Slumdog Millionaire: What's the reality for Children. An Indian Activist tells what she saw

cc: Allies-schlumpf

India is known today as the country from which the multiple Oscar winning film got its title and influence. Danny Boyle is a lucky man, as are the cast and crew who helped make history. Songs from the original soundtrack are blasted from radio stations everywhere and the media is constantly falling over itself while following the meteoric rise of previous unknowns such as Freida “older Latika” Pinto and Dev “older Jamal” Patel. But what of the real slumdogs, of whom very few will see the good fortune and opportunity that their celluloid representatives did ?

I watched Slumdog Millionaire and examined it from various perspectives, the first being as an ardent movie buff and the second as an activist working in the field of human rights with Elaan, an NGO founded in 2007 to combat the issue of Child Sexual Abuse, an issue that is prevalent worldwide and not yet a legally-recognized [therefore non-punishable] offence under the IPC or Indian Penal Code. This is of course one of many glitches which plague the field of child rights and development in the country at a time when something as unimaginable as the 8 Oscars for a film have been won by an essentially Indian film, on an issue which nobody seems to wish to resolve.

On a personal level I appreciated Danny Boyle’s sensitivity and painstaking research into the trials and tribulations of the young slum-dwellers, although past a point, the film is reaping in accolades which benefit those who are obviously Not “Slumdogs”. It is at this point where the inherent activist in me was forced to examine the manner in which the lives of the on-screen characters were portrayed and to decide as to whether reality was being overdone for the purpose of raising a few extra gasps from the aforementioned uninitiated viewer population.

From being chased by the police to being taught impossibly-difficult-to-grasp English at their local school, to the horrific scenes where a child is blinded and forced to beg and to the brothel scene where an adolescent Latika is being taught to dance the dance of a call-girl, to the train scenes and right upto the part where an adolescent Salim whips out a gun and shoots the predatory Maman.. this is where reality and reel-ity collide in an attempt to portray the truth.

However, Slumdog doesn’t fail, as one is taken through what is a remarkably balanced journey through life as young Jamal perceives it. Life’s basic truths, which are common to all, are taught to these young children, but without the sanitized, politically-correct confines of a moneyed educational institute, and prepares the children for life as it is meted out to them in the form of repeated abuse, which serves to toughen them up rather than kill them.

Points where the film fails on purpose is where Boyle brings the love story and game show in, possibly in an attempt to further highlight the metamorphosis of the characters and focus dually on the value of the ridiculously-loaded questions to which Jamal has equally-loaded responses. This is where Bollywood takes over reality and presents a somewhat surreal picture of “love’s labour not lost”, and while it is an excellently-edited piece of film at the end of it, that pretty much ruined the impact of an otherwise honest and impactful film.

Many have asked what the “truth” is about Slumdog Millionaire. They have gasped and cried and empathized with the plight of the children living in Mumbai’s slums, while blessing their stars for not being subjected to such cruel, inhumane treatment themselves. The truth is known only by the real Slumdog Millionaires who have made millions for the actors portraying them. The director has apparently made provisions for the children to be taken to school and receive an amount of money by the time they turn 16, but we in India who are accustomed to acts of generosity going awry can only keep our mouths shut and predict the predictable consequences of these well-intended actions.

The truth showed its ugly side when the father of the actor playing young Salim allegedly slapped the young fellow for not wanting to attend a media interview because he was tired of the constant attention. This is the same father who was suffering from Tuberculosis and could not afford treatment till the kind foreigners stepped in with the required monetary assistance.

One can only imagine the fate of the money that will be handed over to the youngsters when they are of age.

by Pranaadhika Sinha
Founder Director - Elaan : Combat Child Sexual Abuse