I don't know why all those people who are raising concerns that SDM is so and so and so...forget that it is based on a novel written by Vikas Swarup, if poverty or glorifying poverty is a problem then why didn't we shout out when the book(Q&A) was released, remember Aravind Adiga who won the booker prize for the white tiger very recently also cashed in on the same theme(vaguely), why don't we shout out at politicians who use poverty as one of the main agendas to cash in on the votebank....well...we are almost like the stupid common man(ala Nasserudin Shah in A wednesday) who is busy with rozi roti and not bothered about what's happening except when some movie like SDM or a novel like the white tiger hurts our ego of people from a poor nation(India is still considered a poor country with rich people)...overly dependent on US/Europe markets and when america/uk markets have cold india sneezes.We need a change of mindset, a change in the system to be better not movies like SDM or a novel like White tiger.
It is not a victory or acceptance of "Indian Music" by westerners. Westerners awarded "their own likeing and culture" by awarding oscar to Jai Ho song.The song compose by rehman is totally western style songs , thats why it got clicked. Had it been Indian music , the result would be definatly different. In fact Rehman has composed mmuch better songs then this " jai ho" songs.
Western world has given a clear cut signal to India that they like those which are according to their culture.In order to earn more Oscar's the Indian aspiriants must understand this signal
Re: Clear Signal from West
by R Nathan on Feb 25, 2009 09:47 PM
Wow! I cannot understand the amount of over-analysis going on in this forum! It *is* an English movie after all ... an Indian got a chance to compose music, he won an award - end of story! Applaud for Rehman if you have to. What is the point of saying this is not his best composition? It may well be but did those movies compete in the Oscars? Probably not. Just feel good that a movie that won awards had a major contributions from some Indians ...
Re: Re: Clear Signal from West
by R Nathan on Feb 26, 2009 01:14 AM
The answer lies in your question - grammy and academy awards are two different things ...
Re: Re: Re: Clear Signal from West
by Chanchal Nishanth on Feb 26, 2009 09:54 AM
but what matters to you is an award from West, isn't it? So, rejoice!!
Re: Re: Re: Clear Signal from West
by Sensei on Feb 26, 2009 10:02 AM
try and get the meaning of what i wrote.... and read the blog of the guy to whom i responded....before making the world enlightened with your high spirits .... if whatever he is saying are to be believed then the westerners appreciate Indian music in one award ceremony and not in the other!! With two different yardstick visible... how can one categorise the west as a whole!!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Clear Signal from West
by Chanchal Nishanth on Feb 26, 2009 11:36 AM
lol... why r u getting offended, fella? My reply was to R Nathan who commented as if he is giving gyan to others that Academy awards and Grammy are different.
Rushdie should take a chill-pill. I do not see him complain when a movie about Superman and Batman is released - why should he complain here? This is strictly a fictional story. A feel-good story about a guy who goes from the dumps to become a millionaire. Another message for others who are saying why Lagaan did not win or any other Indian movie did not win the accolades Slumdog won. Well, Slumdog is a movie produced by a "hollywood" studio. The academy awards are about comparing and awarding the films produced by hollywood studios (such as Paramount or Universal). Just like "Godfather" did not win a National award in India inspite of being a good film, "Lagaan" cannot win the "Best Picture" award at the academy, no matter how good it is. Slumdog on the other hand *was* produced by a hollywood studio - Fox. So it stood to compete with the other hollywood films. Feel happy that a few Indians, like Rahman and Resul, got to contribute to its success. It is a film after all and it's supposed to be for our relaxation! So what if slums are shown? Our anger at the portrayal only shows our denial! If you are so angry, go do something about it. This goes for even people like Amitabh Bachchan!
Re: Unrealistic? So what?
by Sensei on Feb 25, 2009 10:18 PM
seriously if u know nothing about something its better to shut the trap.... try and get the meaning of the word of "genre".....
Re: Re: Unrealistic? So what?
by R Nathan on Feb 26, 2009 01:24 AM
I know what a "genre" is - but it seems, from the way you have framed the question, you do not know what it is! :) A genre has nothing to do with Lagaan not winning or Slumdog winning! Why is it so difficult for you to understand that Lagaan could not have contested with the other "hollywood" films the way Slumdog did this year!! Let me put it this way - do you think "Milk" could have won a Filmfare award this year? If no is the answer (which it is) - think WHY! The only area Lagaan could contest was the Foreign Film CATEGORY (not genre!). A genre is more like the type of movie - like comedy or drama or action etc. Lagaan could not have contested in individual awards like best actor or actress or director or music or screenplay etc. They will give one award for the best "Foreign" film - the operative word is Foreign - because it is not produced by a studio in Hollywood. And please do not resort to name-calling. You have a right to disagree but be reasonable with your response. I expect you to respect the others on the forum just as you'd want to be respected.
Re: Re: Re: Unrealistic? So what?
by Sensei on Feb 26, 2009 10:34 AM
@jess & R Nathan why point out irrelevant stuff.... whatever i wrote was pointed at bloggers point of view criticising Rushdie and comparing Superman with SDM or saying 'why he didn't say that earlier!!'.... and for god's sake before educating the world try and consider that there are other educated souls in this world also.....that is why it is necessary u ppl learn the meaning of genre.....
Re: Re: Re: Re: Unrealistic? So what?
by Sensei on Feb 26, 2009 10:40 AM
Superman is an action fantasy film and SDM is a drama.... for u two geniuses....
Re: Unrealistic? So what?
by Brijesh on Feb 25, 2009 08:15 PM
What a Bluff... Man if you do not know about something, it is better not to say instea od making bluff's and looking like a fool. What has a movie to do with if it was produced by Hollywood studios or not. The competion is based on how good movie is and not by whom it is produced.
The Japanese film Depatures which won a Oscar was not produced by any Hollywood Studio.
Man keep quiet if you do not know about a subject.....you don't have to comment on everything to prove you are an idiot.
Re: Re: Unrealistic? So what?
by R Nathan on Feb 25, 2009 09:19 PM
That's why those films compete under the "Best Foreign Film" category. Those films do not get to compete under all the individual awards like Best Actor or technical awards like Best Music Score etc. You are right, I should have added that line in my earlier comment. Thanks for pointing it out.
Re: Re: Unrealistic? So what?
by RosieThomas on Feb 26, 2009 02:34 AM
But Brijesh , Japanese film Depatures which won an Oscar won in the Best Foreign Film Category ...as it was not produced by a Hollywood Studio.. But at the same time Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was produced by a Hollywood Studio and hence got to compete in all categories...
Rushdie talking about realism.....what a bloody joke.... none of his novels are remotely realistic... the mumbai of his novels is like some phantom city in mars.
Slumdog is just an overhyped story ,and depicts the way westerners interpret India. It’s a look at reality. As an Indian, I know we cannot discard poverty. But there is a way to portray it and not to make it a source of entertainment. And overall Poverty today is an Global phenomenon and is open to interpretation as to what is Poverty. I am all the more pained to see such movies win awards and mostly Oscars…Oscars have lost value way back. People who are in the movie or the director do not even a faintest clue as what poverty means and what struggle is and they claim to make a Movie. For me it is not more than any mainstream commercial movie which needs to be ignored.
Re: SlumDog Overhype
by Brijesh on Feb 25, 2009 08:26 PM
Well said Nikunj.
I agree that poverty was shown as extreme in Slumdog. We all know poverty is part of India, but come on now....do you agree when the young Jamal jumps into shit to get the autograph ? This was defenitely over the top. Also it was abosulety un-necessary to show that part....you could have dropped that boy in a mud....but shit...come on now....India is not that poor or that crazy after any star.
I liked the movie over all, but has strong objection on many scenes.
Now comparing Lagaan with Slumdog -- I feel Lagaan was much better than Slumdog, because the story was good the direction of Ashutosh Govarikar was much better than of Dany in Slumdog....A.R Rahman's music was defenatily way better in Lagaan than in Slumdog...And Amir Khan was 100 times better than Anil Kapoor in slumdog.
I guess because the movie was made by a British director it got more Mileage in Oscar.
Oscar lost its value, last year when an ordinary action film like "No country for Old man" won lots of Oscar.
I live in U.S.A and can tell that poverty is no more problem only for India.....Yes it is not as bad here as it is in India, but the point is Poverty is everywere, homeless poeple are everywere....its just a matter of time before some one shows that in a developed country like U.S.A.
Re: Re: SlumDog Overhype
by Prateek Agarwal on Feb 25, 2009 10:19 PM
Slumdog is a better film than Laggan. Laggan is a movie set up in Gurjat and about bunch of farmers speaking Awadhi. Haha.. Gujju Speaking Awadhi. I dont understand this at all.
Slumdog is a interpretation of a book by INDIAN author Vikas Swarup, so by any means a foreigner is not depicting Indian poverty as shown in the movie.
The story of Sumdog is good, however the climax is too hard to accept.
AR Rahman has given much better music in various movies. But, I am happy that his work got accepted internationally and deserved every bit of it. He should now aim for Grammy.
Slumdog is good movie but definitely its not oscar slandered...I am agree with Aamir when said "I find somethings shown in the film are very over the top " e.g that child jamal jump into the shit to get the autograph..and Amitab bachchan gave him autograph on such condition...thats is some thing over the top.. may be western feel thats its very difficult to shoot on slums and directory did that..so they gave him oscar..
Re: not a oscar material
by pradeep menon on Feb 25, 2009 07:19 PM
Actually i have seen slumdog and also another oscar nominee Milk,and to tell you the truth the movie which really deserved an oscar for best movie is Milk,it was great well acted and was based on real events.
Re: not a oscar material
by Prateek Agarwal on Feb 25, 2009 10:22 PM
Aamir khan sadly tries for Oscar every year but return empty hand. He should gracefully accept that Slumdog is nice movie with strong story. The climax was to much to digest.
I dont know why he is worried about sm being unrealistic.. even jurassic park, lord of the rings, pirates of caribbean, matrix, etc are all unrealistic.. still they won many awards. Rushdie because he novel are not make into films, shouldnt feel jealous of Vikas.
Re: Rushdie
by Rationalist on Feb 25, 2009 06:42 PM
Unrealistic does not mean you control the flow of the story like God. Like in Lagaan where the Bhuvan's team wins in the end to please the audience.
Re: Un realistic
by Rationalist on Feb 25, 2009 06:41 PM
Yeah.But need to be consistent with the concept on which the film is based. Either it should be totally realistic or totally fantasy based on a concept. You can'nt mix fantasy and reality where you end up with infinite no of possiblites out of which you pick choose according to your convenicence. There should be a free flow of the story line.
