Ah, you know more than me then. And my limited knowledge of South Asian culture doesn't extend much to slum life. This article touches on some of the debate, but I remember seeing something more nuanced than that, can't recall where. From a story-telling point of view, I don't think anyone is debating its power. Some are critical about the way Hindu-Muslim conflict is shown, apparently the bad guys are Hindu? Though of course, Hindus are the majority in India and thus have a certain power.
My South Asian History prof sent out a message about it, here are some of his points you might find interesting: -does this mean anything for India? or is it simply recognition of something most Indians believe, that 'our films are good'.
- is this film successful because it is directed by a Brit (Danny Boyle) and therefore has a veneer of sensilbility reigning in the Indianness of a Bollywood production, hence, this should not be trumpeted as an Indian film, or an Indian success?
- are Indian critics correct in dismissing this film, like the decades ago City of Joy (Patrick Swayze in slums of Calcutta) etc, as successful, because of the Western fascination with poverty? If so, does this film give a distorted vision of India, or a bad image? Or is it more realistic than boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl (but, that's in this film too,-- hai-na? -isn't it?)
- Is this a romanticization of slums?
I think it's worth pointing out too that a lot of the Bollywood stars who are critical of the film are pretty well-off and hence don't know very much about slum life.
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ninetydegrees
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on 2009-02-11 01:18 am (UTC)My South Asian History prof sent out a message about it, here are some of his points you might find interesting:
-does this mean anything for India? or is it simply recognition of something most Indians believe, that 'our films are good'.
- is this film successful because it is directed by a Brit (Danny Boyle) and therefore has a veneer of sensilbility reigning in the Indianness of a Bollywood production, hence, this should not be trumpeted as an Indian film, or an Indian success?
- are Indian critics correct in dismissing this film, like the decades ago City of Joy (Patrick Swayze in slums of Calcutta) etc, as successful, because of the Western fascination with poverty? If so, does this film give a distorted vision of India, or a bad image? Or is it more realistic than boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl (but, that's in this film too,-- hai-na? -isn't it?)
- Is this a romanticization of slums?
I think it's worth pointing out too that a lot of the Bollywood stars who are critical of the film are pretty well-off and hence don't know very much about slum life.