Slumdog Millionaire

'Slumdog' Success Gets Mixed Reviews in India

by Niraj Sheth (New Delhi) and Eric Bellman (Mumbai)

www.wsj.com

As "Slumdog Millionaire" took home eight Academy Awards, including best picture and best director, many Indians rejoiced in its success amid hopes that movie talent they have long taken pride in may now be more appreciated world-wide.

While few in Dharavi, the sprawling Mumbai slum where much of the film was shot, had seen the Oscar awards show or the film, most were happy their neighborhood -- and Indian talent -- were at last getting some international attention. "Our Dharavi is now famous in the whole of the world," said S.G. James, a contractor who lives in a two-story home next to a railroad in Dharavi. "Of this, we are proud."

Middle-class Indians from more-posh neighborhoods also welcomed the awards. "I'm thrilled, and I think it shows how much the rest of the world is interested in India," said Sonam Sethi, a 21-year-old marketing student in New Delhi, while shopping in the upscale Greater Kailash market.

On the red carpet in Hollywood, Indian actress Freida Pinto, who stars in the movie as the main character's love interest, smiled when asked in an interview with Indian television channel NDTV how she felt about the movie's overwhelming success. "I never, never, never imagined something like this could happen," she said.

(In the U.S., the Oscar's TV audience rose from 2008's record low.)

Indians have long considered Indian music composer A.R. Rahman on par with any in Hollywood. So his award for best original score had particular resonance among film buffs in India.

Certainly, many Indians have been reluctant to claim the film, which stars a British-born Indian actor and was directed by a British director, as their own. Some have protested the use of "Slumdog" in the title as derogatory.

In late January, a Mumbai-based welfare group for slum dwellers organized protests outside the home of Anil Kapoor, an actor in the film. The protesters held signs reading "I am not a dog" and "Poverty for Sale."

"We have a dog's life but we are not dogs," said Mr. James from Dharavi, who was opposed to the film until he learned it was about overcoming the stigma of being from the slums. "Maybe now something will be done for the slum people."
Mr. James has overcome many of the hurdles depicted in the film: poverty, homelessness and riots. His sons are educated and live in the suburbs, but he plans never to leave, he says. After more than 30 years in Dharavi, he says he doesn't even hear the trains every 15 minutes.

On the streets of the slum, one politician, Sanjay Nirupam, a former member of Parliament, staged an impromptu celebration on news of the film's awards, lighting firecrackers and handing out sweets.

He told a crowd of almost 100 that "Slumdog Millionaire" could bring more money to the neighborhood, as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund would want to invest in the vibrant area.

"The slum dwellers should not be called slumdogs; they should be called slumlions," he told the crowd.

Not everyone was so optimistic. Kiran Jaiswal, 21, said she could never afford to go to a movie and wouldn't understand one in English, anyway. Sitting on the ground with her mother and grandmother next to the fetid pool used for one of the scenes in the movie, she said her neighborhood needs schools and jobs, not rags-to-riches dreams.

"If they can spend all this money on a movie, why can't they take care of the children?" she asked. "No one taught us how to speak English like those guys in the movie."

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