Slumdog,Oscars belong to the West; not India

Slumdog Millionare, directed and produced by foreigners has brought oscars for showcasing India's poverty and exposing Mumbai's dirty underbelly. Music composer A R Rehman and sound mixer Resul Pookutty got the top honours at the Academy Awards ceremony and from politicians to the film fraternity, everyone is singing Jai ho.

An intense debate has erupted on the way the celebrations have taken place in the last 24 hours. The one section that has left no stone unturned to claim their share of credit are the politicians who are trying their level best to take the maximum from the Slumdog Millionaire hype.

In Mumbai, political parties have put up posters congratulating the Jai Ho team and child actors from the slums have been promised flats. In the poll season all this seems like a vote gaining gimmick.

However, many critics believe India should not celebrate Slumdog Millionaire's success at all. But here are the reasons why India can and should celebrate the film's Oscar glory.

The screenplay has been borrowed from Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's novel Q & A

Kerala govt to honour Oscar winners

• UPA, BJP trying to cash in on Slumdog's success

The Co-Director, Loveleen Tandon, is of Indian origin

All the characters in the film including the protagonists are Indians

The supporting cast of the film includes Indian Bollywood stars like Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Mahesh Manjrekar and Saurabh Shukla

The Oscar winning composition for Slumdog Millionaire has been composed by Indian musician A R Rahman

The lyrics for Jai Ho have been penned by Indian poet Gulzar

• the sound for Slumdog Millionaire has been designed and mixed by acclaimed Indian technician Resul Pookutty

Therefore, the question that raised on CNN-IBN's Face The Nation was: Should India and Indian cinema take credit for Slumdog's success?

To try and answer the question on the panel of experts were: Film Producer and Chairman Film and Television Producers Guild of India (FTPGI), Mukesh Bhatt; NCP Leader Jitendra Awhad and Columnist and Ramjas College Professor, Debraj Mookerjee.

At the beginning of the show 30 per cent of those who voted in agreed that India and Indian cinema should take credit for Slumdog's success and 70 per cent disagreed.

CONGRESS CLAIMS SLUMDOG'S SUCCESS AS ITS OWN

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the success of Slumdog Millionaire is due to UPA's governance. On being asked about the justification to this statement, Debrah Mukherjee said that Singhvi could be referring to the protagonist in the movie going from rags to riches.

"I guess he wasn't aware of the irony of the situation, else he would have revised his statement. This is a classic colonial model. Take the raw material from India and polish it in the West. I don't think he wants to own up to such a success," he said.

When NCP leader Jitendra Ahwad was asked about the limelight that politicians try to hog out of any success story that is churned out from the country, he said this was a way to congratulate and greet people whose work has been appreciated. However, he agreed to the fact that there was too much hype created over an Oscar win.

When asked for a political take on the whole issue - from giving flats to child actors to taking problems of Mumbai slums so seriously - he said his party had congratulated the team for their work and nothing more.

He added that this is an Indian victory because for the first time Indian melodrama was awarded however he was firm on the point that we were still under colonial clutches and celebrate Oscars beyond limits. This he feels is not right.

EUPHORIC MISCONCEPTION

Mukesh Bhatt said to him that during election time politicians try to do everything possible to take credit.

"The whole thing about UPA claiming good governance is rubbish. Slumdog Millionaire is not an Indian film. It's a film about India made by British filmmakers," he stated.

He also added that we should actually honour A R Rahman, Gulzar, Resul Pookutty and Pinki and not have the entire euphoric misconception about Slumdog Millionaire being an Indian movie.

When asked if an Indian film maker would have attempted such a movie, then would the Indian censor board allow scenes of a boy jumping into a ditch of human excreta, Mukesh Bhatt responded that the there are different laws that govern the film industry in West and India.

However he firmly stated: "The Indian film industry has been completely ripped apart by the Government, weather it is UPA or NDA. We have to neglect it because despite the hurdle, our technicians have great standards."

Mukesh Bhatt also thinks that the success of Slumdog Millionaire has happened despite such political interference and therefore there is no space for politicians to claim any credit for the Oscar success.

THE BEST OF RAHMAN?

Many feel that the music that brought Rahman his Oscar was really not the best of his stuff. Mukesh Bhat said that Rahman had given better melodies in Tamil and Hindi movies than Jai Ho.

"I don't mean to say Jai Ho is not a good song, but certainly not the best of Rahman's creation," he added.

Moving on to another topic, Mukesh Bhatt stated that one must not confuse the idea of Slumdog Millionaire with Indian filmamkers making more movies of such kind with the likes of Salman Khan and Hritik Roshan starring in it.

"Slumdog Millionaire is a movie from a westerners point of view for the western audience and therefore it clicked. In India slums are not a rare, and an Indian filmmaker would not want to show his audience things that they are so familiar with," Mukesh said.

Mukherjee said that a very similar and perhaps a better movie, Salaam Bombay made by an Indian on Mumbai slums long ago did not receive the deserved credit because it was in Hindi.

He further noted that whenever there was a success story of an individual of Indian origin making it big in the West, Indians took it as their own success be it Sunita Willams or Bobby Jindal.

"What does it say about our sense of patriotism? We are a neurotic country and we just climb onto the bandwagon including politicians. There is a great Indian tamasha where all are welcome," Mukherjee stated.

However he also felt that this time the politicians hadn't got it right. He said politicians who are confused have to be more careful before staking claims in such success stories. "Wall Street has failed, the West is going bankrupt day by day. However, globalistaion has to be reserved. And what better way to do it than Mumbai slums," Mukherjee added.

This leads us to believe that the sense of euphoria generated by this movie is a logical fallout of forces of globalisation firmly getting intentionated. "This is the best idea to be sold, and this is something that our politicians are lapping up. The idea that a Mumbai slum kid can now rise because there are no layers that prevent him," he further noted.

"It is not about whether people get swayed or not. The idea is to not take it at the face value. As a society we need to look within as to what are nuances that are working and not just jump on the bandwagon," Mukherjee said.

Jitendra Ahwad, when asked if the Jai Jo euphoria will be seen in political circles as well, said there was no need for all this because it was an Indian scenario sold to West whose economy is in shambles at this point in time. Despite political parties staking their claims, Ahwad seemed to share the same sense of pessimism as the rest of the panelists.

However irrespective of the pessimism and all the debate over India's happiness and patriotism, one must not forget the two individuals who won awards and brought laurels to the country - A R Rahman and Resul Pookutty - did so for their original work. And that surely is a reason to celebrate.

FINAL SMS/WEB POLL: Should India and Indian cinema take credit for Slumdog's success?

Yes: 28 per cent

No: 72 per cent