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did not resort to any unusual hype or t is reported that the fi lm stars of media build up. Slumdog Millionaire, while doing their ritual visits in Hollywood after The storyline of Slumdog is really I not anything extraordinary and its the awards were more dazzled by seeing the globally famed galaxy of stars elements are predictable. It was based than by their own triumph. These Indian on Vikas Swarap’s novel, Q & A and fi lm stars, some of them from the slums was adapted to the screen by Simon of Mumbai, had been so unselfconscious Beaufoy. It tells the story of a young in their manner. They were seen rushing man, Jamal Malik (Indian Londoner, to take autographs from Meryl Streep, Dev Patel), from the slums of Mumbai Kate Winslet, Brad Pitt, James Bond actor who appears on the Indian version of Daniel Craig and so on. Who Wants to be a Millionaire and got all the answers right. This aroused the "It feels unreal. This is the best day of suspicions of the game show host (Anil my life, man," Madhur Mittal, who plays Kapoor) and of the law enforcement the wayward Salim, said at the party offi cials. The police grilled Jamal in thrown by the fi lm's US distributor, Fox order to fi nd out if this uneducated boy Searchlight. "I come from India and I from the slums had cheated. never in my wildest dreams thought I would be at the Oscars, much less be part The grilling took the audience to of the movie that sweeps the Oscars." various interesting episodes in the boy’s life experience that had given These fi lm stars perhaps realized that they him the clue to the answers. Through had only formally gotten into the galaxy. a series of dramatic fl ashbacks Jamal’s The gap between them and everything knowledge-bringing encounters are they saw around them in Hollywood fi lled brought to light. Along with these them with a sense of unreality and awe. disclosures are laid bare the grim and The designer clothes of the slum actors gritty reality of life in the Mumbai were merely part of another act in a drama slums. of pretence. The director has cleverly manipulated But one comment shared by all those the plot to show how romance at close quarters was that the Slumdog and frolic can stand comfortably bandwagon had been high spirited from amidst the shit, squalor, and child the start. Director Danny Boyle was key slavery in Mumbai. The romance witness to that. Boyle had told the actors, is between Jamal and his childhood “If you work hard you can make it to girl friend Lateefa ( Freida Pinto). the Oscars.” From the time the movie The scene where thousands of street was fi rst exposed at the Toronto festival urchins, for instance, fl ock to have a and then at the Telluride fi lm festival in glimpse of fi lm star Amitha Bachan Colorado Slumdog carried the aura and was suggestive of the escapism feel of a sure winner. It triumphed at the that a poverty-stricken society Critics Choice and the Golden Globe subconsciously resorts to. Awards where it got the Best Picture Award. The landslide of eight awards at The Mumbai exposure initially became the Oscar came as a climax in a gathering an embarrassment to Indians who momentum of spectator response. Unlike pride themselves in believing that Producer Christian Colson, centre, along with the cast and crew, accept many previous Oscar winners Slumdog their country has taken off to be part the Best Picture Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire at Sunday's Academy Awards. (Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)

of the developed world, leaving behind laggards like Sri Lanka. This caused One of the appealing sidelines of the movie is that it dramatically protest all over India and many wanted the movie banned. The bitter reality is raises human rights issues thereby helping to raise the collective that juxtaposed with India’s growing human consciousness both in India and the world at large. The slum fi lthy rich class is this dark side of boys who came to Hollywood did bemoan that when they get back squalor and exploitation in a demography that outnumbers the upper class. It was they will have to continue life as before.

harrowing to watch how kids are forced breathing life over there. into the profession of begging and how beggar- owners resort to the mutilation of On that great night of the Oscars, sniffi ng victory these innocent kids –making them blind Indians fi rst became anxious and then, after the etc so that they can be put to the streets to results were announced, they danced on the streets. receive more public sympathy and more It was a different India to the one that had originally charity. protested. No matter that it was a British production. It was about India and the players were largely One of the appealing sidelines of the movie Indian. Indians love success and loathe failure. The is that it dramatically raises human rights grandeur of winning the ultimate in movies sort of issues thereby helping to raise the collective swept the seedy side of Mumbai under the carpet. human consciousness both in India and the Said a news story: “Cameras shot celebrations world at large. The slum boys who came erupting in the family homes of AR Rahman, the to Hollywood did bemoan that when they composer who took home two golden statuettes, and get back they will have to continue life as Resul Pookutty, the Bollywood sound engineer who before. was part of the winning sound mixing team.

Slumdog Millionaire is a cheerful and The star for India was defi nitely Rahman, known jaunty movie designed to thrill the as the Mozart of Madras, who picked up the Oscar audience. Although Jamal Malik’s triumph for best original score before scooping the best song in the quiz was predictable the audience award moments later. He thrilled the home audience was kept on the edge of their seats when by speaking in his native Tamil, closing his second it came to the decisive moment. The acceptance speech with the evocation: "God is touch of romance helps to lift the spirit. great." His sister, Rehana, told Indian television that AR Rahman’s multilayered musical ‘we won't lose Rahman to Hollywood … he belongs score seemed to refl ect the heartbeat of to everyone but he's Indian’.” the subcontinent’s largest and richest metropolis-the mass of human beings Shyamon Jayasinghe