Oscar turns Entertainer

Either I don’t understand movies or there is terribly wrong with the movie per se.

Since morning I have been referring various news reports and yet I am not able to digest the fact that Slumdog has grabbed 8 Oscars.

A month back, I watched this low budget British movie shot in Mumbai’s slum. Two friends, whom I had accompanied, left the cinema hall in between, as they had to rush for news coverage. Sulking in the thought that I have to now pick up PMT bus to reach home, I paid little attention to the last part of the movie.

Days later we had a Slumdog DVD at home. Brother, me and sister-in-law started watching it. But hardly it could move ahead, both of them, yawned, resorted to sleep, leaving the movie half finished.

This time I watched it carefully, only to reach to the conclusion that I have wasted few bucks.

I liked the movie, but not as much as to spend time and money watching it twice. I liked the non-escapists story, but thought it would have been better, had it been little lighter- this would have made the story more realistic. Rehman has delivered his best. But he often does it- and sometime he has done better than best. Overall I didn’t find it remarkably great that will last for many years on my memory disk.

The film critics say, “The film’s freshness lies not just in how the West sees India but how Indian see themselves”. This is just far from reality.

So how far the 8 academy awards to SM are justified.

I think Economist gets it right:

“Within Hollywood, of course, the Academy Awards still matter a great deal. Prestige and acclaim are hard currency in the film business, in many ways more valuable than money. The danger is that Hollywood’s taste in its own products is becoming as removed from public opinion as its political views are outside the American mainstream. What viewers will see on Sunday night is an industry talking to itself”.

Perhaps I didn't understand the film well, but I have realised that Oscars are not supposed to reward popularity, nor does it any longer reward quality.