Oscars have been slummed.....

Slumdog Millionaire Movie Trailer-HD QUALITY!!! (2008) - Watch the best video clips here

I know I was the one who was opposing the idea some days back but to be very honest even i am loving it now. Like it or not Slumdog Millionaire has been a run on success in the Oscars this year. The movie won 8 oscars with as many as three coming to people from the Indian origin. These were A R Rahman, song writer Gulzar and sound engineer Resul Pookutty. Prior to this only three Indians have won the oscars. Meera Nair, Satyajit Ray and Bhanu Atthiayah. So this means that thanks to the movie the Indian presence on the oscar statuette has doubled in one shot. What this success means is a more profound presence of Indian artists on the international arena. I think this could mean a great deal for the recession struck Hindi film industry. With global exposure and international audience to cater to, our film makers will have a wide array of choices to potray in content rather than just doing the regular song and dance routines, we are so used to.

Take for example the case of Slumdog Millionaire itself. The movie draws its plot from the book QnA by Vikram Swaroop. The movie tells the story of a young boy who goes through multiple hardships to win the love of his life. In creation it is  the exposes the reality of the slum life in our country...... The movie progresses through various stages eventually with the triumph of hope and the viewer in a a sea of scmaltz. What is important is not the scatalogical tale of misery and pain, but the will to win over all of it.

Pitted as the favourite at the oscars this year Slumdog Millionaire did justice to all expectations. The oscar ceremony was rife with the chants of "Jai Ho",  reiterating the mass appeal the movie has generated. The Director's and all other casts'  were exceedingly justified in the huge success the movie has garnered among the critics and the masses alike. First a bevy of Golden Globes and BAFTAS and now the Oscars the movie has surely had a dip in history. Here's to a many more like Slumdog "Jai Ho".

Sari, We are India....

Every time this time of the year, emotional tempers run high.... Suddenly people become aware of the culture of our country. They profess culture, they practice culture and how? By ruining the Valentine's Day celebrations of some young love birds here and there. The process has been going on for a long time but every year it seems murkier.... This year a new name was added to the list of the moral police - Ram Sene. The Ram Sene attacked some women in a Mangalore. They say that the pub culture is destroying the Indian culture. However, I would like to know which Indian culture do they boast of. These are the men who pass lewd comments at girls at a bus stop, these are the who whistle their lungs out during movies, these are the men who will beat up their women and children after having a drink or two at the local wine shop. The list is endless. However, what is the most disturbing is the virulence in the process which at the best renders the possibility of nuanced reading.

Globalisation has changed a lot of things in our country but its most distinguished impact has come out in terms of the growing opportunity for women in the society. It has allowed free access to top paying jobs for the women, who for the first time since independence are finding themselves at the helm of power. This however creates a conflict of sorts. These women are torn between the conventional and the modern. Some prefer to maintain a low profile and play a second fiddle in the relationships they pursue. However, the rest chose otherwise. These women want to break free and are justified in doing so, but the moral police of our country who unfortunately are constituted of no good for nothing fools are opposed to their freedom. The problem is not with the culture but with the mind set. Men in our country are used to dominating, but these women seriously jeopardise their claims for the ultimate authority. The result is a clash between the sexes which often gets physical. It is sad that the women in the Mangalore pub were beaten up. This episode has fetched the Ram sene unprecedented publicity but at the height of the matter it is not the outcome of cultural biases but of gender biases. The women as a mark of protest are sending Pink undies to Mr. Muthalik. Albeit funny, this is a strong gesture. This shows that the women of our country are no more prepared to be bend down to the hegemony of the hooligans. But again this is India and outcomes pour out in a trickle. I would like to see how this issue is dealt with.

Ram naam satya hai - The death of an ideology..

Union elections are just around the corner, and guess what, the BJP has reiterated its rhetoric to re institute the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. I mean how sad can things actually be. The horrible memories of the 26/11 attacks are still fresh in our minds. Instead of working towards communal harmony this party wants to divide us across communal lines. After the attacks it should have been our first priority to ensure that no community in our country should be marginalised on religious lines. But, this party is doing just the opposite. Rajnath Singh in his speech mentioned that no one can shake BJP's faith in Lord Rama and that Ram temple will be built at the spot it was supposed to be. However, what he has forgot is that these issues count for nothing any more. It was in 1992 that the Babri mosque was demolished. The nation in the coming months was embroiled in a sequence of vicious riots and mass destruction.  BJP by invoking this issue all over again has proved that it is least concerned about the fate of the country. Quite expectedly its allies are now crying fowl. What they see is a blatant attempt to seize power at any cost. Not saying that these parties are any betters, but they at least have the sensibility to not to talk about non-redundant issues.  What makes matters worse is that this issue will now invoke reactions from the Ulemas and other important Muslim seers. This will further aggravate the tensions between the Muslims and the Hindus. 

Sadly when this party was in power it did little for the Ram Temple. But, now it wants to rake benefits of the issue long forgotten. Quite interestingly one of its former members and the chief minister of UP, Kalyan Singh, during whose regime the Babri mosque was demolished has apologised for the incident. Well we all are aware of what that means. This opportunistic rhetoric counts for nothing, what matters is that all the parties start working for the development of the nation. The verdict of the people is in front of us. Even in the last round of the assembly elections, people voted for development. Mrs. Sheila Dikshit was able to make a come back just because she has done substantial work to make Delhi better. The Delhi Metro stands testimony to the same. The BJP should take cue from this incident and prioritise some real issues to confront the Congress in the coming elections. After what happened in Mumbai and many other parts of India this is the least the party can do.