‘Slumdog Millionaire’ fails to impress Big B
Slumdog Millionaire’ might be a big Golden-Globe winning movie and an Oscar hopeful but the biggest superstar in the country isn’t so impressed with it.
The movie based in Mumbai won four Golden Globe awards on Sunday, including one for music composer A R Rahman, a first for an Indian.
But Big B has other views about the film.
He says that the rags-to-riches tale of an orphan from a Mumbai slum didn’t impress him as it portrayed India as a “Third World dirty underbelly developing nation”.
Big B has written on his blog- “It’s just that the SM (Slumdog Millionaire) idea authored by an Indian and conceived and cinematically put together by a Westerner, gets creative Globe recognition. The other would perhaps not,”
“If the movie projects India as a third world dirty underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations.”
“Conditions world over are so similar. Perceptions differ, but the reality of life and existence, unchanged. Comments for the film Slumdog Millionaire and the anger by some on its contents, prompt me to say the above.”
‘The commercial escapist world of Indian cinema has vociferously battled for years, on the attention paid and adulation given to legendary Satyajit Ray at all prestigious film festivals of the West and not a word of appreciation for the entertaining mass-oriented box office blockbusters that were being churned out from Mumbai.”
“The argument: Ray portrayed reality. The other escapism, fantasy and incredulous posturing. Unimpressive for Cannes, Berlin and Venice. But look at how rapidly all that is changing.”
But Irrfan Khan, a cast member who plays a police inspector in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, has rejected criticism of that kind.
He says, “If anyone has any objection to the depiction of poverty in the film they should first come forward and take initiative to remove it. Only talking won’t help.We can not shut our eyes from the fact that a large section of our country continues to live abject poverty which can not be removed by not being shown in a film. We need to work on grass-root level to remove this problem.”
We wonder if Big B takes offense to a statement like that. Hope he doesn’t as every actor has full right to defend his movie and we fully trust the judgment of an actor of Irrfan’s calibre -Sampurn Media
the man who is a ******* talking so much what the hell he has done for this count’s starving children other than hotting his own pocket through buckets of money.
he himself is an actor and should understand that the plot of a movie is always fake and unrealistic.
his such comment will bring negative effect on winning of OSCAR for Rhman.and i thinki he has written on his blog such bakwaas only to prevent Rehman from winning an OSCAR.coz in his long 40 yr career he has never got this.
Amitabh should look at himself first that he has also done so many movies in which INDIA is being shown as poor country.
I think ha has forgot hi days.
I cannot believe THE BIG B has made such a pathetic comment.Most of his films have been unrealistic and yes India has progressed but the truth is begging in India continues on a large scale and people should be made aware how young vulnerable children are taken advantage of.It was an excellent film and I do hopethe so called bollywood star gets off his backside and contibutes in helping these kids instead of thinking himself as GOD
To some extent I agree with Amitabh, from the movie it looks very obvious that the director has gone purposely out of way to the extremes to show the slums of Mumbai.
It is like maginifying something very dirty and disgusting on purpose and not by chance or swiftly.
small b , u r a pathetic loser!
Come on. He has been quoted out of context. You need to read the entire text. He happened to be in Paris and he was mobbed by beggars. That’s when he made this statement that developed countries also have underbellies
”big B” is pissed off coz the film revealed the actual 80-90% of india’s lifestyle n cultue….
nothing to be pissed off abt… its the reality..
Amitabh wanted to fool the world into thinking that everyone in India was filthy-rich like the characters he plays in films like K3G. He is ashamed that SM shows that poverty exists in India. In the end Amitabh made a big fool out of himself. What has Amitabh done about poverty in India? He has so much money, he could make a difference but no, he concentrates on making even more money. At least Danny Boyle and others on the film are helping out.
The recent campaign to raise money to adopt villages by the stars was probably done due to the influence of SM. The bollywood stars now feel pressured to do something.