Commentators -- both in the West and here in the subcontinent -- are falling all over themselves to proclaim Danny Boyle ’s Slumdog Millionaire the best ever movie filmed in India. Heady praise for an independent film made on a shoestring budget, when compared to some of the mega-crore releases India’s domestic cinema has produced.
Naturally, then, all this praise for Slumdog and its director Danny Boyle has somewhat ruffled the feathers of Bollywood. For evidence, look no further than Amitabh Bachchan’s outburst on his blog last week, wherein he disingenuously pointed out that injustice and poverty exist in the developed world too. Thanks,Amitabh.
So unabashed fan boys are calling the movie one of the greatest of all time. Naysayers are jealously nitpicking and calling it a colossal fraud. The truth, as it usually does, likely falls somewhere in the middle.
Still, the most honest of assessments will reveal one thing: Foreigners bring to India a very unique perspective and some novel film-making and story-telling techniques. So, rather than throw a hissy fit, let’s celebrate India as a fertile ground for filmmakers, no matter their nationality.
Here, a Look at some previous foreign efforts in and about India:
Gandhi
While Slumdog Millionaire may be the India film de joure, 1982’s Gandhi, an epic biography of India’s non-violent freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi, is still the gold standard.
Ben Kingsley, born Krishna Bhanji, earned rave reviews for his performance as the Mahatma, and the story of India’s great religious/social/political leader transcended culture and captured the West’s imagination. To this day, Gandhi is revered in the West as a sort of modern-day saint.
In addition to the West’s heart and imagination, the film also captured the West’s awards, winning a staggering eight Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Ben Kingsley), Best Director (Richard Attenborough), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, and Best Original Screenplay (John Briley).
A Passage to India
Before call centres and India Inc, for most foreigners the sub-continent was still an ancient land shrouded in mystery and mystique.
1984’s A Passage to India, directed by Englishman David Lean, and based on the novel of the same name by EM Forster, explored colonial India, the Great Unknown.
While it was a moderate success at the box office -- making about $26 million -- the movie is most remembered as a critical hit.
Not only did it take home the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, it also won two Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Peggy Ashcroft) and Best Music, Original Score (Maurice Jarre).
City of Joy
1992’s City of Joy is a Roland Joffe-directed film based upon the novel of the same name by French journalist/author and India lover Dominique Lapierre.
Though Lapierre’s travels have taken him to almost every corner of India, his heart has always been in Calcutta. And it’s there that he’s written his best stuff about the subcontinent.
This one starred Om Puri and Shabana Azmi alongside US star Patrick Swayze and told the story of a disillusioned American who finds peace in the slums of Calcutta, seemingly the very last place a wealthy doctor would feel at home.
Filmed during a time when India was none too keen to expose its gritty realities, City of Joy was besotted with problems from the start, including mass demonstrations, virulent media criticism and pressure from politicians.
Salaam Bombay/ The Namesake/ Monsoon Wedding
Perhaps because Bollywood makes films for Indian audiences, the plight of India’s poor is considered less ’romantic’ than a middle class girl who fights her family’s wishes when choosing a mate.
After all, the bleakness and horror of India’s extreme poverty is there for all of us to see, every day. We needn’t be reminded on celluloid.
But India-born US filmmaker Mira Nair saw the vast potential of India’s underbelly, and began pursuing the subject in earnest. What resulted was 1988’s Salaam Bombay, which followed street kids in Mumbai. While the film earned her rave reviews, it wasn’t until 2001’s Monsoon Wedding ?- a tale about a boisterous Punjabi wedding and its chaotic surrounding circumstances -- that she emerged as a true hit-maker.
For Monsoon Wedding, she won the Golden Lion, the highest prize at the Venice Film Festival; and the film was also nominated for the award for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes. She’s followed up with 2006’s The Namesake, another critically acclaimed tale about Indians.
Yet, for all Nair’s critical success, her movies have not been commercial blockbuster. Many blame a stigmatisation against India. The same fate is said to have afflicted India-born Canada based Deepa Mehta’s 2005 film, Water, which won a lot of praise and little else.
Now, hopefully, with the runaway commercial and critical success of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, India will no longer be seen as just the playground of independent filmmakers and artsy high cinema types. After all, India -- with its Bollywood masala and mega-releases -- is the veritable home of the blockbuster.
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