/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_anywhere_122008
>_______________________________________________
>assam mailing list
>assam at assamnet.org
>http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org