Four-time National Film Award winner, Girish Kasaravalli, is a well known face in international cinema.
Would you say that in terms of cinematic excellence, is "Slumdog Millionaire" a perfect movie?
I would say it is very well shot, well acted and full of life. But in terms of content, it’s not at all a perfect movie. It starts of very well. As the film proceeds, it becomes slightly contrived, concocted and unrealistic. At one level, I felt that it is like cataloguing India which has slums, prostitution, communal
tension, rich using the poor…like this. The first half-an-hour of the film is very interesting. Rest is pretty ordinary, even though it is an okay movie.
Has the film been made to cater to western audiences?
I think they have not deliberately done that. That is their perception of India. After all if you say if it is done by an Indian filmmaker, then I can say that he is trying to cater the western minds. But, in this case the director himself is westerner and his perception of India is entirely different.
If it’s not a perfect movie, why has this kicjed up such a hue and cry?
See, even "Gandhi" got plenty of applause when it won Oscar awards. If you compare "Slumdog Millionaire" with "Gandhi", it’s no match! Even other Indian films like "Salam Bombay", "Bandit Queen" and "Water" which were nominees at Oscar were much, much better than this movie and much more accomplished. We have classic film like Shaji N Karun’s "Piravi". What was happening here is that is entirely different. When it comes to popular cinema, Oscar is taken as the highest achievement. When it comes to serious cinema, Cannes is considered the Everest. I think hoopla is because of power and money not because of virtue of "Slumdog Millionaire" as a movie. And it is not just the Oscar: anything connected with the United States gains popularity in India and all over the world. For example, just look at the US presidential election's coverage in Indian media. We don’t see the same kind of coverage of the French presidential elections. In case of cinema, Hollywood is more powerful as far as marketing and money is concerned and hence the gaga. When it comes to intellectual content, French Cinema is in a higher strata. So, Cannes becomes much more important. The second thing is marketability, which can be noticed in Booker Prize too.....Continue
Would you say that in terms of cinematic excellence, is "Slumdog Millionaire" a perfect movie?
I would say it is very well shot, well acted and full of life. But in terms of content, it’s not at all a perfect movie. It starts of very well. As the film proceeds, it becomes slightly contrived, concocted and unrealistic. At one level, I felt that it is like cataloguing India which has slums, prostitution, communal
tension, rich using the poor…like this. The first half-an-hour of the film is very interesting. Rest is pretty ordinary, even though it is an okay movie.Has the film been made to cater to western audiences?
I think they have not deliberately done that. That is their perception of India. After all if you say if it is done by an Indian filmmaker, then I can say that he is trying to cater the western minds. But, in this case the director himself is westerner and his perception of India is entirely different.
If it’s not a perfect movie, why has this kicjed up such a hue and cry?
See, even "Gandhi" got plenty of applause when it won Oscar awards. If you compare "Slumdog Millionaire" with "Gandhi", it’s no match! Even other Indian films like "Salam Bombay", "Bandit Queen" and "Water" which were nominees at Oscar were much, much better than this movie and much more accomplished. We have classic film like Shaji N Karun’s "Piravi". What was happening here is that is entirely different. When it comes to popular cinema, Oscar is taken as the highest achievement. When it comes to serious cinema, Cannes is considered the Everest. I think hoopla is because of power and money not because of virtue of "Slumdog Millionaire" as a movie. And it is not just the Oscar: anything connected with the United States gains popularity in India and all over the world. For example, just look at the US presidential election's coverage in Indian media. We don’t see the same kind of coverage of the French presidential elections. In case of cinema, Hollywood is more powerful as far as marketing and money is concerned and hence the gaga. When it comes to intellectual content, French Cinema is in a higher strata. So, Cannes becomes much more important. The second thing is marketability, which can be noticed in Booker Prize too.....Continue
