Not a slumdog but want to be a millionaire!!
'Slumdog Millionaire' seems to be raising many eyebrows, either in favour or against those against it.
Some of my friends at techenclave.com were discussing the same and i somehow couldn't deny the urge to post my views on the same and also ended up reviving this blog.
Coz as i always say- Life is so simple but we simply make it so complicated. lol...
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We , as in most positive people with their hearts in the right place and minds at the right pace, react to this as maybe "ho-hum, just another movie" or "wow-a good movie" or "wow- what a story for hope and success in the face of adversity", etc etc.
And in most likeliness, we (which also includes me and other sensible friends who have watched the movie), neither are in denial nor running away from the "truth" prevalent all around us.
Hoping for a better tomorrow and wanting to look at/admire/appreciate and maybe achieve or atleast expressing the desire to achieve the nicer and better things in life is not being in denial or trying to run away from the truth.
Yes- extreme poverty in the shadow of immense wealth is a truth here.
Yes- we have dirty, murky slums in every city- with some Metros actually on the verge of turning into one huge slum overall.
Yes- women still get raped every few minutes in India.
Yes- the girl-child gets killed more often than we drink tea/coffee.
Yes- abortions happen on the sly.
Yes- corruption has penetrated every section of society.
Underworld, extortion, bomb-blasts, slum mafia, begging mafia, land mafia, drugs mafia, ...
Yes, yes, yes.
It's the TRUTH- the stark, harsh, cold, bitter, piercing TRUTH.
But there is a difference between something being true and being "the only truth".
And that is where, maybe, some minds may falter to distinguish between "just another truth" of a developing nation (or even a developed nation for that matter) and "the only truth".
Coz we all know common sense as always and compassion is quite a rarity in these troubled times where every person/child is being bred to "fight" for survival or personal gains.
Bred by circumstances.
I say maybe, as it's just a fear and i cannot confirm and that is one fear i do not want to become a reality.(Though one of those early rebuttals to Amitabh Bachchan's blog was indicative of that. )
If one's mind is hammered with only negative views for sometime, that person is bound to develop a negativity on that topic, atleast subconciously- which does affect general opinion on that matter.
Some may have wrongly assumed India is only one big slum.
Like till sometime back we were only beggars, street magicians, fakirs, snake-charmers, ...
Now we are tele-marketers too- hahaha...
But when a westerner (yeah-yeah, couldn't help mention it), an acclaimed artist and one whose crew has also claimed to have shot some scenes with hidden cams to provide authenticity to the subject, primarily shows a lot of negative elements on a certain topic,
there lies a risk of it becoming "the only truth",
about Mumbai and India in general, in certain ignorant/biased/prejudiced minds.
And that is what shouldn't happen in this case.
I hope more people, here and everywhere watch the movie in the right light and do not read too much into what's shown.
Coz as it is, those very people who may pass caustic comments, for or against it, are mostly not going to do anything at their end for a better tomorrow, for the society/nation/world in general .
But their loosely-spoken words can cause unnecessary dissent and disharmony over something that needn't be a controversy in the first place.
It's a work of art by an artist and like any other- love it or dislike it but just leave it at that.
