Why an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire?

Why an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire?

 

a. Better than Lagaan          c. Mere Luck

 

b. Better than Guru             d. It is written

 

 

What is so special about this movie that it made it to the Oscars? This would be the first question that pops up an Indian mind.. What makes this movie special? Exploring the reasons...

The Plot:

A well explored and frequently attempted "Rags to Riches" saga in Indian movies is the plot in Slumdog Millionaire too.. If Oscars are not for the Lagaan or the Guru, why is it for the Slumdog Millionaire? Digging more into the reasons for why this movie got splendid recognition and made it to the Oscars..the explicit reasons would be...  This is not a movie that is being made to contest in Filmfare or National awards that are well recognized in India

This has been made by the West for the West!

We have made and seen thousands of movies that are about the same plot and shot even more convincing and better. But this movie is not for comparison with the ones that are made in India!

This would probably be the first movie made by the West solely on Indian grounds with Indian actors on the plot of Slum Dwellers of Mumbai!

 

Why are Indian movies not recognized in the West?

Well, many would find it may not necessary. It is not true that it has never been recognized.. Most Indian movies are not exposed to the westerners. Even if the same Slumdog Millionaire was shot by Indian directors I really doubt if it would have made these heights. The problem is not in the movie making... It is in the marketing. The movie makers in the West, before releasing it to the public makes sure that they attempt to get the movie in to the list of contestants in the film festivals.

Take it the Cannes or the Berlin International or the Shanghai International or the Habitat International or the Screen Actors Guild or the Golden Globe or the Oscars. And when a movie has its mettle it does gets its recognition in these festivals and it becomes a marketing quote for the movie makers...

In case of Indian movies, attempts are seldom made for getting movies to contest on these festivals.

Here is the story in the north;

Movies like "Devdas", "Black" or "Satya" which are well directed and well cast too. Slumdog doesn't stand a chance against "Rang De Basanti". All these movies did receive its recognition in India.. But should have been watched and admired by westerners too

Here is the south side story;

In case of movie like "July Ganapathy" made by our very own Balu Mahendra, the producers just didn't remember the dates and so they missed to compete in National Awards in India only!!

We really need to appreciate the efforts made from S pictures in getting movie like "Veyyil" into Cannes International and other festivals for competing. And so will have to appreciate the "Paruthi Veeran" team in getting it competed in Berlin Film festival

 

But, Why an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire?

Slumdog managed to Oscars as it is made in a language that the west can understand. It is in English! This would be the first movie made in English on the plot of Slum Dwellers! But this reason is not suffice for a movie to get nominated for the Oscars. The story telling is interesting comparing the “Curious case of Benjamin Button”.

Going forth and back in the movie enlisting the incidents that took place in the protagonist's life. The interesting part in the screenplay makes the audience involved in the movie are the questions in "Who wants to be a Millionaire" relates to the events that took place in his life. A smart move by the story tellers to sketch their protagonist a Muslim and take advantage of the riots that took place after the attempt on Babri Masjid demolition! This helped the makers to add reason to Jamal and his brother Salim being orphaned and so they are made to travel the path that they travel in their life. Much of the story is told by perfect editing as well...

I find the whole movie as a 2 hr relay running kick started by the young Jamal[Ayush Mahesh Khedekar] and Salim [Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail] continued by middle aged Jamal[Tanay Chheda] and Salim[Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala] and Latika[Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar] to be followed by current age Jamal[Dev Patel], Salim[Madhur Mittal], Latika[Freida Pinto], and other characters. The pace set by the younger actors had so much acceleration for the movie... the actors following manage to keep the initial promise to its fullest.

A word of appreciation will have to be definitely left for the director! It is explicit in the movie that how much research he did before getting into movie making. This movie has captured every detail involved in the area that the plot is set on. There was no exaggeration of any of the events that were shown in the movie. Movie is as good as if Ram Gopal Varma or Mani Ratnam would have shot the same plot... Thought narrating style would have been different. It had so much detailing in it.

All such points were not just enough for Slumdog to get itself nominated for Oscars. It did go thru its rough path of being considered for DVD first by Warner Independent Pictures. But then when it was showcased in Telluride Film Festival where it received its positive response from the audience which helped the production house to get it played in Toronto International Film Festival which was continued by the awards and recognition that it gained so that it could reach the Oscars.

Lesson's to be learned:

Well it's high time we learn marketing skills from the West! Than, the money that we could make when our movies travel shores. It’s the recognition for the Indian talent around the world will help us explore new horizons.

When the production houses in India can spend so much money and effort in making good movies now it’s high time they spend that extra little effort to get these movies contested in the film festivals too... so that the efforts and talents are recognized throught the world...

If movies like "Gandhi" and "Slumdog Millionaire" made by the Westerers on the plot based in India can get Oscars and well recognized throught the world. It is certainly clear that, we have stories to tell the world and let's do it like never before as we can tell our stories better than outsiders!

So, why is an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire?

 

d. It is written