Slums and Dogs

[crsnadar]

I am very sorry if I hurt someone.
I am not that rigid that I would keep standing for everything I said.
May be in a flow I have typed something irrelevant.

But TRUTH is TRUTH & it only needs a litte courage to speak that out.
& sometimes truth doesn't fall under orthodoxies but sometimes it be out of general expectations rather.

India is trying hard to develop & at such instance if we come to be known globally as a devil nation where there is no place for poors..then we would never have better relations with the rest of the world.
It's our politicians who are the real culprits who just greed luxury with votes.
But so many NGOs are trying their level best to upgrade slum people's status.

& at such a time people visualise NGOs as culprits for making beggers who would believe them?
Director could have shown some NGO also helping underdogs & could picturise them as leader.



anyway....leave it yaar...
I don't know whom I am talking to

 

[prashantacmet]

-A boy covered in **** never went to airport/airstrip

Priya nadar ji
Can u please enlighten me about this ****? Infact, i haven't seen any movie from last 2 years. I have never seen suchha hue and cry about a movie on JL. Should i see this movie? Please fill the blanks for me otherwise i will have to rush towards a theatre.

Thanks in advance

 

[dreamer]

I also wanted to write something about it !!

Anyone want to see movie .. I have downloaded english version b4 getting released in India ... well .. about movie .. I can not understand that what is the difference between Oscar nominated movies and some dashing bollywood movies which just move you from inside .. many movies have been made .. one I can remember right now is ... Ijazat (have u seen this) ... movies like Rang De Basanti well seriously nice movie .. Omkara wonderful story (obvious Shakespear's ) and every actor has just lost in his/her role ... they just could not make it to international stage I really wonder why ...

Navin Bhai rightly said I am fan of AR Rahmaan but b4 this Jai Ho .. ek bhi line yaad nahin hai is gaane ki toh .. baaki listen to --Dil Se -- ... Man superb album ..

jo bhi movie banti hai leek se hatkar .. ek toh indian audians (who really matter u know seeti maarne waale) ko pasand nahin aati .. doosari uske directors ke paas itna paisa nahin hota ki oscar tak pahuchaye us movie ko ..

I mean to say leave things like ... criticizing India and indians .. think how can we make our movies better ... in this particular movie there is nothing so special neither special photography nor special acting ... we have seen many better things portrayed in our bollywood ..

 

[crsnadar]

Tumhaare desh ke upar to roz ke darjan tamaache padte hain, ye to bina baat ka ho halla hai fir bhi itna dukh !!

Mumbai Attack pe nahi pade the tamaache? Jab gareeb aadmi aatmahatya karte hain tab nahi padte tamaache? kisi ladki ko utha ke le jaate hai kuch log sabke saamne tab?

Shweta ji,
You wrote efficientely & all correct.
It'e really encouraging to see some Jat girl writing such awakeing lines.
But have I ever said the above mentioned issues are not to look upon?


I come across words & lines I wrote, Everyday & Everywhere I live.

But to your own words..the movie did not show these real issues.
What you have mentioned are among real worries & issues we should look upon I agree & agree to it's most.




..not just to justify a oscar nominated movie

 

[prashantacmet]

Priya nadar ji
Can u please enlighten me about this ****? Infact, i haven't seen any movie from last 2 years. I have never seen suchha hue and cry about a movie on JL. Should i see this movie? Please fill the blanks for me otherwise i will have to rush towards a theatre.

Thanks in advance

nyadar ji..bata dyo ne. **** ka matbal......kyoun merre peessu ka naas karwao thaam

 

[prashantacmet]

Shweta ji,
You wrote efficientely & all correct.
It'e really encouraging to see some Jat girl writing such awakeing lines.
But have I ever said the above mentioned issues are not wrong?


I come across words & lines I wrote, Everyday & Everywhere I live.

But to your own words..the movie did not show these real issues.
What you have mentioned are among real worries & issues we should look upon I agree & agree to it's most.




..not just to justify a oscar nominated movies

Shweta is always right !!!. But "It's not right nadar ji"..ki thaamne uss **** ka matbal ne bataya...

 

[crsnadar]

Shweta is always right !!!. But "It's not right nadar ji"..ki thaamne uss **** ka matbal ne bataya...

Movie dekh le bhai apne aap samajh me aa jaayega...
But Theater me hi dekhna Computer pe nahi..jyada achchha samajh me aa jaayega..
Movie ke starting me hi hai iska description..5/10 mins me samajh me aajaayega..

 

[navingulia]

Friends and brothers,
its fair for every one to have an opinion, what ever it is. some of us see it one way and others in a different way.

i stick to my opinion
india has been shown in very poor light by exaggerating negatives beyond imagination, to spice up the movie for entertainment purpose. just like tv serials show extreme exaggeration of family negatives for entertainment.

There has been wonderful movies and this one makes to oscar instead, surprises/shocks me
Lagaan could never have made an oscar because the white man had been beaten in that.
if anyone except rahman takes an oscar i would be damn surprised.

Prashant sir, **** means ****. the film shows that a small boy when locked up in a public latrine jumps into a pit full of head deep **** , in order to get amitabh bachchans autograph.

when any foreigner guy sees this movie, he will feel that this is india.

(Richard attenborough's Gandhi, full respect. till date i regret that no Indian could show an equally strong depiction of Gandhi)

Oho, i didnt know that on JL if you write ****, it appears as four stars. it is the most common english word for expressing frustration when something goes wrong, synonym=potty ,,, i cant stop laughing, this is too much

 

[anilsinghd]

Orkut profile pe bhi ye points daal diye - ye nahi socha ye bhi ek aisi videshi jagah hai jaha pe hamaare desh ke muh pe ye so called tamaache maarne waale kitne incidents aur log mil jaayenge

Grow up !

And how many people use this cheap language 'abe deep me kya jaane ka yaar ....' - tumse kaha kisi ne aisa kuch yahan ?? Aur jo kehte hain wo tumhaara 'Ye sab kya hai..?' sun ke sudhar jaayenge kya?

Tumhaare desh ke upar to roz ke darjan tamaache padte hain, ye to bina baat ka ho halla hai fir bhi itna dukh !!

Mumbai Attack pe nahi pade the tamaache? Jab gareeb aadmi aatmahatya karte hain tab nahi padte tamaache? kisi ladki ko utha ke le jaate hai kuch log sabke saamne tab?

Yaha desh ki sachaayi hi yehi hai ki har ek kadam baat kuch galat ho raha hai to kis kis ko rokoge sach dekhne aur sunne se? Aankhe fod dena bhikaari bana dene ke liye koi nayi ya 'unproven' baat nahi hai, isse to kahi jyada jaghanya kaam hua karte hain yaha har roz. Insaano ke body parts nikaal diye jaate hain, aur Noida me shayad suna ho ki kitne nar kankaal paaye gaye the aur kya kiya gaya tha unke saath ye bhi shayad suna ho aapne - aankhe fodne se bada ya chota tha wo kaam?

'Poverty' dekhi kitni hai aur kya jaante ho aap uske baare me, shayad ye koi jab tak nahi jaan sakta jab tak wo bhukhe pet, bimaar shareer, fate kapde aur bina sirr pe dhang ki chat ke apni zindagi guzaar ke dekhe.

Poverty dhundhli pad jaati hai aksar jab hamari aankho pe sukh saadhano ka parda pad jaata hai - Kaha kaha reh chuke hoge aap, kitni states me? 3 ya 4 shayad - baaki ki kayi pichdi aur gareeb states ki haalat ka kaise andaaza ho sakta hai aapko ?

Ho sakta hai movie me kuch exaggeration ho ya fir uski prashtbhoomi me kuch her fer ho par India ke slums ke log dog se batdar zindagi guzaar rahe hain (aur kayi jagah to aisi hoti hain jinko slums bhi nahi kaha ja sakta)

Shweta ji , daraya mat karo aap itni ucch koti ki hindi ka upyog kar ke !


Anyways , not right to comment on the movie as I have not watched it , but the image of India is not exactly what it is even in Europe , still many believe India is all about dowry etc and very crude and tradition ridden.

And if a movie is nominated / goes to Oscars , people are bound to see it , so it does do a lot in terms of creating the impression!

I will not suggest to break the negative things but rather would invite people to concentrate on doing positive things which overshadow the negative things!

I try my lil part to explain India to my colleagues , people I meet! I infact got one of my colleagues to visit my home,parents, family and my cousin sister's marriage and he loved it and has fond memories of it and he did say that the image he had before was totally different!

 

[amans]

how can the hero learn to speak british style english and such good english as a result of working as a tour guide at taj mahal? impossible. the heroine broke off her engagement after the success of the movie to concentrate on her "career." frieda pinto is said to be a gorgeous/extremely beautiful woman in everday news and on web?!
Unbelievable! looks average.
what is this world coming to?!

 

[poonam]

Well, I'm very gald that they made this movie!

Coming up should be the one about this recent incident in Mangalore pub...where these "true Inidans" assaulted non-Indian tradition follower girls!

Coming to Slum dog , there is a lot to write about. Agreed that there is a precedence of better movies in Bollywood than this which could have been more eligible for Oscar than this one.

But talking abt only SD, I found a wonderful storytelling, acting (this new guy) and direction. Honestly, never thought it would make to any sort of awards though but I'm delighted that it did. It indeed is a wonderful "story"!

P.S. Can you imagine , even in your dreams, any hollywood actor giving autograph to a **** coated boy...?! See how grounded our bollywood stars are ...(tongue-in-cheek)..

 

[vikassingh1]

Hello Navin,

I second you totally.

To say that I felt horrible to have watched this movie with some of my American friends here in US is an understatement.

I believe very strongly that first and foremost, if we do not respect ourselves, no one else will respect us at all!!

Angrej challe gaye, but whether it is Sonia Gandhi or things depicted in this movie, we still in our councious and sub concious minds believe that whites will always be better than us!!

Slums and Dogs

1. The movie projects that India is all about slums and dogs, something the western world loves to see and feel.
2. The quality of direction and movie making is poor.
3. In the show anil kapoor and his audience mocks and laughs at the participant when they come to know he is a poor chaaiwaala. In Indian society, I have never seen any one making fun of a poor person for his poverty in public. But the movie tells the world that Indian society is like this.
4. There isnt and there never was any ngo in mumbai that kidnaps street children and makes them beg after maiming them, cutting arms and legs or binding them.
5. AR Rahman deserves oscar but for his other music given earlier, music in earlier films has been far better but still, he is probably the only deserving nomination.
6. Police in mumbai doesnot hang boys in their police station and give them electric shocks to find out if he has cheated in a reality show.
7. I have till date never come across a beggar child whose eyes had been burnt by pouring hot oil into them. If it doesn’t happen, why do they show that.
8. when in one scene the boy tells the white american lady, see, this is real india, she takes out money and gives him saying and this is real america. Meaning india is bad and they are good.
9. What surprises me is that much better movies which projected indian society and its values as good and strong (mother india, lagaan) did not succeed at oscar and when you show india as poor and pathetic, you make it.
Can the possibility of getting ‘Oscar’ buy us into accepting this movie as great??
Amitabh Bachan rightly said “I did not want to be part of this film in any way” and he was very right when he said “the world should realise india is not all about slums and dogs”
Anil Kapoor said at a conference after golden globe “I feel like a slumdog myself having made it here” (how willingly he is looking down on himself)
Am I wrong in my observation?
Navin Gulia

Btw – slumdog is not an indian film, it is made by Warner bros.

 

[raj2rif]

Well Made Movie

I watched the movie and found it to be very entertaining and good. The scenes of slums and life of slums shown was pretty realistic. Both the younger kids acted extremely well. A R Rahman was his usual best in Music. I think the best character was Salim and the actor played it extremely well.

Over all a very good movie.

 

[navingulia]

interestingly, there are a mixture of 4 reactions to this movie and they are extreme opposites.

1. those who are finding it insulting
2. those who are finding it enertaining
3. a poorly made/average movie
4. a masterpiece

two questions from me:-
1. in the british reality show 'big brother', jade goody shouts at shilpa shetty "go back to the slum you have come from". if this movie makes it big at oscars(which most probably it will) , wouldnt more number of westerners calling all indians as 'slumdogs'???
2. why does 'indian slumdog' make it to oscars where as 'mangal pandey', rang de basanti, lagaan, mother india, guru, and so many masterpieces on indian culture fail? how come its so easy for indian slumdog to make it to oscars??

 

[raj2rif]

interestingly, there are a mixture of 4 reactions to this movie and they are extreme opposites.

1. those who are finding it insulting
2. those who are finding it enertaining
3. a poorly made/average movie
4. a masterpiece

two questions from me:-
1. in the british reality show 'big brother', jade goody shouts at shilpa shetty "go back to the slum you have come from". if this movie makes it big at oscars(which most probably it will) , wouldnt more number of westerners calling all indians as 'slumdogs'???
2. why does 'indian slumdog' make it to oscars where as 'mangal pandey', rang de basanti, lagaan, mother india, guru, and so many masterpieces on indian culture fail? how come its so easy for indian slumdog to make it to oscars??

Dear Navin Bhai,
Firstly, it is a movie that is showing the life of slums. Regarding your question comparing it with other movies that you have mentioned, I don't think except Rang De Basanti/ Mother India, any other comes close to Master Piece.

Regarding "Slumdog", that is the question we need to ask our inner soul. 60 years into independence, we are no longer a young nation. What have we done to improve the lot of a common man? These are the realities of the life,which we see every day in every city. We are unable to provide education to our children. We have no courage to tell people to follow family planning. When we do, we do it to make the numbers to please our masters. Don't you think that we really need to do some soul searching.

 

[cooljat]

Concur with you Col Uncle !!!

Btw, recently watched the movie and I must say its one awesome flick ... fantastic acting by young kids, mesmerizing music by Rehman and good direction by Boyle. It's a one good 'movie' n I didn't find anything objectionable in it ... agree with Sumit's views that its one inspiring story of rags to riches. I no where felt that it was targeted to Slums or something like that.

Its one creative movie and I give it 4/5 !!


Rock on
Jit

Dear Navin Bhai,
Firstly, it is a movie that is showing the life of slums. Regarding your question comparing it with other movies that you have mentioned, I don't think except Rang De Basanti/ Mother India, any other comes close to Master Piece.

Regarding "Slumdog", that is the question we need to ask our inner soul. 60 years into independence, we are no longer a young nation. What have we done to improve the lot of a common man? These are the realities of the life,which we see every day in every city. We are unable to provide education to our children. We have no courage to tell people to follow family planning. When we do, we do it to make the numbers to please our masters. Don't you think that we really need to do some soul searching.

 

[navingulia]

Virender Sir, no one would agree with you stronger than me that 60yrs down the line we ought to have done something already about the poverty.

here there is someone showcasing one small worst aspect of our society to get an oscar. showcasing to the world that 'This' is what india is.

ask any foreigner, 'how are indians?' he will say 'short, slim, dark and dirty',,,,, thats how the characters of the film were chosen.

despite our poverty and slums, i am still happy with our society over american/western society, we r closer to the soil and reality. For a few countries to become the developed west there has to be an under developed rest of the world.

american west and its media depicts countries like india, china, middle east, islamic world, as the bad societies with lots of taboos and evils and for themselves they project an image of a perfect society.

-----

this topic is bound to have two opposite camps, i am comfortable with that. i have a valid point and concern and am sure about it.

as for the quality of movie, i will be damn surprised if anyone except rahman gets an oscar. though i fear that it may happen other way round.
----
i rest my case

 

[rkumar]

see, again i would say, every one has equal right to an opinion. my own opinion shouldnt carry greater weightage.

but going through history and even present day, i see strong propaganda by west to make every other society feel backward and inferior. and trust me they are good at it.

I agree only partly with you Navin on this. West has shown our good side also. These days they are showing the story of India on one american channel. More and more people in USA are learning for the first time how great the Indian culture has been. However, let us face it, we Indians (Hindus) are very individualistc in everything and care very little for fellow Indians. Individual Karma only matters for our ticket to heaven. We shout from roof tops when poor tribals are lured to become Christians. How often VHP takes their cause and fights for them ? Poor people in India are treated like vote banks and no one cares. It hurts middle class Indian pride when our slums are shown on TV. However, we rarely fight for cleaning these slums. More than the makers of slumdog, I blame my fellow countrymen for creating such slums in the middle of big cities. Why can't middle class come in streets like they came after 26/11 ? Why our media can't become active on slums and other similar issues? Are these slums and the poor people living there not part of India? If we have closed our eyes towards them, what is wrong if someone from out side reminds us ?

RK^2

 

[aryasatyadev]

I am pleased to see all the view points of various members...... I don't know why we are thinking that India is that what is being projected through the movies....... and moreover why are we afraid of the truth...... I was there in Mumbai during those riots....... I have seen the life of slum dwellers various situations are almost reality there..... and now I am in the other part of the world in a small country Haiti in carrebean........ here we are some 300 Indians..... I have watched the movie with many others but it is afterall not so bad....... infact we should praise the talent shown by the kids in that movie....... and dear... when two days before when we celebrated our Republic Day..... All Haitian people and UN officials were impressed...... In their openion India is a 5000 year old civilisation which has tought world the virtues of tolerance and love...... but never haterd..... I request you all friend to be positive...... pls don't critisize anything just for the sake of it or because we are Jats...... Enjoy dear.... Love All.....

 

[poonam]

These days they are showing the story of India on one american channel. More and more people in USA are learning for the first time how great the Indian culture has been.

RK^2

Thats right!

Michael Wood has done a good job. I managed to catch a few episodes, will watch the rest as well. Liked it.

Navin, you must watch it..it will make you feel better...

And also, the ones who think west only likes to see/film a poor India will get some respite too..