Vikas Swarup, author: Slumdog Millionaire isn't poverty porn

Slumdog Millionaire isn't poverty porn, says author 18 Jan 2009, 0209 hrs IST, Meenakshi Kumar, TNN  Print   Email   Discuss  Share  Save  Comment Text: NEW DELHI: Diplomat Vikas Swarup, whose novel was used as the basic story of the film Slumdog Millionaire, has an answer to all those crying  Diplomat Vikas Swarup themselves hoarse about the "negative" portrayal of India: Slums are a reality in India.  Swarup, whose 2003 debut novel Q and A, featured slums mainly towards the end, tells STOI the Hollywood-funded, British-made film doesn't depict them as places of "unmitigable despair".  He says on the phone from Pretoria where he is posted as India's deputy high commissioner, "There is nothing negative about the slums as depicted in the film. Slum dwellers are not shown as people wallowing in sorrow. On the contrary, they are trying to make their life better, they have aspirations, dreams and desires. The fact that the slums are giving way to skyscrapers is a reality. In the end, the film is about hope and survival."  Ever the diplomat, Swarup is polite to a faultabout the film straying from the original plot of his novel. Q and A was primarily about luck but the film is about destiny. Swarup's book featured an illiterate boy winning the biggest prize on a quiz show because of miraculous good fortune, namely a full and active life having adventures in orphanages and brothels, with gangsters and Bollywood celebrities.  But Swarup is not worried that the film has changed all that. For him the biggest change is in the name of the protagonist, Ram Mohammad Thomas, who becomes Jamal Malik. "Obviously, unlike a book, a film doesn't have the leisure of space to explain all the details. Anyway, a film is a creative interpretation of a director. He can take liberties with the script," Swarup says this without a hint of disappointment in his voice. Instead, he jokes that if all films were true to the books they were based on, why ever would the books be read?   more

Amitabh Bachchan blasts Slumdog Millionaire for showing India in poor light

Big B blasts Slumdog Millionaire on blog


Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, January 14, 2009

Bollywood megastar has slammed Danny Boyle's Golden Globe award winning underdog drama Slumdog Millionaire .
“If Slumdog Millionaire projects India as 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,” Amitabh said in a posting on his blog www.bigb.bigadda.com Wednesday from Paris, France.

“Its just that the Slumdog Millionaire idea authored by an Indian and conceived and cinematically put together by a westerner, gets creative global recognition,” he added.

The 66-year-old also talked about the changing trend in recognition of Indian cinema.

“The commercial escapist world of Indian cinema had vociferously battled for years, on the attention paid and the adulation given to the legendary Satyajit Ray... and not a word of appreciation for the entertaining mass-oriented box office blockbusters that were being churned out from Mumbai.

“Ray portrayed reality. While, the other - escapism, fantasy and incredulous posturing. Unimpressive for Cannes and Berlin and Venice (film festivals),” he explained. Read it all here

Slumdog Millionaire is poverty porn

Poverty-Development: Slumdog Millionaire is poverty porn

Slumdog sweeps US critics' awards

Dev Patel plays a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Danny Boyle's film Slumdog Millionaire has swept the Critics' Choice Awards in Los Angeles, winning five prizes, including best film and director.
Dev Patel, who stars in the rags-to-riches story about an improbable winner of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, was named best young actor.
The movie also collected the trophies for best writer and composer. more from BBC

Animation film made on Lalu Prasad Yadav

Animation film made on India's Railway Minister

Sat, Jan 3 05:50 PM
Patna, January 3 (ANI): Animation film made on India's Railway Minister and popular politician, Lalu Prasad Yadav in Patna has become an istant hit. The film is produced by Pawan and animation is done by Gopala.

Pawan, who besides producing the film has also done the characterization and conceptualization of the film, said that the reason for making a film on Lalu was that he wanted to present him in different light. more