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Triumph of hope

The only thing lacking at this year’s glittering Oscar awards ceremony was the glint of surprise. Positioned as the runaway favourite — having already dominated the Golden Globe and the Bafta awards — Slumdog Millionaire has continued its golden run with the film juries, winning eight out of a possible nine Oscars. Danny Boyle’s spellbinding exploration of love, hope, and determination — told through the intriguingly simple device of a boy on a game show and set against the backdrop of the cold and pitiless reality of urban India — is a most deserving winner. Inspired by Bollywood, Slumdog Millionaire is an intriguing contradiction — a fantasy underpinned by raw and gritty realism, a romantic fairy tale punctuated with torture and scatological humour, and schmaltz with the purpose and edgy energy of serious modern cinema. The field against which it was pitted was formidable — including such films as Milk, a crusading biopic of America’s first openly gay public official, The Reader, a haunting tale of complex affection set against the backdrop of the Holocaust, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a stylish and meticulously crafted reminder that while life must be lived forwards, it is best understood backwards.

The staggering interest in the fate of Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars and the delight and celebration at its sweeping victory is a reflection of a curious but revealing fact. Although it has been made by a British Director and funded by a European company, it is seen by many at home as an Indian film. Unlike in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (which also won eight Oscars and which was also about how one man overcomes insurmountable odds), the cast of Slumdog Millionaire is almost entirely Indian. More importantly, the style that permeates the film is a curious amalgam — one that represents a true cinematic union between Hollywood and Bollywood. This interesting marriage was represented also in the choice of the film’s music, which earned India’s finest modern musician A.R. Rahman, whose compositions reflect a fusion of west and east, two richly deserved statuettes for the best original score and the best song. The recognition earned by the man who was once described as the Mozart of Madras should go a long way in opening Indian popular music to the world. India impacted on this year’s Oscars in another way, and one that deserves a special mention: the best documentary award to Smile Pinki. Shot in Bhojpuri and Hindi by Megan Mylan, it is a story about an Indian girl with a cleft lip who is socially ostracised before a social worker helps her avail of free surgery. In the midst of the delight over Slumdog Millionaire, we need to pause to also celebrate the victory of this life-affirming documentary about a real fairy tale.

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