Rahman's American recognition (he is already known in Europe), by no means a flash in the pan, was, indeed, inevitable.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Columns/2492995/Article/index_htmlDue recognition of Bollywood, India long overdue WHEN I wrote about Allah Rakha Rahman last December, the journey of his musical triumph that has led to the Oscars with Slumdog Millionaire had just begun. My choice was instinctive, of a subject that was long overdue. Most Indians are so used to his music that many are asking how different or better his score in Slumdog was to his other outstanding Bollywood offerings. Rahman's American recognition (he is already known in Europe), by no means a flash in the pan, was, indeed, inevitable. As one among the millions who watched last Monday's ceremony in Los Angeles live on television, I exulted each time Slumdog Millionaire was mentioned. For India, it is catching up with history after a century of film-making. Its artistes and technicians and its themes have finally found acceptance on the global cinematic stage. Agreed, Slumdog is not an Indian film but it is definitely about India and its seamy underbelly. It is about irrepressible spunk, crushing poverty, loads of luck, nascent love and Bollywoodish masala, all packaged in that inimitable Indian idiom of song and dance, rendered in captivating rhythm and cinematic texture, which clearly has cross-cultural appeal. For a long time, the West scoffed at Bollywood's song-and-dance mara-thons, ignoring that they are integral to most Asian societies and were there long before cinema arrived. Today, with a vengeance, the West is rocking to the tune of Jai Ho, which has become sort of a new, globally accepted anthem. The numerous Grammies to the likes of Maya Alagaprakasam (MIA), Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Zakir Hussain are testaments to the acceptance of Asian melody and rhythm. Like Rahman's recognition, that of Indian cinema had been overdue. Oscar nominations have gone to Mehboob Khan (Mother India), Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay), Shekhar Kapur (seven for Elizabeth), Manoj Night Shyamalan (six for The Sixth Sense) and Amer Khan (Lagaan). The only Indian Oscar winner (not counting Ben Kingsley who played Mahatma Gandhi and whose peers were Indian immigrants) was Bhanu Athaiya, who designed the costumes for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi in 1982. The other was the legendary Satyajit Ray, who received a lifetime award in 1992, although none of his films won Oscars. Cannes (the first award was in 1948), Karlovy Vary, Moscow, Venice, you name it, only the Americans have taken their time -- a long time -- to recognise Indian cinema. Slumdog works at different levels. Interesting comparisons are being made. India can unleash its massive soft power across a world that is fighting terrorism and closer home, contrast it with what some of its immediate neighbours have become notorious for. If Rahman is comfortable being a Tamil, a Muslim and an Indian, and produces music that is globally hailed, it has a lesson for Tamils, Muslims and Indians -- whatever they do, wherever they are. Resul Pookutty accepted the award on behalf of India. Though a devout Muslim, he did not hesitate to trace the sound (he won the award for sound mixing) to that eternal expression, "Om". "I come from a country and a civilisation that gave us the universal word. That word is preceded by silence, followed by silence, followed by more silence. That word is Om. "It is not an award, but history being handed over to me," said Resul, who shared the Oscar with Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke. He did create history as the first Indian technician to win an Oscar. The response to Resul's award in his village home in Kerala depicted much of what the real India is: his family was in tears, villagers crowded around a TV set in front of his house and they cheered as plates of sweets did the rounds. For those who count money, the cost contrast could not be more striking. Slumdog was made for US$13 million (RM45 million), a tenth of the production cost of its Hollywood rival, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Slumdog has already earned its makers about US$150 million and it is almost certain that the Oscar halo will act as a multiplier and the film will be seen across the world and dubbed into the myriad languages of the global family. The "Mozart of Madras" was truly the hero of the day. He said, "ellapugazhum iraivanukee" (may all praise be to the Almighty), a line in Tamil he always says after receiving an award. He sang to drum beats and a beautifully choreographed Indian dance, a first at an Oscar ceremony. Jai Ho lyricist Gulzar never thought Urdu poetry could win an American award. This was another first. It was a pity the man, always in spotless white, was not present at the ceremony. But many of the team made it to the ceremony. Up on stage were 10-year-old Azharuddin and 9-year-old Rubina, who played key roles in the movie and travelled from their homes in a Mumbai slum to the star-studded event. On the way to the ceremony, the actual slumdogs spoke immaculate English. Back home in the Garib Nagar slum, Azharuddin's father said, his eyes welling up with tears: "Flowers have bloomed from the dirty gutters of Mumbai." Slumdog was not all that happened at the Oscars. American film-maker Megan Mylan won the best short documentary Oscar for her movie Smile Pinki, a heartwarming tale of a poor Indian village girl whose cleft lip made her a social outcast. The documentary traces Pinki's journey from ostracism to being treated like a normal girl after a social worker helped her undergo surgery. The flavour at this year's Oscars was definitely Indian. But with the Best Foreign Film award going to Japan, it was as much Asian. The criticism of Slumdog as "poverty porn" may take a back seat now, though the debate on slums, poverty, governance and social security will -- and must -- continue -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
