Major Indian film directors condemn Slumdog Millionaire
A major Indian director, Priyadarshan (Billu), has lashed out at Slumdog Millionaire, describing it as “cheap” and “trashy”.
Priyadarshan screened Kanjeevaram, his film about silk weavers, alongside British director Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire at the Toronto Film Festival, where Boyle's film won the People's Choice Award.
“And please quote me clearly on this,” Priyadarshan told NDTV. “If the Golden Globe and Oscars committees have chosen to honour this trashy film it just shows their ignorance of world cinema."
After Priyadarshan issued his blast, a national award-winning South Indian director, Krishna Vamsi, said he "hated Slumdog Millionaire".
Slumdog Millionaire has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards.
Comments
4 Comments
Jessica Werb
Feb 6, 2009 at 9:15am
The London Times’ columnist Alice Miles also labelled the film as "poverty porn": http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/alice_miles/article5...
tubermier
Feb 8, 2009 at 2:19pm
If the Indian directors guild ever wondered why no movies made in India have ever been considered as serious film making by the real movie makers of the rest of the world,you just have to look in the mirror. Indian movies are the most juvenile of productions..Junior film makers from the rest of the world can and usually do make better product with mini budgets. Indians seem to be stuck in the mould of 1910 American dramatic acting style,but every movie is a bloody musical. Why oh why do you have to break into 10 stupid love songs during the course of a so called serious drama. Untill you movie makers grow up out of your adolecent ideas about what makes a good film that the rest of the world can appreciate,foreign directors will have to come to India and show you how it's done. After all that is what has happened here and you just don't like it. Boo Hoo Hoo Bollywood Schmollywood..And of course the Indian Goverment must be leaning on you to condem this expose of the true nature of life in India. Come to America and make one of your movies over here and you'll be laughed right out of the country.
tubermier
Feb 8, 2009 at 3:06pm
tubermier here. Slumdog millionare was made to try and break the taboo subject of critisizing the Indian Government,as much as to show the world a side of Indian culture they are not too proud of having the world see. The Indian directors should be a little more honest about some of the conditions of life in India rather than showing us it is a happy land of filled with dancing young lovers trying to escape evil uncles while continually breaking out into song.The rest of the world obviously has a different take on how their film industries should be a little more ( a lot more ) diversified.
Charlie Smith
Feb 8, 2009 at 6:41pm
The really good movies, which are made for middle-class India, are not distributed in the west and are not made for western audiences. There are several Indian art films that don't include songs. One example is 13 Park Avenue, which was a very nuanced look at schizophrenia. The poor who attend movies in India have fairly miserable lives, and they like the songs. It is part of the culture.