Tuesday, February 24, 2009

3 Cheers for India!

I was very happy yesterday, and very proud.
After all, A R Rahman won two Oscars for his work in Slumdog Millionnaire!
Sharing the glory wree Gulzar for his lyrics, (finally!) and Pokutty for Sound mixing.
And not to forget Smile Pinki, a documentary on a 5 yr old girl from a village, born with a cleft lip, who finally gets it corrected and gets her smile!

However, at the same time I cant help but think...
Jai Ho is not Rahman's best work... Its foot-tapping and full of energy, but it would not even feature in my Rahman top ten! Nevertheless, he is a genuis, and sooner or later he was bound to get international recognition at this level. And I am so proud of him.

I also feel a tad sad for Gulzar and Pokutty. Not much bhaav is being given to these 2 people, though they also got Oscars for India.
Even though I dont understand all of Gulzar's lyrics, and admittedly it was the first time I heard of Pokutty, I think they deserve equal limelight and praise!

As for Slumdog, Im happy for the team that they won 8 out of 10 Oscars. Ive seen the movie, and I think its great. But honestly I dont see what the fuss is all about. I mean the movie is good and all, much better than the usual crap we see these days, but i dont think it was THAT great. I mean 8 oscar winning. IMHO, the movie was OVER HYPED. The funny thing is, the book on which it is based, has a completely different story, and a much better one at that.
Kudos to Danny Boyle for not copying the story word for word, and adding his own imagination to teh script, but I thought the book was better. And no one is even asking about the INDIAN authot Vikas swarup who wrote that book. I think he deserved a lot of praise as well for conceptualising the amazing story!!

A lot has been said about foreign directors making moolah out of the poverty and misery of India. But in spite of being directed by a foreigner and all that, I am truly happy and proud of the Oscar Smile Pinki got. A simple story of a ordinary girl, yet extraordinary. Pinki got her smile and put one on the lips of millions of Indians too.

Anywho, in spite of my reservations, all in all I am a happy Indian, proud of all those who made this dream com true for us, including Danny Boyle and Megan Mylan. Thanks to you all!!

6 comments:

the lazy knight said...

agree with u about the movie...and yes rehman has does better..but not every blow strikes gold :)

Yashika Totlani Khanna said...

u shudve hyperlinked the page to mine... afterall half of this was an intended comment for my post!!

also, proof read the text. even at a glance, i cud see two typos.

next, sure the book was good. dunno why they didnt make an exact copy. the crucial link that cudve connected dev to anil was missing. their relationship was incomplete.

and maybe the movie is a lil overhyped... but the content was almost novel for the world. and novelty sells. keep writing :)

Sugar & Spice said...

@aftab... yeah i guess not... thanks for visiting. sorry for not visiting and commenting on twenty2yards.. ive just been plain lazy... will do this week!

@yashika... i cant help my typos yaar.. ype too fast to catch up with my brain, and i have no patience for spellcheck... guess i need to work on that..and yes i completely agree... no matter what, the idea was refreshingly new, and thats what set this movie apart!! thanks for the comment!

man in painting said...

nice and simple post
wishes

AshenGlow said...

Ditto opinion. Just hope the oscar hoopla doesnt open another pandoras box though... The North indian South indian one... heh, considering there are many who would think like that.
Ok im proud that Rehman and Pookutty are south Indians and that theyve done all S Indians proud blah blah.
I guess its more of an integration of the efforts put in by all of 'em and several others behind the camera we dont even know about!

True, its a national honour that a country known for its art, talent and culture has had an opportunity to prove itself in front of the whole world..

A proud Ashen

Sugar & Spice said...

@man in painting... thanks, keep visiting.

@lekha.. u know before u mentioned it, i never thought of teh north-south indian thing... i forgot that both rahman and pokutty are south indians..in fact in all the discussions and celebrations ive heard, no one has ever mentioned this yet.. maybe people are not thinking this way, which is great, cuz i think that before we are anything, we are indians.so dont worry, i dont think any pandora's box is gonna open..

and even if it does, i dont mind... my best friends are all south indians... n im proud of them! :)