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Vikas Swarup, who is also India's deputy high commissioner to South Africa, found himself in the spotlight after British director Danny Boyle adapted his novel "Q&A" for the big screen.
As the "Slumdog Millionaire" juggernaut won over critics and the box-office, Swarup travelled around the world to promote his novel and the film.
"The world is curious about India -- what is powering this nine percent growth rate, how is India combining tradition with modernity. What makes India tick?" Swarup said in an interview on Thursday.
"Part of the reason for the film's success is because it was about India, it tapped into this global hunger for news about India, information about India," he said.
"Slumdog Millionaire", a rags-to-riches drama about a Mumbai slum kid winning a TV game show, swept the Academy Awards last month, winning eight Oscars including best film.
As the final award was announced, the film's cast and crew thronged the stage -- among them Rubina Ali and Azhar Ismail, who have spent most of their lives in the squalor of Mumbai's slums.
"For me the enduring memory of that night was the sight of these two little children Azhar and Rubina, who had come all the way from Dharavi to Los Angeles sharing the same platform with Steven Spielberg," Swarup said.
Life has also changed for the Indian diplomat who now finds himself being "recognized and sort of accosted" in shopping malls.
"I didn't win an Oscar, but the fact that my film won eight Oscars makes me feel, in a way, like a Godfather to the final product."
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This is a joke! Does Vikas Swarup mean to state with a straight face that curiosity about India's 9% GDP growth got people to see Slumdog Millionaire? What is there in the film about 9% growth - the toilet scene or the blinding of children or the police torture? We do not deny that all this can and does exist in India, and we all ought to do something about it. The point is that there is no balancing goodness and hope in the unrelenting parades of in your face perversity and ugly Indian characters that populate both the book and the film. Both fail the credibility test and pander to the taste for Indian poverty porn in the West. That made SM succeed, and the fact that Danny Boyle is a cultish Western director. If Anurag Kashyap had directed SM, it would have got nowhere. Forget about Taare Zameen Par, Salaam Bombay was a gentler, more balanced film, but Mira Nair was not Danny Boyle and the film was not poverty porn, so it did not get even the Best Foreign Film Oscar.
If it was showing reality of india then why didnt the patriotic movies which were all these years get into oscars. Its time for indians to know that advertising the strength and trying to eradicate the weekness of our country should be our atttitude. Always remember that other countries are happy and enjoy watching india's dirt and not its development. If we showing our weekness like this , then it wont take time for them to conquer over us again. Something to think about!!!!
I am an American who has been to India several times and I thought Slumdog Millionaire was wonderful. Yes, it depicted slums, but it also showed that there were people in India with money, good jobs, and opportunities. People visit India because it is different from the Wst. If you only show the modern western parts of cities, why would an American want to visit? It is no different from our own cities. India is a fascinating place and I think the movie showed that.
Slum exits because it is a big votebank especially for congress. Because I acn see there are about 3 million Bangladeshi illegal migrant live in Delhi and around in slums but our congress politician ensure that they get voting and ration card as fast as possible. In any election they are the one who make big setback to the outcome of election. Because I never had my voting card in my 46 years of age being born and raised in India. Nobody had ever asked me to tell me how can I get a voting card. In recent election I tried to find my name in list but I was nowhere in list despite being in a good posh locality in Delhi for entire my life.
Mr. Ravi, You know that bangladesh was part of india before independence.
Swarup is among all high calibre srivastava/ sinha kaystha which made India proud. Munshi Premchand (Dhanpat Srivastava), Mahadevi Verma, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, LokNayak jaiprakash narayan, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Firahk GorakhPuri, Shekhar Suman, Raju Srivastava, Sonu Nigam, Singer Mukesh, Nitin Mukesh, Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Natwarlal (mithlesh srivastava) are all Proud Srivastava community which is only 0.0001% of total population of country. Gave so many genius. Not to mention countless top IAS officers. It was a community which was backward and had no agriculture land and in independent idia got no reservation in jobs and education. Hindi Khadi boli is a gift to whole world by kayasthas of North.
If false projections is what is india than I should be ashamed of my country.I know this is not and that is why I'm sad when Indians get happy over slumdog's success.Projecting wrong about Indian and especially Hindus. I'm saddened by people calling it a form of free art by a foreigner just like Adiga's booker prize winner.show the filth in India and win Oscar Booker.
Madam, the film shows some realities regarding the poor India.A truth can not be hidden, there is also no need for that.We know that there is poverty in India; the sufferings of the poor and the slum-dwellers etc are created by the greedy rich and the corrupt politicians.It is important that the world knows the truth so that India may perhaps slowly change uplifting the poor. Otherwise the film is an average one."The White Tiger " is a great work.
i agree this comment.But what to do dear, this has been the trend since long.To get stupid image of 'Genius' such false projections are made.Many objectionable scens are there in this film, which obviously hurting people who loves india.
Agree with you. And not sure what tradition and modernity he is talking about..Whether his grandfather used to poo on railway track as part of tradition or he goes to do so in modern world....
Sorry, its sympathy generated from poverty and sick atmosphere shown in the movie generated the curiosity about the film. We are proud that we received the oscars, people behind the movie got their money and fame, but it is shame for us to depict our country in such a miserable and hepless condition. India is far better than what is shown in the movie. Though some facts are exitising but surely I will not accept anybody to put a indelible bellish on my country. International employers are thinking that an indian guy can work even for $ 1/hr coz they see such movies which encourage them to think so. To win oscar you are affect the tourism, foreign tourist will never step in our country seeing such views. Beside everything, instead of praising Slumbogs, just try and use our energy to eradicate the slums and provide proper living to people in such slums.. Its ridculos, I can't stand it.
I agree with Farhan. I am angry with the India administration who allow filming India in bad light. On top of that people like Anil Kapoor take pride in being part of such a filthy film. I was watching an American channel and one moron said that who would like to visit India after seeing that movie. Slums are everywhere but no other country allows to glorify its poor regions. I hope that the beaurocrats, politicians, rich people like Big B, Ambanis, Sharukh Khan and several others take this movie as a blow to our national pride and do something out it.
If showing the reality was winning an oscar, then i would say there are many more worse things which can be shown and win a dozen more oscars. We should understand that as Indians we are suppose to promote and encourage the goodthings of our country. Instead of showing our country's weekness,we should try and eradicate it . Isnt showing our weekness to the world help them conquer us again. Again if it was about reality then why didnt the several patriotic movies get to the oscars. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!!!!!
Farhan appears very confused in what he wanted to say. Oscars are the civilised way of telling to India as do something about this rich poor gap. Do something about this over population, dirtiness and acute poverty. 80% of population when live on 50 cent a day, then what better condition we will have.There is no check on the population growth, so in next 30-35 years we are going to be two billion people. You may imagine our situation then.