And the Oscar goes to …………

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And the Oscar goes to …………

Anil Athale | 2009-02-25 11:39:57

Anil_Athale

Colonel Anil Athale, a Chhatrapati Shivaji Fellow of the United Services Institute, is working on a project on internal security. He is also the coordinator of Pune-based think tank Inpad, affiliated with the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

...Amir Ajmal Kasab.

Yes, without the horrible terrorist attack on Mumbai in November 2008, it is unlikely that the movie Slumdog Millionaire (SM for short) could have won the kind of adulation that it has.

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The judgement may seem a bit harsh. Mumbai has suffered and survived numerous terrorist attacks and atrocities earlier which did not get any attention from the rest of the world, so why this time?

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There are two logical explanations for it.

One, this is the first time that a sizeable number of foreigners were among the targets (thanks to the pseudo liberal lobbies in India, Indian lives lost is no great concern………it is always rationalised as reaction to Gujarat 2002 or that perennial, ever green Babri demolition of 1992).

Two, the massacre at CST (erstwhile Victoria Terminus railway station in Mumbai) was etched in world’s popular consciousness after the live television shots were brought into drawing rooms world over. The fact that the climactic scenes of SM had the same background helped the movie, and even the success of the song Jai ho.

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While accepting the Oscar, Danny Boyle ought to have remembered Kasab and thanked him. Maybe someday he will accept this reality.

Let us not forget that there have been countless ‘rags to riches’ movies from Bollywood; some of them from legendary filmmakers like Raj Kapoor and far better than SM.

The need to acknowledge Bollywood may also have something to do with Indian economic success, as was the case with lionizing of the Chinese movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Or has the West suddenly discovered that India in general and Mumbai in particular is a dream city where rags to riches stories happen?

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But that is not news even to the blinkered West. A former petrol pump attendant built one of the biggest economic empires in three decades, countless such ‘miracles’ have taken the cricket route and last but not the least, India’s best loved President had one of the humblest of backgrounds.

Given this background, one is forced to assert that it was the recent terrorist attack on Mumbai that finally thrust the ‘positives’ in India on the world stage as never before. SM was lucky to catch the tide.

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This in no way diminishes the real talent of AR Rehman that has finally received due recognition, though probably even he would accept that his score in Roja, Bombay or Dil Se was far superior to SM.

The media, particularly television, has gone berserk over the Oscars for SM. But then, the same media goes gaga over Matuknath (the Bihar professor and his affair with student) or the antics of the Ram Sene or the Aarushi murder as well.

The euphoria in the print media in general and among the masses is a little difficult to understand.

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The craving for recognition by the West has a history. The Sitar and Pandit Ravi Shankar became popular after the Beatles took to them. Yoga and meditation similarly gained acceptance after the West discovered its virtues.

Has this got something to do with our use of English language? Apparently no, for some of the fiercest nationalists like Swami Vivekananda or Gandhi, used English without losing their essential Indian soul. One can rationalise English usage and spread as a pragmatic move on part of Indians, who always had a link language, be it Sanskrit or later Farsi, without ever giving their own regional and unique Indian identity.

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But somewhere between Gandhi and the acceptance of Nehru, we seem to have lost this distinction. See how Bollywood idols insist on speaking in English when the subject of their talk is Hindi movies!

Not for nothing was Nehru called the last Englishman to rule India. It is this Nehruvian construct that continues to influence the chatterati. The spread of Internet, conveniently in English, the large Indian Diaspora in the West and Globalisation has actually extended the lease of the Nehruvian inferiority complex.

If one doubts this assertion, a visit to Anand Bhavan in Allahabad should dispel it. There, as proud exhibits, are invitation cards to the Nehrus by sundry British officials, preserved as important relics.