Q & A

Since the whole Slumdog Oscar craze, all of us Indians staying abroad have to face : "So, what do u think of SM?" situations This is how I faced one of them. In a physiotherapist office

So, what do you think of THE movie?

THE movie?
(I knew what she meant, but acted up :) Did not like the idea of SM being THE movie.)

Yeah, Slumdog Millioniare!!

Ah ok. I haven't seen it.

No? Why, you don't feel like seeing it?
(Ok, she has heard desis grumblin about it.)

Nothing like that. Just never got a chance

She does not believe me, can make it out from the way she looks at me.

Is India really like that?

"A part of it, and that part too is exaggerated. Movies always work on exaggeration, don't they?"

Yes. But the Indian colleagues I have here, say India IS like that.

As I said, A part.

She realised I am not happy talking about SM, and changed up the topic

"How did you learn English?"

In School

You had English as a language in School?

No! I learnt all my subjects in English

Wow, they have such kind of schools in India? Great. But how did you get the accent?

That i worked on. After coming to US

I saw the movie after a few days. Totally over-rated.
Also read the book, Vikas Swarup's Q & A in hindi. This was my first Hindi book ever. There is a Hindi language collection in Sunnyvale library, but had never accessed it before.
The book, as is the case with all movies based on books, is better than the movie.
1. The protagonist is named Ram Muhammed Thomas in the book. A priest finds him abandoned in a church donation box and names him this way to avoid getting in trouble with hindu/ muslim communities.

2. The Priest who rears this guy is a nice person. But he has an illegitimate child. Another priest in the same church is a child molester. No mention in the movie, where Jamal is born and raised in the slums.

3. The boy is left in a church donation box. His mother is not killed in Hindu-Muslim riots. But yes, he meets Salim in a foster-home(after the priest's death). And Salim's family is killed in riots.

4. There is no childhood love-story. There is of course, one short-lived love story. But it does not affect the main story-line at all.

5. He lived in the church, in a foster home, as a servant with an Australlian Ambassador, as a servant at an actress's place, in Agra, in a chawl next to an astronomy professor. And the Slum. Logical explanation for all his answers is there in his varied contacts/places of residence. In SM, the blind beggar boy knows which US president is on a 100$ bill!!!

6. Overall, the book is interesting. Each of the 15 questions has the weightage of a quiz-show worthy question.

My analysis goes like
Q&A + filth + poverty + slums (oh yes! USP) + latika + Bollywood masala + communalism = Slumdog Millioniare