Slumdog premiere, Oscar nominations wow India
Last Updated: Friday, January 23, 2009 | 12:52 PM ET
CBC News
Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle, left, and actors Shabana Azmi and Anil Kapoor dance as they arrive for the film's premiere in Mumbai on Thursday. (Rajanish Kakade/Associated Press) India had already been buzzing over Slumdog Millionaire amid its awards-season success, but the nation finally got to see the film for themselves at its Indian premiere Thursday night — the same day it scored a hefty 10 Oscar nominations.
The rags-to-riches tale, which opened to wide release across India in English and Hindi on Friday, received rave reviews from the moviegoers and newspaper critics.
The Times of India called it "a piece of riveting cinema," and also praised it as "a Cinderella-like fairy tale with the edge of a thriller and the vision of an artist."
The paper also carried the front-page headline "RAH RAH RAHMAN," acknowledging the three Academy Award nominations acclaimed Indian composer A.R. Rahman won for the film — two in the song category and one for his score.
Shot in Mumbai's notorious slums — and featuring some amateur actors who live there — the film tells a Dickensian tale of a poor youth who finds fame and romance when he lands on the Indian version of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
In Mumbai for the premiere, British filmmaker Danny Boyle acknowledged "how much this city opened its arms to us to make the film."
"I go on and on and on about it because I don't want anybody to miss out on my — our — debt of gratitude to it. It's a huge thank you to everybody who helped us make the film," he told the premiere audience.
Slumdog has been a darling of film festivals, won accolades from a host of movie critics in annual best-of lists and acclaimed at galas such as the Golden Globes, where it was named best drama and picked up three other trophies.
It is now vying for 10 Oscars on Feb. 22. Aside from Rahman's three nods, Slumdog is also up for best picture, best director for Boyle and best adapted screenplay.
Slum residents protest film
The fervour and celebration over Slumdog has been dampened somewhat by some who feel its warts-and-all depiction of Mumbai diminishes the city's reputation.
Residents of a Mumbai slum show their displeasure over the name of the hit film Slumdog Millionaire in a protest outside the office the film's co-star, Anil Kapoor. (Associated Press) On Thursday, a group of slum residents also protested the film outside the office of co-star and Bollywood heavyweight Anil Kapoor. They felt slighted by the film's title and slum residents being referred to as "dogs."
Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, a one-time host of India's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? had also commented on what he considered the film's negative portrayal of Mumbai in a posting on his personal blog.
However, Bachchan has since apologized to co-star Kapoor and to director Boyle for his comments.
With files from the Associated Press
