Did we need a "Slumdog ..." ?

I feel too strongly about this to remain quiet. I am reproducing excerpts of an article by Sandipan Deb (Indian Express critic, and would-be editor of the RPG Group's soon-to-be-launched current affairs and features magazine, 'Open').

"Frankly, I don't think Slumdog Millionaire deserved the Oscar for best film. And even more frankly, I don't think Resul Pookutty should have invoked "my country and my civilisation" in his acceptance speech for best sound mixing. India was not up there in the Kodak auditorium for approval. It was a British film financed by the indie subsidiary of an American studio which happened to be set in India and as a result they could not help but involve Indian actors (including Indian-origin Britishers) and shoot it in India. We crave too much for international recognition. A bit too much than is seemly. Even as all of us go around strutting, pretending to be a superpower.
...
...
Slumdog has won, and we should really rejoice for the six children who acted in it, for they are the real stars of the film. We should rejoice for AR Rahman, though the music he has got his two Oscars for is not even of his average quality, forget his sublime and exhilarating stuff. But the Academy has decided. But I really think it's a bit too much if we take this as a victory for Indian cinema. It's a non-Indian film which happened to have an all-Indian cast. We shoot entire films abroad nowadays, especially in the US, remember?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can get the full article at http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20090224/1241/top-it-shouldn-t-have-won.html

While we may not agree with all of it, it's food for thought.

When Satyajit Ray made his films in the late 60's and 70's he was castigated by
many in the Bombay film industry for depicting India in a poor light, because his
films were based on semi-urban life or rural life in India. Yet, now, in the 21st
century - the century that is said to belong to India - we are going crazy, particularly
most of Mumbai, over a slum-based film, made largely by non-Indians, to get
international acclaim?

Is India so depleted of stories, or indigenous talent?

So now, "foreigners" will visit India not to see The Taj, or Khajuraho, or the
Tanjore temples, or the magnificent forts in Rajasthan, and the myriad sights in
Eastern India, but to see Dharavi ??

NDTV, CNN-IBN, and other channels who have demonstrated since November 26,
that they are shamelessly TRP-hungry, must have set up temporary offices or desks
in Dharavi for doing as many interviews as they can of slum kids! "Slum tourism" at
its peak ?!