The Slumdog Conspiracy!

Alright so Slumdog millionaire has been released and has got the coveted Grammy Award and has been nominated for multiple Oscars. Every one is going gung ho about the film and can't stop praising the fact that the film has portrayed the Indian slums so well and that it deserves all the fame it has got.

Good Morning!!

However lets just stop the chorus and think for a second. Sure the first half of the film is nothing short of spell binding but the second half is nothing short of a Bollywood masala flick minus the song and dance sequences all of which the Hollywood hotshots find amusing!!
Slumdog Millionaire has been critically acclaimed in the West. As of 24 January 2009, Rotten Tomatoes has given the film a 95% rating with a 175 fresh and ten rotten reviews. As far as I remember quite a few of the Bollywood flicks over the years have portrayed the rags to riches story
:D

This if you’ve bothered to think after the film that who wants 2 be a millionaire was never broadcasted live!!
Personally I believe the film has been marketed brilliantly and has successfully managed to exploit the one weakness that we still have admiration from the west.. This is not to say that the film is bad but does it really deserve all the attention it has??

A.R.Rahman the man who has continuously mesmerized the country for over a decade and more himself says he won the award because it was marketed well. And those of us who've heard his music over the years know that this is DEFINITELY not the best that the maestro has given.

Coming back to the script although the film has a good script it is not relevant to today’s times neither does it have a ending which most of us would find believable. Compare it to RDB or TZP both of which from beginning to the end stick with believable stuff!!

I believe that Slumdog millionaire is a bigger conspiracy by the Hollywood studios to open the huge Indian market for themselves and cash in on the recognition from the west that we so desperately carve!!

The question is what's Bollywood gonna do about it???

The road..Your best friend!

The road…the moment one thinks of it all that comes 2 mind is a large black mass extending as far as the eyes can see and beyond.. But is the road really that??

The road I think is the best example of a perfect listener. One may also go ahead and say that the road is truly a man’s best friend. The road doesn’t care what mood you are coming in, it doesn’t care whether you are wearing a brand or not, further it still doesn’t care whether you are driving or walking. It’s always there for the ride, all that it cares is that you have come.

Driving along the road alone gives a person the one thing that they always have a shortage of- time for themselves. You don’t need to hit the road just to get somewhere or because you are a taxpayer! Sometimes you just hit the road because your mind is mixed up or because u want to think an issue over.

There is something soothing about zooming on the road and seeing that great black mass pass through in a whirl, in front of your eyes just like the various thoughts in your mind. The journey with the road also teaches one different things, just as the journey of life but the road is a far better teacher. One learns how to deal with the speed breakers and the various troughs that the road has…even though all of them are different with time one learns to negotiate them…In contrast though life more often than not throws up the same problem in different forms just like the road but we try to find a different solution for it each time even though we already know the optimum solution.

The journey across the road also teaches the importance of relationships. Different spots along the road remind one of different people and the reasons why you would want to be there with them. Seeing a lush green area on the highway one immediately feels the urge of having a picnic with near and dear ones.

The journey of the road also throws up important questions, for ex. when one sees an accident the question pops instantly in ones mind whether they should stop to help or should they just zoom off even though all it may cost is a few minutes of the journey; a small time frame when compared to the entire journey. This is the exact situation in most of our lives where we can help a colleague or an acquaintance, who is like the co-passenger on the road, but we choose not to thinking that we are wasting precious moments of our life.The road also encourages one to pursue interests, singing while on the road or listening to music things which we enjoy but as always are really busy to pursue.

But the best thing about the road is that it allows one to see patterns and connections. When one is spending time alone one can see a lot of connections between the different problems that one faces which is difficult to do when one is occupied with one thing or the other always.

The next time when you are wondering what should I do now?? Go ahead and hit the road…. Believe me you will love it…and please leave you cell phones at home…you are not obama that the world needs you every instant… After all there is only one person who know your true value…So go ahead spend some time with yourself…and travel with a friend and not an advisor…because that’s what the road really is.

Happy Riding!!