Slumdog Millionaire

Do you believe “Gitanjali” was best creation of Rabindranath Tagore for which he got Nobel? I think there are quite a few master pieces written by Tagore, but Gitanjali wasn’t the only best.
But, none of us have any doubt about the Legendry Bengali poet, that he worth a Nobel. And he got it, so it is important that his work was recognized.

I think the same way when A. R. Rahman got the Oscar for “Jai Ho” song in “Slumdog Millionaire”. Rahman was exception in many of his creations, like the music in Roja, Bombay, Tu hi re, Dil se, Rang de Basanti, etc where few songs unequivocally enchanted millions of listeners. The combination of traditional and modern, North and South Indian mix, made Rahman a legend much before he has given music for “Jai Ho” lyric by Gulzer, who also grabbed a joint Oscar with Rahman.

Definitely they worth Oscar and they got it. We are proud of them. It’s a great moment for Indian film industry as the Slumdog team got 8 Oscar and 3 for Indians.
But this Oscar is for this year and only for Hollywood, so it is expected that his other songs were not eligible to be nominated, but I have seen many critics who are just criticizing without knowing the boundaries of Academy Award.
THE OSCAR WINNERS for this movie are... Best Picture: Producer Christian Colson for Slumdog Millionaire. “It has been collaboration between hundreds of people. All of us are here to share this moment. This was an extraordinary journey,” says the Slumdog... team.

Best Direction: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Song: A R Rahman and Gulzar for ‘Jai Ho...’ (Slumdog Millionarie) The Indian music maestro, Rahman wooed the audience with ‘O Saya’ and ‘Jai Ho...’ the nominated songs from ‘Slumdog...’, as the nominees for Best Original Song were being announced.

Best Original Score: A R Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire . “I have nothing but my mother and she is there with me. I thank her for making me coming all this way with her blessings,” said a proud Rahman.

Best Film Editing: Chris Dickens for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Sound Mixing: Ian Tapp, Resul Pookutty and Richard Pryke for Slumdog Millionaire. “This is just not a sound award, but a history being handed over,” said Indian receiver Pookutty.

Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire. “The cast and crew of the film told me so much about India and writing,” said a proud Beaufoy.

By Movie 2009 Oscar Prize
Slumdog Millionaire - 8
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - 3
Milk - 2
The Dark Knight - 2

But now almost in every site, in many blogs I have seen people questioning whether “Slumdog Millionaire” is worth winning 8 Oscar prize. Had it been an Indian production, would it been recognized like that? It achieved the excellence as it is a Hollywood production movie. I guess the critics are doing a big mistake here. Oscar is for Hollywood and apart from Hollywood movies, the only category where the other can compete is the best International Movie.

So, basically its giving a different message that, Bollywood movies are of excellent quality and widely acceptable. If a film like “Slumdog Millionaire” plotted on Mumbai with Indian values can crack so many Oscar, then it would have been miracle every year if all Bollywood movies can compete in all categories in Oscar.

Some critics have the concern of portraying Indian poverty and slums in this movie. But there are real facts. We can’t ignore the millions of common poor destitute who are struggling for both ends meat, working day in and day out to fulfill basic needs. We can’t hide them in the glamour of Bollywood films, neither should we hide it. . I liked the film and enjoyed every moment of it. The editing is excellent as the sequence of actions will never be boring to the viewers. I liked the concept in the film because I am firm believer of destiny.

In few site I have seen Western Goras are calling Deshi Indians as “Slumdog”. It may be because of jealousy or for the superiority complex. But this is also fact. In India we have at least 100(if not more) “Slumdog Millionaire” who started from scratch and now a millionaire, including many industrialists, like Dhirubhai Ambani, Ajim Premji, etc. Well, it may not be the fluke as shown in the movie, but in reality that can be possible.

Apart from Slumdog, Megan Mylan won Oscar for Smile Pinki on Best Documentary Short Subject Category, which is based on Benaras.

What’s goanna happen now? We will see many eminent directors and producers from Hollywood will come to India with some Asian plots. It will give a boost in Indian film industry. I can see another possibility, few Indian production houses will be launched in Hollywood. That will be a golden day for Indian film Industry when we will bag Oscars in all categories by our own production house as I believe films like “Tare Jameen Par” “Rang de Basanti” “Lage Raho Munnabhai” “Dil Chah Ta Hay” are far more better than this year best International Movie “Slumdog Millionaire”.
P.S : Pics are not captured by me :) LOL

The Age I Wish To Go Back To Meme

Niki-chan tagged me asking "The Age I Wish To Go Back To ". Thank You Niki chan.
I followed the way Niki-chan did. Going through my album of childhood and found many interesting moments.

My life was not always in positive tune. Like most of us there are many mistakes I did, but I am not going to think about those days. Being an optimistic guy I always looked forward. So, I want to go back only to my happy days.

Happiness comes in many forms. When I read a good book, it makes me happy. But if I talk about special moments I can remember many of them. The day we won the football tournament in University Hostel was special for me as I scored some unbelievable goals, the day I first flew to outside India (London) was very special for me as I explored another World that day, The day I got job was also special, Even the small events like Swarasati Puja was special to me as we used to celebrate it in our home every year in our childhood.

One of the days I often cherished was the day we won the Trophy for our school in class X. It was an inter-school essay competition and being the first and second boy of our class I and my brother participated in this one and won the trophy together. Bro won the best individual performance trophy. That day my parents were proud of us and we were in jubilant mood.

Me:Second from Left

But apart from these success stories another day we performed together in our Babuline Colony (Kharagpur), was a fascinating day to cherish. I want to go back to that day to act a drama in our children’s club - Ankur. I performed 3/4 dramas in my childhood, and believe me I was not good enough in acting. I was good in many things like sports and academics, but not in acting. Still I enjoyed it. The collective effort and performing in front of our elders was something I can not forget. Given the chance I want to do it again and want to go back at the age of 14, when I performed this drama(I was a farmer in this one) in our para along with my friends and bro.

What Age U Wish To Go Back ? You can pick the tag or post a comment :-)

Who was my best childhood friend?

I wouldn’t have thought if not someone asked this. But thanks to David, who asked and confused me by this simple question.

I thought of the many different things.

Was it the nice ball that my uncle has given me? I was delighted after getting it and played many years with that football.

Was it the cricket bat my father gifted after passing class I? Not to mention cricket was and still very close to my heart. We couldn’t live without playing cricket, be it small or long, we had to play everyday.

Was it the sets of kites or the ducks in the ponds, I used to see by my window in leisure times?

Was it the solitary banana and papaya tree in our house? The fresh guava, coconut, palm, mango, jackfruit, and pineapple we used to get/stole from the neighbouring areas climbing the trees.

Was it my drawing board I used to paint anything and everything? Especially I used to draw sceneries.

Was it my mirror, where I used to check how much I had grown up and always feeling scared as I thought, I will die soon if I grow too much?

Was it my dairy, where I used to write some funny things, small poems, cricket scores and paste the paper cutting pics of sportsmen?

Or Was it my strange thoughts and imaginations? I was crazy sometime and behaved abnormally for these thoughts.

Or the imaginary structures we used to make with dirty clays and sands?

Or Was it the fairy tales of “Thakurmar Jhuli”/ “Gopal Bhar” / “Sujon Harobola” or “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata”, two of my favourite TV serials I used to see in my childhood.

I am totally puzzled. Ten choices, and I don’t know what my favourite thing was, whom I can call my best friend. Which is why, I took some time to answer this question.

I decided to think again on my childhood. Closed my eyes for five minutes and got the answer.

I can see, With Him, I am playing funny games like kith kith, Langra chor (have to touch other player by running in one leg), hide and seek, football and cricket, sometime customized TT and hockey in the adjacent areas of our house in Kharagpur. I was never alone. He was always with me, from the day my first cell formed, from the moment I landed in this earth. He accompanied me each and every moment in my childhood, starting from going school, to play in the evening, from stealing the mango pickle in kitchen, to study together, we were together even when we fell sick.
I really miss his presence now. He was my best friend and still he is and will be. I love him.
He is no one but my Twin Bro :-) my best childhood friend.

PS: Both the pics are drawn in MS paint, I was conscious while drawing the first one, so personally second one is better to me.

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Update on 01st Oct 4:00pm - This post is mentioned as one of the Top Posts Of The Day in Davids blog and another good news is, our project in Greece has gone live today successfully. So I am happy.

Post of the Month : David's Tips for Free Writing.

There are many aspects of blogging, one of them are obviously to enhance our writing skills, but if we get ready made tips in a series of posts, that’s really helpful. Yes, David Mcmahon a Melbourne based journalist, photographer and bestselling novelist, came up with a series of amazing posts in his blog for aspiring writers.

David emphasised in one the post that – “This series of posts is not just for people who are writing novels or other books. It is for writers of any description - essayists, those doing creative writing courses, or any of the many niches for writing, photography or blogging.”

He has discussed following topics in his blog so far. I find all of them extremely helpful, may be helpful for you also. I thank David for sharing so much valuable experience in free, helping and motivating others and cheering us constantly.

How Do I Get A Monopoly On Query Letters?,
So You Feel Like You’ve Hit A Brick Wall?,
Don't Drive Yourself Too Hard,
Gotta Go With The Flow,
Let Me Help You With That Book You're Writing.

Here go some of the tips I liked most in his Telling Write From Wrong series.

“To those writing books or novels, my first piece of advice is to write a short synopsis. When I wrote my first novel, Vegemite Vindaloo, I started with great momentum. But I didn't write a synopsis, so I got derailed very quickly. I could not figure out where the plot was going.”

“First sentence ain't happenin'? No worries, just start with the first thought that comes into your head.”

“Recognise a moment of inspiration. Write it down. And when you are back at your computer, allow it to guide you. Sometimes these ideas ``write'' themselves, but sometimes they need a lot of sweat and toil to translate into words on a computer screen.”

“..there is no "correct" wordage on a daily basis. A steady output works for some people, while bursts of frenetic writing interspersed with several days away from the plot works for others. You write what you want to write, when you want to write.”


This is my choice for best post for the month of August-September 2007.