After all that Oscar hoopla I watched Slumdog Millionaire on Sunday.
One scene in particular refuses to get out of my mind. Two young boys standing on a high rise (being constructed) building are looking downwards at a slum where they lived a few years ago. One of them comments - Just a few years ago we lived in slums but now times have changed its all business now.
The movie is being watched world over. I try to watch that scene from the eye of a person in Germany, US, Russia, Brazil or Africa. To my mind the scene brings forward in subtle notes a fact that the recent development of India and its rise in the world as a prospective Superpower is a story of Slumdogs being transformed into business people - to a foreign eye.
To me the scene is symbolic of a nation being reconstructed. A nation being 'reconstructed in modern terms' keeping intact its rich traditions, values and culture. When I say in modern terms the connotation is about reconstructing a physical infrastructure. But a nation is not just a physical infrastructure. If we consider a cultural and philosophical infrastructure we are and were always a very rich nation. There is much more to India than a certain percentage rise in GDP growth rate or a rise and fall of a stock market. There is much more to India than what Slumdog Millionaire could possibly show.
Film is a powerful medium. Films are capable of registering messages in the subconscious mind, where they stay for longer than what we may perceive. They said they gave Oscar to Danny Boyle because the film was brilliantly shot. No doubt. Frame by Frame the film succeeds in attaining a space in the subconscious mind. Images, emotions, words ........
But with all the wrong messages.
Various scenes like a Tea boy searching information in a call center, a young girl relating a game show like KBC to a fulfillment of latent desires, the child beggar, the red light area, a sense of wonder in the eyes of a child and all set amidst universal human emotions like love, hate, hope, disappointment, agony, passion...................
When I say the film puts forward a distorted image of India, I feel I am using such mild words. Words are not enough to express a feeling that I have in my heart. I clearly see it as an effort made by a sharp mind, who knows what he can sell worldwide and can quickly get wide attention to and who is through in his art and technique.
When you tried to speak something about the film, your voice got lost in the uproar caused by a cacophonic praise about the film. But we need to speak about this and write about it. We need to continue to do that. The film, by virtue of it being a very powerful medium has already caused much damage.
And we need to make another powerful film, a film on my generation, the immense energy and confidence it has to rebuild the country (in terms of what is tangible) and all that my generation and yours too has got because we have been born in this great country, (in terms of what is intangible) to lead a the life of a happy, human being.
During the entire last century we had philosophies which focused on the tangible elements of life that I mention before. Most of those philosophies have recently seen an implementation failure. We have focused our attention on growth, GDP, wealth, capital, and economy for too long. These concepts are neither enough not sustainable, we have recently begun to understand.
We need a philosophy which brings about a combination of the tangible and intangible elements of life. Such a development paradigm will probably emerge from a country like India, rich in cultural and philosophical tradition. But that is something that will happen in future.
Perhaps we need to make a powerful film as an answer to a certain Slumdog Millionaire. And we need to get our own message registered in the subconscious of the people in the WORLD. And win an Oscar.
The plot is simple. A young man full of energy and confidence decides to build up his own life in set parameters based on his modern education. As he tries to do that he needs to break the set parameters to have a rich fulfilled life. Thus he needs to draw wisdom from his own tradition and culture. A young man's journey could be symbolic of a nation's journey. And all this can be set amidst universal human emotions like love, hate, hope, disappointment, agony, passion................... to have a wider appeal.
We need to give an answer to Slumdog Millionaire. We must.
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