Article: The real slum shady

The way we react to *Slumdog Millionaire’s *depiction of India will determine how much we have culturally matured. *Namita Bhandre* elaborates.

Excerpts:

India shining or not, we’ve always been prickly about our cinematic image, more so when it’s projected to a foreign audience.

To allow a film like this shows a certain amount of confidence: we don’t mind films that show our seamier side because we know that the world is also aware of our shinier side.

Yes, Slumdog is about poverty. It’s also about the triumph of the underdog. And it’s about enduring love and friendship and loyalty. Audiences are free to grab whatever message appeals to them. Do we take pride that a film set in Mumbai with a large crew out of India is sweeping the award circuit?

Bachchan’s insistence on escapist entertainment as the best entertainment is laughable and when he gripes that Slumdog has won awards because it’s made by a ‘Westerner’, my first reaction is: sour grapes?

Big B should have been bigger than what his blog comments have shown him to be.