Jun 02, 2009 03:03 PM
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I first saw the movie Slum Dog Millionaire and loved the movie. A lot of my friends and family who also watched the movie told me that it was too graphic and showed India in poor light. This was my universal reply to all of them who hated the movie. I would have agreed with them on the movie showing India in poor light if it was made in the 70s or 80s. However in the present context the movie is just right in its timing. So then what changed after that?
I have lived outside India for many years in my life and I have seen the perception of India change over the years. In the 70s and 80s India was viewed as country that is shown in Slum Dog. In fact the world assumed most of India lived under those conditions. Then came the 90s and the 2000, this is when our techies were going around the world fixing their Y2K bugs. We had Indians like Sabir Battia selling websites for a few 100 million USD and many Indian start ups that made big in the IPOs.
After all these stories the global Indian had truly arrived. Books like the world is flat got written on the important role played by India in shaping the new global economy. After this people started to talk about the malls in India, the growing middle class, how India has a few 100 million cell phone connections, how India will become the world’s largest English speaking population, etc. All these are great coverage for India. So given the current context where the world is only hearing great things about India I feel a movie like Slum Dog and books like White Tiger shows the darker side of India to the rest of the world.
OK so after watching the movie, what do I do? I go ahead and buy the book called “Q&A” based on which the movie was made. When ever I have watched the movie after the book I have felt a huge disappointment. This usually happens when I watch the Harry Potter movies. However this time I felt that the movie and the book are quite different in the story. In the movie besides borrowing the main story line of a boy in the slum winning the TV show, they have taken very little from the book. That way the book has many interesting plots and sub plots. The author brings about a few surprises in the book and each time he makes you gasp at his imagination.
The book is very easy to read and hard to put down once you get started. The story of Ram Mohamed Thomas is very touching and leaves a mark in your heart. You will never see the guy in street the same way again after the book. The romance part was beautifully done by director Danny Boyle in the movie. The book is a little disappointing in the romance bit but has quite a few twists and turns that keep you riveted to the seat till you put this book down. A great read !!
