Various Slumdog news and musings
I’ve had some people tell me they won’t watch Slumdog Millionaire because the kids in the film were exploited - they’re still living in the slums, were paid below minimum wage etc. The story that’s coming through most loudly is hardly the only one though, so I thought I’d try and gather all the different takes on this that I’ve heard.
So here goes… This is a short fragment of Danny Boyle and Darren Aronofsky interviewing each other in which Boyle is asked about the financial and practical aspect of employing children from the slums (the interview was shot long before the scandal broke out). And that’s pretty much the only bit of information on the subject that I know didn’t originate from the tabloids ;)
Now the tabloids… In all that I’ve read on the subject, there’s been only one person quoted complaining about the money - the father of Mohammed Azharuddin (if you know of any articles where any of the other family members were quoted as being unhappy with the money then please let me know, I don’t know of any). An example quote from this article:
My son has taken on the world and won. I am so proud of him but I want more money. They promised me a new house but it hasn’t happened. I’m still in the slum. I want the money now, it is of no use later. Mr Boyle should take care of my son.
The tabloids have tried to run a different take on the father also - one where he’s portrayed as an abusive parent and greedy for the money.
Then there’s a nice, pleasant and more recent version in the British tabloids where nobody is made out to be the villain. You can see it here.
So, er, what you believe is your business I guess, but just be aware there’s a lot of versions of the story out there and it keeps evolving :)
From one controversy to another… I think Slumdog has had quite a few protests and court cases in India by now, but I’ve finally found one which actually seems to have something to stand on (though I’m not sure - I guess it depends on the intricacies of Indian law). So apparently, the writer of the Darshan Do Ghanshayam Nath Mori Ankhiya Pyas song is not Surdas - one of the questions Jamal answers in the show was therefore answered wrong!
And finally, it looks like we’re going to have more British filmmakers going off to India now :]
