Slums and Dogs

India, today, is synonymous with mysticsm, IT and as has always been - poverty. It is the this third aspect that has brought it more fame than anything else...ever.. India (not to be mistaken with Hindustan) has always been poverty-stricken. It's just that, of late, consumerism has brought the gap into focus. It has made those lines between the haves and the have-nots thicker. Not that it is a bad effect, but its one side-effect that can't just be done away with. India is no stranger to poverty, she has seen it all. From the lower class to the urban slums and then the absolutely poor in the remote corner of the India rural countryside which is comfortably out-of-sight and out-of-mind. Often, never acknowledged. India is so used to the cess pools in its lanes and by-lanes, to the dirth of sanitation and education and to the disease and infection that only the absence of these will make the people sit up and take notice. 

So every once in a while there comes along an 'artistic' expression of this very cardinal state of the motherland. And so we have 'Do Bigha Zameen', 'Dharavi' and the like. And there is a huge spark of interest, of sympathy and enthusiasm to make to a difference in the lives of the downtrodden. But it is only a matter of weeks before the media finds something else that sells better and this is lost till some other 'eye-catcher' comes along. Now we have the 'Slumdog Millionaire'. I saw the movie quite dispassionately and having seen quite a few, always critically, I fail to understand all the hype it has generated. It is not an Indian movie, yet the Indian media cannot get enough of it. Elsewhere, its won numerous awards and got, I think, more recognition than it deserved. Frankly the story telling has been very ordinary. The character portrayals were somewhat convincing. The anecdotes which come along are often downright co-incidental and some don't quite make sense. Overall a good movie for a break from the regular, good-guy-bad-guy movie. Definitely not something out of this world! Definitely not 'Brilliant'! 

It seems to me that buzz this movie seems to be creating actually emanates from the poverty-stricken backdrop of the story. It is almost superhuman that a 'slumdog' should eventually have his life straightened out - and its perfect for him. His enemies are taken care of while he gets to take care of his girl with twenty million rupees to start off with. Its an astounding fairytale and I am sure many a western female folk would have shed a tear as they temporarily lived Jamal's fairytale. All this is fine, perhaps. There is one question though - How long is the plight of these slumdwellers to remain (after the farcical efforts of the authorities and cine-stars to give some sort of a facelift to their 'home' while the media is swallowing it and voters' ideas are swinging) ? 

One last thought. How come only poverty, as an artistic theme, capture imagination and gain such popularity? It's always the rags-to-riches story that sells, isn't it?