Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Beyond Slumdog

I woke up today to find my ToI screaming at the top of its voice of the Slumdog glory at the Oscars. And since it was the Ahmedabad edition they, as usual, had found a Gujarati connection to Rahman's triumph :|

However that's not the point here. The point,in fact, is, why the hell are we all going crazy over Slumdog? It's a British movie about India made with Indian collaboration. To suggest otherwise is simply ridiculous. And what to say of the Congress' claim that termed Slumdog 'a film of India, for India, by India" . It goes beyond ridiculous.

A.R. Rahman is a genius. There is no doubt about it. And we didn't need an Oscar to validate this. Surely you don't think that Slumdog is his best work ever? If you do, I would suggest that you go and get a copy of Taal, Dil Se, Roza, RDB or for that matter Dilli 6. Over his illustrious career Rahman has come up with scores of compositions that have been forever etched in our conscience and would outlive Jai Ho and O Saya... 

The crazy appreciation that we have shown for Slumdog's Oscar triumph just goes on to highlight how much we crave Western recognition. It beats me as to why despite all the progress we can't shake the colonial mindset. Why we still need to seek approval from the powers that once ruled us?  

6 comments:

Prabhu Dutta Das said...

Looking beyond Slumdog, the point is are we just not looking for reasons to celebrate? Whether it be Chocolate room or a Oscar, we need to feed in reason to our conscience! And whats special is -Reasons are not a thing for all seasons!

Mayank Bhagya said...

I guess the west still feels good looking at India as a land of poor and slum..

An Oscar is just another certification we received from the west..

Anonymous said...

Well said! You reminded me of something I came across few days ago. Read this:-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26162736@N07/3282134194/

If it's not clear in (original) picture, then here:

http://www.hansadutta.com/ART_WSP/Macaulay.html

Random Guy said...

@ Prabhu..

errr.. wat?
sorry didnt get u ther...

@ Mayank..
yeah..

@ anon..
As usual very apt!

bhavjot said...

may be its overhyped , but then the actuality is that nothing could hav given rahman so much of international exposure as this thing did. if west gives chance to an indian maestro to come into limelight ( which unfortunately india didnt despite a huge number of rahmans masterpieces)), i guess there is no harm factor attached to it ...??
lets rejoice the triumph rather than cribbing over something stupid called colonial effect or western influence ,, india is far above that petty sense of humility as of now !!,,,

Random Guy said...

@ bhavjot..

would have debated wit u over this.. par somehow not in the mood abhi.. :)
so let things be.. and we'llt ak this up sometime later..