Oscars, Our Hope and Slum Dog Millionaire!

Slumdog Millionaire is the story about an 18 year old orphan from the slum of Mumbai Jamal Malik, who is just one question away from winning Rs 2 crore on the TV game show 'Who wants to be Millionaire' or better known to us as 'Kaun Banega Corepati'.  It’s the story of a boy and his journey from Rags to Riches!

Will we get the very coveted Academy awards? The film has made India proud as it is nominated in 10 categories, and now is in the league of movies such as Ben-Hur, Titanic , Gone with the wind and others with most number of nominations. The Film has bagged nominations in categories of Best Picture, Direction, Film Editing, Original Score and Original Songs(A.R .Rahman), Cinematography, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing(Resul Pookutty) and adapted screenplay. Also veteran Lyrists Gulzar gets his first Oscar nominations for the song Jai Ho! All of them are carrying the hopes of people of India who are very anxiously awaiting the moment when A.R.Rehman like in Golden Globes, will again say “Thanks from more than one billion of people of India”.. What a magical moment it will be!

So what is so special about the movie and why is the entire world going ga-ga over it?? Let's asks few of our very talented people of small screen about their thoughts on the movie, which is having the world under its feet at the moment...

 

Rajan Shahi: One of the most successful producers of TV at the moment,brain behind Bidaai and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata hai..

What is so special about the movie Slum dog Millionaire?

I have not watched it yet, but have heard so much about it that I am curious to know what it is.

Why do we always need Richard Attenborough(Gandhi, 1982) and Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionair,2008) to showcase and bring glory at International stage? Does it mean that our directors lack the capability?

No I don't think we lack the capability in . We have very talented directors here, but maybe the marketing standards and production values are lacking somewhere in the final product. We have made some brilliant films, but to get a name internationally, we need to improve on the above said factors.

TZP is out of race from Oscars, but which movie according to you is better between TZP Slumdog Millionaire ?

As I said, I have not yet seen Slumdog, so I will not be able to compare both. But TZP was a brilliant film.

Do you think we are experimental enough on small screen or we are waiting for a renaissance?

We are experimenting a lot in television, no doubts about that. However, we have certain amount of comfort zones in the genre we show, and we highlight that in our stories. I think the only exception that did very well was Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi. We need to work within the same frame work, and deliver stories which are more identifiable to the masses.

 

Sunjoy Wadhwa: Producer of shows such as Balika-Vadhu, Mohe Rang De, Sath-Phere and Grihasthi, master of TRP charts!

 

What is so special about the movie Slum dog Millionaire?

I think the movie apart from doing exceptionally well shows that intelligent minds can be cultivated anywhere. You just need to have the guts to go about it, and given an opportunity, we can tap the huge talent hidden in lower areas where we are not looking at.

Why do we always need Richard Attenborough(Gandhi, 1982) and Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionair,2008) to showcase and bring glory at International stage? Does it mean that our directors lack the capability?

It's not that!! We are a very capable nation with brilliant directors and writers. But it is just that we are not looking at ourselves in a macroway. We are happy clinging to the microway. We need to see the bigger picture and tap our resources, and this is where people from outside are able to work on our concepts and get all the success.

TZP is out of race from Oscars, but which movie according to you is better between TZP Slumdog Millionaire ?

Definitely TZP was a better movie, which goes directly to your heart. Slumdog is also good but it has a commercial value too.

Do you think we are experimental enough on small screen or we are waiting for a renaissance?

We have surely started experimenting on the small screen, but we have lot more stuff to come. I think in the next two years, non-fiction will give us something beyond the normal singing and dancing shows. Our approach towards family drama needs to be different and we need to tap into various relationships as we have huge potential.

Neelima Bajpai: Producer of Hit TV Shows such as Banno Main Teri Dulhan and Santaan .

What is so special about the movie Slum dog Millionaire?

I think if the movie had been made by some Indian director, I don't think it would have been so acclaimed and would have gone in Oscars.

Why do we always need Richard Attenborough(Gandhi, 1982) and Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionair,2008) to showcase and bring glory at International stage? Does it mean that our directors lack the capability?

I think that the things that are close to you tend to be ignored. Our directors have the capability to direct best movies but we don't try.

TZP is out of race from Oscars, but which movie according to you is better between TZP and Slumdog Millionaire ?

I haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire yet. But I don't understand why Oscars is given so much of an importance in India�We have the population of million people and Oscar in itself has different criteria, and they don't even consider much of our movies.

Do you think we are experimental enough on small screen or we are waiting for a renaissance?

Yes I think small screen is experimenting a lot. Even I as a producer try to experiment with tracks, the characters. But the problem with small screen is that there are many channels unlike one big screen, and we need to go through so much of interference coming from all quarters. However, I have also realized of late that it is important to experiment with your tracks. Take for example Aap Ki Kachehri which is so popular and Balika Vadhu which has been a trendsetter.

What is so special about the movie Slum dog Millionaire?

The special thing is the fact that whatever was shown was from the eyes of a foreigner, and it was so beautifully shown. And the special thing was that there was no bias while showing the fact and it was realistic.

Why do we always need Richard Attenborough(Gandhi, 1982) and Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionair,2008) to showcase and bring glory at International stage? Does it mean that our directors lack the capability?

It's not that our directors lack the capability. But I think they lack convention and guts to show . If they want to show they have to face sol many things like market standard where they have to meet all sorts of demands. But it's not like that our directors are not capable.

TZP is out of race from Oscars, but which movie according to you is better between TZP and Slumdog Millionaire?

According to me I liked TZP more, and it's my point of view.

Do you think we are experimental enough on small screen or we are waiting for a renaissance?

I think small screen has not even started with 'E' of experiment. We have a long way to go to come to the whole word 'Experiment'.

Reporter: Srividya Rajesh, Ranjini Nair