Gautam

I do think that the producers of Slumdog, now that they have made so much money, should use some of it to help the poor who helped make them a success. If they’ve already set up a trust for the two kids, that’s great, but maybe also give an additional payment to the families so that they might have some immediate help. Given the cost of living in Bombay, the additional payment wouldn’t have to be very large. Also, they might want to consider doing something to help the poor in general – perhaps setting up a fund to provide vaccines for kids, or school books, or setting up a foster home for abused kids. If they took just 1% of their profits, they could help a lot of kids in these slums.

In defense of Republicans – I tend to vote Republican (though I consider myself an independent and have voted for Dems and Libertarians). I also give to charity on a regular basis. If you look at personal charitable giving among Republicans, it’s actually higher than among Democrats IN THE SAME INCOME bracket. This is not to say Dems are cheap, but I think it’s also wrong to say Republicans are uncharitable. I volunteer once a month at a local Mission feeding the homeless, and I spend an hour a week tutoring disadvantaged kids, and most of my fellow volunteers are conservatives.

One reason I liked the PBS special on the DubbaWallahs in Bombay – it shows personal entrepreneurship. These guys deliver lunch boxes to office workers in Bombay. To get a route, they buy it from a guy who is retiring. They work to get additional customers. They keep the profits, except for a percentage that goes into a pool. This pool is used for things like helping with emergency medical bills. The DubbaWallahs vote for their own President. Because they are OWNERS, not employees, they are more motivated, I think.

One problem with many “help the poor” ideas is that they don’t really help the poor. For example, in the US, Congress is about to vote a massive stimulus package that provides a lot of “give-aways”, but most of it will not actually help with creating jobs. Most poor people would rather have good jobs than welfare checks, so a better stimulus package would be one that, while still providing a safety net, would create more jobs. However, the stimulus plan will just saddle our children with a huge debt while doing very little to actually stimulate the economy.

At any rate, my personal opinion with the poor of Bombay – I think it’s good that their plight has been publicized because there is a huge disparity between the rich and poor in India, and I do think it would be good if perhaps shame would motivate some of the rich, including Bollywood movie stars, to do more to help the poor. I know in the West, in the US, this is one reason many of the rich were charitable – Carnegie, for example, donated huge sums to set up libraries all over the US, “the inimitable” Molly Brown helped poor survivors of the Titanic find jobs, etc.

One thing that might help the poor more than anything – getting rid of the corruption in the police system and among politicians in India. India has good laws that protect people, including children, but many poor people are not educated about these laws, and there is corruption that disproportionately hurts the poor. Helping to create a more fair justice system is one thing many Indian celebrities could do if they cared about helping their people.

Also, helping develop more home-based businesses, something Mahatma Gandhi was trying to do with his spinning wheels, would be helpful to poor people. Right now, there are programs that give small loans to third world people to develop their own home-based businesses.

Actually, I think that idea would also be great in the US – instead of giving out more money for various pork-barrel projects that will not stimulate our economy (they set aside something like $300 million for STD prevention – which includes buying condoms for people – can’t people buy their own condoms?) – why not instead use the money to set up no-interest loans for poor people to start their own businesses, along with mentoring from entrepreneurs so that the people learn how to write a business plan, manage their finances, etc.

Population of Bombay is 19 million and you are suggesting all of them live in slums? Recheck your posts before you submit. You have used a lot of statistics but I don’t get what your point is. There is a very good quote about statistics. “Do not put your faith in what statistics say until you have carefully considered what they do not say.” I am actually not clear what you are trying to say through your messages.

I am from Bombay and it was painful and super annoying to see how the city was depicted in the movie. I guess it’s natural to have that kind of feeling for anyone who love their city/country. The movie isn’t showing everything that is real. It’s added a lot of spice by blowing things out of proportion. There is no doubt that it’s true to some extent about people living in slums and suffering.

There are various reasons why the slums still exist. Of course there is poverty. Some good politicians in the government actually provided lot of slum dwellers housing in good apartments but the slum dwellers sold it off to some other folks to make profit and returned to their slums. One of the bigger reasons is political will. Each slum area is a big vote bank for politicians in that area. It’s easy to con uneducated slum dwellers who are poor and their votes can be easily won by small amounts of money, so most politicians benefit from people staying in the slums rather than caring for their progress.

There are clearly a lot of things wrong behind the movie and also the interpretation of the viewers from the US which cause pain to most Indians. The movie has only shown slums the entire time. India and the city of Bombay has made considerable progress and is no different if not better from the major cities of the world. Of course there are issues with any big city but our country’s problem is our population. Anyway the movie never tries to show the better part of the city which only proves how the movie makers tried to sell “poverty porn”. This is the problem I have with movie makers. Now for the audience in US and some other countries whose citizens don’t know much about the world outside their countries. I saw this movie when I was in US and saw how the folks enjoyed the movie. I am sure if I was one of them, it would have been entertaining for me as well. The problem now faced by a lot of Indians is most Americans assume that all of us have come from the slums. Most Americans have no clue about the world outside their states so it’s comes down to ignorance but I am describing how one of my friends faced this real problem in her work place. She was shocked when some ignorant people saw this movie and assumed she came from the same slums. Although the movie benefits from the showcase of “poverty porn”, it actually paints a wrong picture of “reality” in India.

The movie isn’t that real after all. As far as I see it’s a dream of a slum dweller rather than anything real. The “slumdog” is shown to have traveled to Taj Mahal and able to trick some westerners in believing that they are guides to that tourist spot. The slum boys are able to make a lot of money too as a guide. Maybe Danny Boyle was tricked by a guide in such a manner and it could be possible considering his intellect. Then suddenly these slum boys recognize some of their old friends even after some years have passed by. Apparently faces changed in the movie but they were still easily recognizable. The slumdog can also recognize his lost girl friend immediately even though the faces have changed completely. The best part is the casting. Suddenly as the slumdog grows up he gets a western accent. How do you explain that.

I am no movie critc or understand movie making in great detail but somethings about the movie are just incorrect. Anil Kapoor who is hosting the show “Who wants to become a millionaire” is extremely rude to the slumdog and calls him that on the live show. This show runs in India with Indian hosts and none of those celebrities have ever insulted a contestant on the show. Simply incorrect and unseen in real life but of course the movie is assumed to be “real”. I am amazed though that the movie bagged so many awards even though it has major errors and now nominated for 10 oscars.

I think the movie might have still been entertaining if there wasn’t so much “poverty porn” depicted. The concept of the movie is brilliant but it’s not made in good taste. Of course without the poverty the movie wouldn’t be that interesting. I also understand it’s made to sell and not to please Indians. Indian movie makers were asked in TV shows why are they not able to make such a movie. I agree with some of the answersI heard. Indians are aware of the reality. Movies in India are more for entertainment and to get away from reality. Most people want to see dreams being realized and even people living in slums don’t want to see a movie with blown up reality. Indians don’t need to be reminded of the religious riots (one sided) that were shown in the movie. People have been through this and want to forget it and lead a happier life. Movie goers are out for entertainment and that is what Indian movie makers try and make. They don’t do a very good job because most Indian movies suck but they are still not hurtful and not made in bad taste.

As I said earlier, I probably didn’t enjoy the movie because I am from Bombay. The movie has a great concept but could have been more entertaining than being repulsive to most folks from Bombay (at least who love the city). Movie making is of course a business and people will make what sells. A $14mn movie has made around $60mn so far. Not bad business eh?

Kamlesh.

January 28th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
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Were they? I’d say they were paid pretty well, by Indian standards. As such, it’s all about India’s general economic state.

Despite India being “the world’s largest democracy” there is in fact very little direct representtion and massive ignorance due to the maintenance of the caste system.

January 28th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
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Good point – there’s definitely something escapist about Bollywood. I’d known these movies were popular there, but didn’t realize the scale of it until I went to Kolkata and met children who’d spend their days begging or making sandals or picking pockets, primarily to pay for movie tickets.

And I certainly don’t want to disparage the genre. They’re completely over the top, extremely predictable, ridiculously over-acted, and I love watching them. They’re just a stark contrast to a reality that’s already full of stark contrasts between rich and poor.

although, to be fair, I was never angry although I am often ineffectual and self-righteous… hmm, I might need that recommendation after all- who should I call at Bill-O’s office?

(P.S. I keed, I keed…)

I have decided to provide the below contact information for both Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Bros for those of you that feel compelled to act. I know I did.

Fox Searchlight Pictures:

10201 Pico Blvd Bldg. 38
Los Angeles CA 90035

Ph. 310-369-2431
Ph. 310-369-4402

Warner Bros

Ph. 818-954-6000

Customer Service

Go get ‘em, people!

What’s quite interesting is that the film is being heavily criticized by Bollywood actors – including the most famous person in the world, Amitabh Bachchan – for portraying India’s poverty. Bollywood would apparently prefer to show the world only the perspective of the super-rich of India.

Hi HT!

Bollywood movies are meant to be escapism fantasies for the masses. They may be more important to the spirit and morale of their people than we realize. When you have less, you have to dream even bigger.

From an American perspective, I find Bollywood movies to be absolutely hilarious. The song and dance numbers get to be a bit much for me sometimes, and everything is over-acted and over-dramatized (in a William Shatner meets Disney sort of way). But I watch them anyway because ultimately the stories tend to be about the human spirit enduring, and even triumphing, despite great difficulty and great odds. In short, it could be summed up as a struggle between man and fate.

I haven’t seen Slumdog yet, but I can’t imagine that it’s trying to compete with the Bollywood genre. So, in that regard, Mr Bachchan need not feel threatened. I think his job and his legendary status will still be safe. LOL.