By now, all of us already know about ‘Slumdog Millionaires‘ success at the Oscars. This was a culmination of sorts after all the awards the movie received at the BAFTA and Golden Globe. With all the attention Slumdog was receiving, it was not surprising that the movie won 8 oscars. And our own A R Rahman, has got the much deserved international recognition.
I have been a fan of Rahmans music since Roja. And quite recently listening to the sound-track of Dilli 6 has been a pleasure. Most of the songs that come from Rahman are indeed catchy and at times truly enchanting. The songs “Pudhu Vellai Mazhai” from Roja his first, to “Rehna Tu” from Dilli 6, his latest, never fail to thrill me. There is a clear signature in his music, of an artist that is A R Rahman. And again, there are some tracks that really surprise me and make me wonder what might have gone wrong with this mostly flawless composer. And if you are wondering what I’m referring to, you should listen to some compositions from movies like Yuvraaj (and a few more that i really don’t want to mention). Clearly everybody has bad days, and i guess Rahman is no exception. And for me, the soundtrack and songs of Slumdog, have failed to pull the right chord in my heart. Well, agreed he has got an Oscar for that. But i really don’t think that his best work. And IMHO, i would put it into one of his very average compositions.
If people from all over think that those are his best compositions, they sure are missing a lot. I think the folks in the “Academy” need to listen to tracks from “Thiruda Thiruda”, “Roja”, “Dil Se” and ofcourse the latest “Dilli 6” just to name a few. Anyways, I’m not the one to decide what he gets the award for. So i will just let it be.
Although, what upsets me most is how we as a nation look for approval from the west for whatever we do. Like our fascination with the Oscars( i have no faith, whatsoever, in the Academy). When will we realize our worth? And that it really does not matter what the west thinks of us, What matters most is what we think of ourselves. And what do we think our ourselves? Well, we have people like Pramod Muthalik from the now ‘most-talked-about’ “Sri Rama Sene”, who thinks that “women in our country are not respecting our culture. And by not going to pubs, and not wearing *western-attire* we will be a nation with a rich culture”. We have money-laundering politicians who think “we need to let the poor remain poor, and never educate the illiterate. If we do, we have nowhere to go. The people would not need us anymore”. Finally, we have a Chief Minister who thinks “We need to please all the gods in all the temples of our state so that good things happen to our state so we can reign supreme”, and goes ahead and allots 100 crores for that purpose in the state budget.
The Oscar (for the best act and direction) should actually go to all such people for doing such crap and making us, the people of this nation, believe that it is for own good.
Partha Susarla 