I ve encountered myriad reviews on the slumdog millionaire.. d west's blessing to indian cinema.. a huge chunk loved the movie.. for its simplicity in narration, the plot, the dazzle by means of effects n all.. n der was dis chunk who thought the movie was dissappointing due to several reasons.. they expected a better climax.. i got no idea what kind of..
there ve been these articles on it telling it was nothing more than a perverted showcasing of india to westerners.. the way they see it, the way they want to see it n all.. i ve always beleived these kind of reviews to be hypocrisy, cheap publicity stunts n all.. and especially when arindam choudari wrote on it, i was convinced these guys were upto no good..
but then check out the article below..
its written by a catholic from paris, son of a parish head in a church in paris..

Religion, Marxism and Slumdog

François Gautier

WHY did a film like Slumdog Millionaire, which conveys an utterly negative image of India — slums, exploitation, poverty, corruption, anti Muslim pogroms — create so many waves in the West, pre and post Oscars? And why does not the Indian government protest, as the Chinese would indeed have, for a twisted and perverted portrayal of its own reality? There are several answers: When the missionaries began to evangelise India, they quickly realised that Hinduism was not only practised by a huge majority, but that it was so deeply rooted that it stood as the only barrier to their subjugating the entire subcontinent.They therefore decided to demonise the religion, by multiplying what they perceived as its faults, by one hundred: caste, poverty, child marriage, superstition, widows, sati … Today, these exaggerations, which at best are based on quarter-truths, have come down to us and have been embedded not only in the minds of many Westerners, but also unfortunately, of much of India’s intelligentsia.We Westerners continue to suffer from a superiority complex over the socalled Third World in general and India in particular. Sitting in front of our television sets during prime time news, with a hefty steak on our table, we love to feel sorry for the misery of others, it secretly flatters our ego and makes us proud of our so-called ‘achievements’.That is why books such as The City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre, which gives the impression that India is a vast slum, or a film like Slumdog Millionaire, have such an impact.In this film, India’s foes have joined hands. Today, billions of dollars that innocent Westerners give to charity are used to convert the poorest of India with the help of enticements such as free medical aid, schooling and loans.If you see the Tamil Nadu coast posttsunami, there is a church every 500 metres. Once converted, these new Christians are taught that it is a sin to enter a temple, do puja, or even put tilak on one’s head, thus creating an imbalance in the Indian psyche (In an interview to a British newspaper, Danny Boyle confessed he wanted to be a Christian missionary when he was young and that he is still very much guided by these ideals — so much for his impartiality).Islamic fundamentalism also ruthlessly hounds India, as demonstrated by the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, which are reminiscent of the brutality and savagery of a Timur, who killed 1,00,000 Hindus in a single act of savagery.Indian communists, in power in three states, are also hard at work to dismantle India’s cultural and spiritual inheritance. And finally, the Americanisation of India is creating havoc in the social and cultural fabric with its superficial glitter, even though it has proved a failure in the West. Slumdog plays cleverly with all these elements.Many of the West’s India-specialists are staunchly anti-Hindu, both because of their Christian upbringing and also as they perpetuate the tradition of Max Mueller, the first ‘Sankritist’ who said: “The Vedas is full of childish, silly, even monstrous conceptions. It is tedious, low, commonplace, it represents human nature on a low level of selfishness and worldliness and only here and there are a few rare sentiments that come from the depths of the soul”.This tradition is carried over by Indologists such as Witzel or Wendy Doniger in the US, and in France where scholars of the state-sponsored CNRS, and its affiliates such as EHESS, are always putting across in their books and articles detrimental images of India: caste, poverty, slums — and more than anything — their pet theories about ‘Hindu fundamentalism’.Can there be a more blatant lie? Hinduism has given refuge throughout the ages to those who were persecuted at home: the Christians of Syria, the Parsees, Armenians, the Jews of Jerusalem, and today the Tibetans, allowing them all to practise their religion freely.And finally, it is true that Indians, because they have been colonised for so long (unlike the Chinese) lack nationalism.Today much of the intellectual elite of India has lost touch with its cultural roots and looks to the West to solve its problems, ignoring its own tools, such as pranayama, hata-yoga or meditation, which are very old and possess infinite wisdom.Slumdog literally defecates on India from the first frame. Some scenes exist only in the perverted imagery of director Danny Boyle, because they are not in the book of Vikas Swarup, an Indian diplomat, on which the film is based. In the book, the hero of the film (who is not Muslim, but belongs to many religions: Ram Mohammad Thomas) does not spend his childhood in Bombay, but in a Catholic orphanage in Delhi. Jamal’s mother is not killed by “Hindu fanatics’, but she abandons her baby, of unknown religion, in a church. Jamal’s torture is not an idea of the television presenter, but of an American who is after the Russian who bought the television rights of the game. The tearful scene of the three children abandoned in the rain is also not in the book: Jamal and his heroine only meet when they are teenagers and they live in an apartment and not in a slum.And finally, yes, there still exists in India a lot of poverty and glaring gaps between the very rich and the extremely poor, but there is also immense wealth, both physical, spiritual and cultural — much more than in the West as a matter of fact.When will the West learn to look with less prejudice at India, a country that will supplant China in this century as the main Asian power? But this will require a new generation of Indologists, more sincere, less attached to their outdated Christian values, and Indians more proud of their own culture and less subservient to the West.


it was sort of an eye opener.. does it take someone like gautier to remind me to save a bit of my culture for my grandson's grandson..?
religion is meant to make people love.. why does it make them hate?
why do people believe that they are doing good to their religion just by making more people believe in it? does that just not betray a lack of understanding, a disbelief in in the widely possible diversity in creation and consequently in creation itself.. when you sympathise rather than lend a honest selfless helping hand, you glorify your impudence..
why hasnt it occurred to a single politician to screw vote bank politics and bag the basic indian 's vote by addressing issues that make sense to everyone in general.?
its obvious isnt it.. you make rice free, you get the south indian's vote. you make wheat free, you get the north indian's vote. screw food, you make our locality terror free, we ll both vote for you..

pplzthff..

Shabhana Azmi is a disconcerted woman these days. No reason why she shouldn't be. An established artiste in different forms of cinema, a daring socialite, a modern thinker, one who urged other muslim leaders to oppose terrorism with firmer fist, when denied shelter because of her religion, does turn heads. I was annoyed when I read the news piece. Fascists!
But think, would the many Muslim housing societies in Mumbai or the rest of India actually welcome peope of other faiths with open hands? This problem is anything but religion specific. And so i concluded, "Mrs. Azmi, this matter has hardly anything to do with the democracy and freedom. It is pretty much a matter of a sense of security". Well in any case it is your fifth house. You see, my shoeshine friend has been force evicted by the slum clearance board from his dwelling "abode" and he is now having second thoughts about living. Well i could accomodate him, but his notorious shoeshine friends visit him everyday and we have a lot of ornaments in our home. He didn't care to complain to any media. Whatever.
As i was telling you these issues are beyond democratic failiures. Mumbai has seen enough terrorism to keep its population so paranoid and cynical as to flap at cycle tire bursts. At a time when multiple blasts are triggered by childlike,wide-eyed, soda buddi(thick glassed), the "indha punayum beer adikkuma"(this sucker wouldn't have smelt beer) kinda persons,pardon them for adopting such "minor" contraceptives. Mrs Azmi could actually ponder into the real cause of denial of accomodation.This happens to a lot of her contemporaries across the nation. As a socially powerful figure she could actually spark some reform in thought or action. It would help.

Lately, a lot of communal tussles are erupting nation wide. Several reasons(as corny as possible in many cases), several bones of contention, all lead to major insecurity in any state in the country. The latest being the killing of a Guruji in Orissa. Hindus suspect the hand of Christian extremists, and Christians have contacted the Pope for support. Now, look at that attitude. Oh yea the law enforcers in the country are pathetic, but that doesnt mean you put personal safety before national pride and call outside help. This is what I mean when i say religion-aholics who dont't remember they are Indians first. In any case it was the Christian force conversion that turned out to be the primary culprit breeding wrath, but the situation is way past that with both parties engaging in bloodbath. Before a wise conciliatory attempt could even be devised of, Hindu extremists spring into action, blood for blood they believe. These people are wannabes, inspired by extremists of other religions and have no idea how asinine their ways are. These people name themselves names like Shiv Sainiks as if Sakshat Lord Shiva recruited them or something. What each religion needs is a strong body that questions injustice to them and not ruffians and goondas like these.

And we have Jammu burning up our neck. The Amarnath land transfer imbroglio. The Indian Govt., allots land out of the Indian territory to harmless pilgrims in the worship process, just as it supports pilgrimage of other religions in its soil, and intolerant fanatics cry foul. They have no valid reason other than, "It Is Our Land!!".
howling felines... kick these arrogant insolents... Listen Up people, its a secular matrix..the nation rules, not your faith.
In the major chaos that ensues, several kashmir valley Muslim protestors turn violent. The police fire at them killing many. One Javed Khan from Mumbai writes to 'The Outlook', "The incident has distressed Muslims like me, in the police firing 20 Muslims were shot dead and not a single bullet was fired on Hindus. Are security forces given bullets only to target muslims?" What did this guy mean? The security forces should have shot 20 hindus and things would have gotten even? He is one of those fools so jobless as to communalise such random fated incidents. And he has the cheek to generalise himself too. "Muslims like me"!
Hindus were no better behaved in Jammu. They started peacefully with stubborn state wide dharnas. But God knows when, things suddenly got squalid and the "Sainiks" struck again and more people died.

And there is our eternally envious neighbour. Bunch of rogues from there, they cross borders, declare themselves originals of this country, create random jihadi organisations and go plunder wealth and life. These fantics and jingoists hold their faith above a nation that fed them to prosperity, coughed up for their pilgrimage, ensured them seats in elite academia and a bread earning job too (while the majority slogs for it) and slaughter to merciless death industrious bread winners, homemaking wives and worse, sinless babies. What more do they want of this country. Convert to their religion?
They can screw their neighbour's dog.

Isnt it seriously time we as a nation shed our tolerant mask? Aren't we tired yet of brainless religious freaks crapping around in the name of faith and customs, tearing the nation apart with intolerant brawls, disturbing the sleep of their sensible, responsible and labouring counterparts? Evolution theory says that ethnic classes pursue a constant survival struggle to decide who is mighty and who prevails. In the end, the lesser mortals perish and runners up merge with the mightiest that lives unto death. That will be the case in India, a communal pulp. Before this strife worsens we have to endeavour to moderate the situation in the name of patriotism and thrust some Indianness down these losers' throats.

Though we aspire for a non violent end to all issues of violence through negotiations and dialogues, a solid solution will be incomplete without some extremism in itself. Just like the caning of an insolent brat in school, some of these impudents need a strike in the posterior with a titanium rod carved with deep ridges and some carbide thorns embedded on it or something like that. Just as there are religious fanatics, there need to be national fanatics(hey wait.. what are the police then?) who govern the situation. Whenever the rogues get a communal high, they need to be hammered back to their senses and reminded that in India, you are either an Indian or dead meat.

Seriously... we aint alone..

Woah..! Guess what, there is more to the 123 Nuclear deal than meets the eye. From the international perspective things are wholly of a different colour my friend.

While we are speculative about whether America has still managed some loophole to peep into our private parts(the military reactors) the outsiders are disappointed India has managed a better bargain, gaining the privacy of one third of our reactors. Apparently, India has also managed the right to decide which future reactors would be "classified".
What India says is you guys can inspect 14 of our 22 reactors and leave the rest to our own privacy. Like c'mon. You tell the police, "you can inspect 14 of my rooms. I wont let you into 8 of them". What would they think. Of course they dont see your perspective of security and patents.
The outsiders, consisting not only of the Americans but also many Asians, are only reminded of our 1974 "mischief". In the name of peaceful purposes, we checked if our nuclear pattasu was really working. Man! It turned many a sattelite head!

The problem is that they feel Iran is taking lessons from us. Well, would you blame them? It really does. Reminded of that bloke who copied your hairstyle. But man! he is getting the girls you didnt! Well its not the same story, but you understand.

They still suspect India's tendencies, feel that giving India nuclear fuel would only let them produce weapons. Quite bad India has not been able to prove it otherwise. And they already have the worries of an ambitious Iran only following India's footsteps.
It is at such a time they feel let down by a Bush who let India cover herself up a bit more. The funny thing here is that, while we feel this deal is only pulling the legs of Manmohan's seat, it aint doin a lot of good for Bush either. Then who the hell is it favouring?
Definitely us, we are gonna get 20000MW more to keep bloggin. We could never dream of it otherwise (oh yes all the security issues aside). But who else?
Well and it certainly is raisin a lot of vayatherichal(green with jealousy sorta thing) for the Pakistanis and the Iranians.
With Iran, there is something more. They have signed that nuclear non proliferashun thingy.
Well there you go, big brother offers nothing for the one who crossed eighteen and ponD for the kid who promised not to dirty his pants.
After our 1974 "betrayal" US tightened its security rules, only to be loosened again in 2008 by Bush for the same "culprit" India. So why wouldnt they hate him.

And most of all they feel this deal and India would set a bad example for the brats. Iran is probably learning that America bends with pressure, and the trick is to hold on. Once US is convinced you are important enough, it will start trying to please you.
And also paranoia is high that this deal would trigger several other stereotypes. Pakistan is already stretching its arm to catch any deal that passes its way. It neednt look much far, superpower hungry China is already speculating on its readiness to provide nuclear assistance, despite the fact that once upon a time Russia had successfully persuaded China out of a similar attempt. Bigger fear, will Russia decide its not that bad afterall sharing resources with Iran? Let growing kids have some milk stuff.

Well, i hope i didnt make it sound as if the whole world is against India getting ponD(i meant power offering nuclear Deal) . There is this class of of neo conservative Americans and companies from France and Russia who are lining to sell fuel and reactors to India. Listen to their objective, to construct an anti China alliance. Their problem is not that India has too many weapons, it is that it doesnt have enough! A looming congressional battle in the US threatens to throw non proliferation fighters and a nuclear lobby supporting a powerful India on the two ends of a tug of war.
The US lawmakers against this deal are only disappointed that Bush had to throw this controversial deal at the heart of a blooming Indo-US relation.
With all this going on outside our compound, we thought we were alone in this confused state of mind and cynisism about the deal. Man the whole world is wetting its pants!