I think it’s also wrong to say that if this movie was made by an Indian it would not have been famous. Look at Lagaan, that movie is both Indian in production and in content. It was nominated for an Oscar. It is one of my favorite films even including English films and it was made by Bollywood. I think that Bollywood is full of crap films and so it is rare to find the gem films that could be nominated for an Oscar. Also the fact that they are generally considerably longer doesn’t help. Hollywood films usually average about 2 hours, so I think people get drained watching Indian films even if they are great. And Hollywood too has it’s own slippery slopes. Why does a movie made by a British director or French director get nominated for a best Oscar? The Oscars are after all American, so what is the criteria for one movie becoming nominated for the Best Film when it is not made by an American or may not even focus on America? I think that that’s something that the Oscars have never actually written a criteria for you know? So it’s weird when a movies like Slumdog comes along which is not only not made by an American and has no American stars, but also is about a completely different country and still gets a Best Picture nomination instead of a foreign film nomination? Perhaps because the film is in English? It’s just weird. I guess it’s hard to categorize things.

Nevertheless, the reason that I love Hollywood films is because they focus on the characters, the in-depth emotions and thoughts of the characters which I am sorry to say until recently has been extremely lacking in Indian cinema. That’s not to say that it does not exist. These days, there are so many great Indian films coming out and films are becoming more about the art and craft rather than just making a film for entertainment. Movies like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara, The Dirty Picture, Kahaani, Dil Chahta Hai, Lagaan etc. These movies are Bollywood made but phenomenal, because they portray the real India or real Indian people and manage to do so while providing a bit of entertainment which is exactly what the best films in Hollywood strive to portray of America. I think that Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara’s cinematography could easily compare with that of Slumdog Millionaire and that Indian movies are beginning to be about more than the unfortunate love story.

I look forward to the future of Bollywood, I think that many actors are paving the way for Bollywood to become more like Hollywood in it’s efforts to portray realistic stories in an interesting manner. Don’t get me wrong I still love the over the top love stories like KKHH and K3G, just like I still love the bullshit American action films like Transformers. And Hollywood also has its own set of crap films that no one should ever see (Tons of Adam Sandler films, the unnecessary sequels to movies). However I think the thing that makes Hollywood films so great is that people look at action films and love films as movies that there are a time and a place for, but not the movies that really move them. If Bollywood adopts the same attitude, I’m sure there are more than enough talented people in India who can bring out some amazing films that portray all perspectives of India.

Overall, I think it’s great that Indian movies are beginning to be about more than just love. I think that even though to some extent Slumdog must have had a backlash and made some ignorant Americans believe that India is only slums, I think it has also given many culturally aware Americans a reason to travel to India and see for themselves. I do agree that yes Americans should not just walk into India and try and change everything, but at the same time, I think they should walk into India and see it for what it is, the magnificent, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Yes a movie made by Danny Boyle is much more likely to be Oscar nominated, but I think he has also helped people to see that India has stories worth telling and if Bollywood begins to make films about these stories, then in the future Indian movies might be as likely to be nominated as American ones.

And for that matter Danny Boyle is not from the U.S. either and yet he has been nominated many times for Oscars. He started small and got big and I think it’s the same for Bollywood in Hollywood. Indian movies are slowly starting to be given more recognition and maybe one day Indian films will be given as much value as American/British ones are given. I can see how opinions can offend both sides, but I think if you try to look at the film from a moderate perspective, you can see both the successes and the failures and for the most part I think that people will rule it a success. I certainly do. It’s a great movie even though it has some ridiculous stuff like that totally out of place dance at the end which probably did more to hurt the Bollywood industry than to help bring an interest.

That’s just my two cents, hope I didn’t offend anyone. And sorry for the randomness of this response, I was just watching Slumdog today in India and talking to my family about India’s views of the film. Just reminded me of the controversy over the film, thought I’d add in my perspective.