New York Times (May 8, 2012)
Slum Scenes in ‘The Avengers’ Are Criticized in India
By DAVE ITZKOFF
MarvelMark Ruffalo as the Hulk in “The Avengers.”
“The Avengers” may have left comic-book fans salivating and Hollywood
studio executives happily counting their box-office receipts, but the
hit superhero movie has taken some criticism in India where audience
members have objected to scenes set in a slum in that country.
In a report in The Hindustan Times (and cited by The Hollywood
Reporter) residents of Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) have
criticized a sequence from “The Avengers” in which Dr. Bruce Banner,
the mild-mannered alter ego of the Hulk who is played by Mark Ruffalo,
is tracked down in a squalid and overcrowded part of that Indian city,
where he is treating a leprosy victim.
“Kolkata has a rich culture and heritage, and a filmmaker should
respect that,” Rituparna Sengupta, an Indian actress from that city
told The Hindustan Times. “There are two scenes about India and they
only show slums. It could have been done in better taste.” The
newspaper also cited the Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia, who said: “It
is disturbing to see the murky underbelly of India in Hollywood films.
But before pointing it out to the West, we need to make efforts to
change their perception about us.”
“The Avengers,” whose cast includes Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett
Johansson and is directed by Joss Whedon, grossed more than $200
million in its first weekend of release in North America. The film has
also been a hit in foreign countries like India, where it was released
about a week before it opened in the United States and is available in
Hindi, Tamil and Telugu-dubbed versions as well as in English.
The success of “The Avengers” has also spawned rumors that a possible
sequel could be filmed in India – as opposed to the scene from the
current film, which was shot in Albuquerque.
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