By Somini Sengupta
Its depictions of filth and brutality fueled angry blogging and stray street protests. It drew unusually intense scrutiny, from how much its child actors were paid to what the composer A.R. Rahman would wear to the Oscars. But on Monday, as India woke up to news of the spectacular wins by “Slumdog Millionaire” at the Academy Awards, this movie-mad country went “Jai Ho.”
The victory by “Slumdog” was embraced as India’s own.
“What a day it has been for India!” gushed a television news anchor mid- morning. It dominated television news throughout the day. News of a hepatitis B outbreak in western Gujarat State and a southern politician’s threatened hunger strike seemed minor news by comparison.
“We rocked the world,” an Indian percussionist named Sivamani declared.
Never mind that “Slumdog” tells a story of stunted, shafted slum children, precisely a story that promoters of the New India have diligently sought to obscure with tales of prosperity and bling. India seized on its Oscar wins as a sign of its arrival on the world stage.
Indian television showed Indian dancers in spangly skirts on stage at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles and Mr. Rahman, eyes closed, singing the title track, “Jai Ho” — an exuberant Hindi phrase that literally translates as “victory.” Mr. Rahman thanked God and his mother. Resul Pookutty, who shared the prize for sound mixing, dedicated it to his country. In his small town in south India, neighbors and kin were shown passing a big plate of sweets and crying tears of joy.
“India has made a clean sweep here,” Anil Kapoor, the Indian actor who played the game-show host in “Slumdog,” declared in an interview with NDTV, a private television station.
On Monday, even the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, congratulated the “Slumdog” team, along with the makers of “Smile Pinki,” a short documentary about a village girl with a cleft palate.
“The winners have done India proud,” Singh’s office said in a statement. The statement did not specify whether the prime minister, who is recovering from heart surgery, had seen either movie.
Read More