'Slumdog Millionaire' Hailed and Slammed in India<http://www.cinematical.com/2009/01/14/slumdog-millionaire-hailed-and-slammed-in-india/>
The "love it or hate it" movie of the month is going home, and it's already causing divisions. By winning a Golden Globe for *Slumdog Millionaire<http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/> *, Bollywood music composer A. R. Rahman<http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006246/>has heartened the entire Indian film community, according to the Indo-Asian News Service (*IANS*; via *Yahoo! India Movies<http://in.movies.yahoo.com/news-detail/41910/Bollywood-hails-Rahman-winning-Golden-Globe.html> *). Rahman is the first Indian to win the award. "By winning it, competing with composers from around the world," says fellow composer Anu Malik, "Rahman has not only proved his worth, but has also conveyed to the world that, given a chance, an Indian music director can deservedly vie with any composer in the world." Rahman also composed the rockin' score for the insanely entertaining *Ghajini <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1166100/>*, which is still playing in selected theaters in the US. Not everyone is in love with *Slumdog Millionaire*, however. As Eric D. Snider recently ranted about<http://www.cinematical.com/2009/01/12/fan-rant-slumdog-and-other-backlashes/>, a backlash has been building, and the film, which opens in India next week (January 23), was just slammed by 66-year-old Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000821/> on his blog (via *The India Times<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Cetera/Big_B_slams_Slumdog_Millionaire_on_blog/articleshow/3979604.cms> *): "If *Slumdog Millionaire* projects India as Third World dirty underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations." I'm not positive that's a total "slam" at the movie so much as an acknowledgement that it's true to a degree (though perhaps unfair for painting India with a broad brush), but, in any case, that's the headline attached to the *IANS* wire service story, which has been picked up by more than a thousand news outlets worldwide. I can't wait to see the reaction when the movie actually opens there. http://www.cinematical.com/2009/01/14/slumdog-millionaire-hailed-and-slammed-in-india/ -- regards, Vithur
