Film's Success Gets Mixed Reviews In India
在《贫民窟的百万富翁》(Slumdog Millionaire)这部电影将包括最佳影片和最佳导演在内的8个奥斯卡大奖收入囊中后，许多印度人沉浸在喜悦中，并憧憬着他们长期以来所引以为豪的电影天赋可能得到世界上更多人的赏识。虽然在这部影片的主要拍摄地－－孟买的达拉维(Dharavi)贫民区，没有多少人看过奥斯卡颁奖典礼或这部电影，但大部分人还是为他们这个社群--以及印度人的才华--终于得到国际上的关注而感到高兴。印度人观看《贫民窟的百万富翁》获奖的情形家住达拉维的承包商S.G.詹姆斯(S.G. James)说：“咱们达拉维如今在全世界都出了名，我们对此感到自豪。”詹姆斯住在达拉维靠近铁路的一栋两层房屋内。住在更富裕社区的印度中产阶级也对这部影片获奖表示欢迎。正在高档商场Greater Kailash购物的桑纳姆•赛西(Sonam Sethi)说：“我激动得浑身发抖。这说明世界其他地方对印度多么有兴趣。”赛西今年21岁，正在新德里攻读营销专业。在好莱坞的红地毯上，在影片中扮演主角心上人的芙瑞达•平托(Freida Pinto)面带笑容接受印度NDTV电视频道采访。当问及她对这部影片的巨大成功作何感想时，她说道：“这是我从来从来从来没想到的”。长期以来，印度人一直将该国作曲家拉汉(A.R. Rahman)视为足以与任何好莱坞艺人媲美的世界级艺术家。因此他本次获得奥斯卡最佳原创音乐奖在影迷心中激起了特别大的共鸣。当然，也有许多印度人不愿意承认这部由一名印度裔英国演员主演并由一名英国导演执导的影片是一部印度电影。此外，还有抗议者举行集会，抗议影片名字使用“Slumdog”这个词来贬低贫民区中的居民。在1月下旬，孟买一个代表贫民区居民的福利团体在演员阿尼尔•卡布尔(Anil Kapoor)－－出演此片的一位印度演员－－的家门外组织抗议活动。抗议者手中举着写有“我们不是狗”和“拿贫穷当卖点”的标语牌。Reuters达拉维贫民区的人们聚集在一起观看奥斯卡颁奖礼住在达拉维的詹姆斯说，“我们是生活得如狗一般，但我们不是狗。”他表示，他此前一度抵制这部影片，直到他发现这部电影的主题是为了战胜与贫民窟出身相伴随的污名。他说：“也许现在会为贫民窟的百姓做些事情了。”一直以来，詹姆斯在生活中必须克服许多影片中描写的困难，如贫困无家可归和骚乱。他的儿子受过教育，已经搬到郊区的公寓居住，但他说自己从未打算离开。在达拉维生活了30年后，他甚至连每隔一刻钟就开过一列火车时的巨响都察觉不到了。在达拉维的街上，当地政治家－－前下议院议员桑杰•尼鲁帕姆(Sanjay Nirupam)在获悉影片获奖后组织了放鞭炮和发糖等临时庆祝活动。他告诉大约一百来名聚集在此的人说，《贫民窟的百万富翁》将为这片社区创造更多财富，世界银行(World Bank)和国际货币基金组织(International Monetary Fund)都会想来这个出了名的地方投资。尼鲁帕姆向大众讲，“贫民区的居民不是狗，而是明星。”然而，并非每个人都那么乐观。21岁的印度女孩姬兰•杰斯瓦尔(Kiran Jaiswal)说，她看不起哪怕是一场电影，去了也听不懂一个英语单词。她与母亲和祖母站在电影曾取景的一个恶臭扑鼻的池塘边，她说这片社区需要的是学校和工作，而不是一夜暴富的黄粱美梦。她一边梳理自己又长又黑的头发一边问道，“如果他们能为了一部电影花掉这么多钱，为何不关心一下这里的儿童？从来没人教我们像电影中的那些小孩那样说英语。”Niraj Sheth / Eric Bellman相关阅读原声视频：《贫民窟的百万富翁》片段 2009-02-24原声视频：《贫民窟的百万富翁》横扫奥斯卡 2009-02-24图片报导：奥斯卡颁奖典礼 2009-02-23
As 'Slumdog Millionaire' took home eight Academy Awards, including best picture and best director, many Indians rejoiced in its success amid hopes that movie talent they have long taken pride in may now be more widely appreciated world-wide.While few in Dharavi, the sprawling Mumbai slum where much of the film was shot, had seen the Oscar awards show or the actual film, most were happy their neighborhood -- as well as Indian talent -- were at last getting some international attention.'Our Dharavi is now famous in the whole of the world,' said S.G. James, a contractor who lives in a two-story home next to a railroad in Dharavi. 'Of this, we are proud.'Middle-class Indians from posher neighborhoods also welcomed the awards. 'I'm thrilled, and I think it shows how much the rest of the world is interested in India,' said Sonam Sethi, a 21-year-old marketing student in New Delhi, while shopping in the upscale Greater Kailash market.On the red carpet in Hollywood, Indian actress Freida Pinto, who stars in the movie as the main character's love interest, gave a broad smile when asked in an interview with Indian television channel NDTV how she felt about the movie's overwhelming success. 'I never, never, never imagined something like this could happen,' she said.Indians long have considered Indian music composer A.R. Rahman as a world-class artist on par with any in Hollywood. So his award for best original score had particular resonance among film buffs here.Certainly, many Indians have been reluctant to claim the film, which stars a British Indian actor and was directed by a British director, as one of their own. Also, protesters have rallied against the use of 'Slumdog' in the movie's name as derogatory against slum dwellers. In late January, a Mumbai-based welfare group for slum dwellers organized protests outside the home of Anil Kapoor, an Indian actor in the film. The protestors held up signs reading 'I am not a dog' and 'Poverty for Sale.''We have a dog's life but we are not dogs,' agreed Mr. James from Dharavi, who said he was opposed to the film until he found out it was about overcoming the stigma attached to being from the slums. 'Maybe now something will be done for the slum people.'Mr. James has had to cross many of the hurdles depicted in the film including poverty, homelessness and riots. His sons are educated and have moved into apartments in the suburbs, but he never plans to leave, he says. After more than 30 years in Dharavi, he says he doesn't even hear the trains going by every 15 minutes.On the streets of the slum, one local politician, former Member of Parliament Sanjay Nirupam, staged an impromptu celebration on news of the film's awards, lighting firecrackers and handing out sweets. He told almost 100 people gathered that 'Slumdog Millionaire' could bring more money to the neighborhood as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund would want to invest in the vibrant area.'The slum dwellers should not be called slumdogs, they should be called slumlions,' he told the crowd.Not everyone was so optimistic. Kiran Jaiswal, 21, said she could never afford to go to a movie and wouldn't understand one in English, anyway. Sitting on the ground with her mother and grandmother next to the fetid pool used for one of the scenes in the movie, she said her neighborhood needs schools and jobs, not rags-to-riches dreams.'If they can spend all this money on a movie, why can't they take care of the children?' she asked as she combed her long black hair. 'No one taught us how to speak English like those guys in the movie.'Niraj Sheth / Eric Bellman
As 'Slumdog Millionaire' took home eight Academy Awards, including best picture and best director, many Indians rejoiced in its success amid hopes that movie talent they have long taken pride in may now be more widely appreciated world-wide.While few in Dharavi, the sprawling Mumbai slum where much of the film was shot, had seen the Oscar awards show or the actual film, most were happy their neighborhood -- as well as Indian talent -- were at last getting some international attention.'Our Dharavi is now famous in the whole of the world,' said S.G. James, a contractor who lives in a two-story home next to a railroad in Dharavi. 'Of this, we are proud.'Middle-class Indians from posher neighborhoods also welcomed the awards. 'I'm thrilled, and I think it shows how much the rest of the world is interested in India,' said Sonam Sethi, a 21-year-old marketing student in New Delhi, while shopping in the upscale Greater Kailash market.On the red carpet in Hollywood, Indian actress Freida Pinto, who stars in the movie as the main character's love interest, gave a broad smile when asked in an interview with Indian television channel NDTV how she felt about the movie's overwhelming success. 'I never, never, never imagined something like this could happen,' she said.Indians long have considered Indian music composer A.R. Rahman as a world-class artist on par with any in Hollywood. So his award for best original score had particular resonance among film buffs here.Certainly, many Indians have been reluctant to claim the film, which stars a British Indian actor and was directed by a British director, as one of their own. Also, protesters have rallied against the use of 'Slumdog' in the movie's name as derogatory against slum dwellers. In late January, a Mumbai-based welfare group for slum dwellers organized protests outside the home of Anil Kapoor, an Indian actor in the film. The protestors held up signs reading 'I am not a dog' and 'Poverty for Sale.''We have a dog's life but we are not dogs,' agreed Mr. James from Dharavi, who said he was opposed to the film until he found out it was about overcoming the stigma attached to being from the slums. 'Maybe now something will be done for the slum people.'Mr. James has had to cross many of the hurdles depicted in the film including poverty, homelessness and riots. His sons are educated and have moved into apartments in the suburbs, but he never plans to leave, he says. After more than 30 years in Dharavi, he says he doesn't even hear the trains going by every 15 minutes.On the streets of the slum, one local politician, former Member of Parliament Sanjay Nirupam, staged an impromptu celebration on news of the film's awards, lighting firecrackers and handing out sweets. He told almost 100 people gathered that 'Slumdog Millionaire' could bring more money to the neighborhood as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund would want to invest in the vibrant area.'The slum dwellers should not be called slumdogs, they should be called slumlions,' he told the crowd.Not everyone was so optimistic. Kiran Jaiswal, 21, said she could never afford to go to a movie and wouldn't understand one in English, anyway. Sitting on the ground with her mother and grandmother next to the fetid pool used for one of the scenes in the movie, she said her neighborhood needs schools and jobs, not rags-to-riches dreams.'If they can spend all this money on a movie, why can't they take care of the children?' she asked as she combed her long black hair. 'No one taught us how to speak English like those guys in the movie.'Niraj Sheth / Eric Bellman