[Assam] Slumdog Millionaire

Mon Dec 22 20:24:23 PST 2008

Fiction is very different from real life. Do not forget that.
It seems like you and others are mixing the two. 
Does a Picasso painting have any resemblance to real life? 
Artists have the liberty to use shape and color as they see fit.
Dilip Deka

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From: Alpana B. Sarangapani <absarangapani at hotmail.com>
To: assam at assamnet.org
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 9:13:03 PM
Subject: Re: [Assam] Slumdog Millionaire

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

Thank you C'da, and as usual I accept your praise mixed with sarcasm. :)

> 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.
Yes, in Indian Idol contest also, especially one Mr. Annu Mallik tries to do similar things, but still I think they ridicule them for their performance, not for who they are. That was the difference. Then everytime the young man says something (how he guessed or knew the answer), he would ridicule him by implying that he was lying. That was cheap...bad direction.

> **** 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 
Yes, and probably somewhere else. So did in many other places like Delhi, Guwahati, and people from many other caste, religion, country were targeted. And most recently it happened in Mumbai itself....aah! you have an excuse, the movie was made before the Mumbai incident, but NOt before the others that I mention here.

> Looks like the Houston desis, by and large, reflect that same > mind-set, avoiding confronting the realities of India, just like 
Or, they have had enough of the movie-makers that know only to display "India's slum-dogs" to make money and nothing else.

> *** 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, 

No....also....weak storyline, lack of research and jump into making money - just make a movie of what you have heard on the street about India - slum, beggars, and poverty. In short, its aestheically weak, it is in my opinion. 

“In order to make spiritual progress you must be patient like a tree and humble like a blade of grass.”

> Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:25:30 -0600> To: assam at assamnet.org> From: cmahanta at charter.net> Subject: Re: [Assam] Slumdog Millionaire> > 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."> > > >>
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