Slumdog with the Oscars

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The red carpet is about to be rolled out in 2 days and the Oscar is just around the corner. Let me just rewind my grey cells, some years before there was movie came called “Titanic” which became an instant hit in US. It was released in my home town, which is in the southern part of India where only 4 out of 10 people can read or write English. The movie “Titanic” ran for packed house for almost 50 to 60 days, some of my town mates who cannot understand beyond “What is your name?” in English enjoyed the movie not once but twice and thrice.

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Come 2009, “Slumdog Millionaire”, one of my team member at the work place was speaking with an American customer,

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Customer : Did you watch “Slumdog Millionaire”?
Team member : Yes, have you seen it? How do you like?
Customer : Yes, I have seen it and its best romantic movie ever told!!
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The conversation continued for an hour and the customer was immersed in the pit of joy about the film. Romance doesn’t need a language. It’s the love which carried the “Slumdog” rather than the slum itself.

In the same Titanic movie “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion was a hit not only in US but also in India, a favorite number at that time, the songs reached to an extend that it was used as a sound while a car was in reverse gear or most of them used as their ringtones. “Jai Ho” splashed into the screen when the credit starts to scroll in “Slumdog”, again here it’s the love that matters than the slum.

Front\Nixon can be riveting, Benjamin Button can be fascinating, Milk can be absorbing, but for sure this dog has bitten the right people to get its due, you cannot ignore the dog.