Slumdog Millionaire and the Fall of Oscars

It happened in ’96 and it happened again. The movie which deserved the award for best picture lost it to a relatively weaker competitor. In ’96 it was Forrest Gump and in ’09 it is Slumdog Millionaire.

Every critic seems to love Slumdog Millionaire to the core. Few even have gone to the extent of comparing it with Shaw shank Redemption. Such folks can be laughed at for their inane comparisons.

However, its been really difficult for me to know if I too have got offended by the movie like most of naysayers in India are or I unknowingly dislike this movie for showing Indian slums. As far I can remember I have never been a patriot. I never had any special love for India or Indians. Few may go to the extent to hate me. That’s fine with me. But before that I would like to make it clear that I don’t hate India or Indians. I just don’t have that connection one would expect from a citizen of a country. One thing I am sure is that it would be the case for me and my kind of people wherever they go.

What I failed to understand is that what is so special about Slumdog Millionaire except that its Indian faces this time around. Forrest Gump had a very similar track. Forrest too was an underdog. He too loved a girl whom he met in childhood by chance. Lots of things happen in the course of time. They both do the things not because they are sure they would win or they have planned to make big but because that's the only thing they thought they could do. They don't learn things to make progress. They use the things they already learnt. Both yearn for their lady love. And for your surprise they get it though the chances are 1 in a billion. Only difference between Forrest Gump and Slumdog Millionaire was the style of story telling.

So what am I whining about? Forrest Gump did win an Oscar and so did Slumdog Millionaire!

That is the sad part of Academy Awards. They never seem to have learnt from their mistakes. It just gets repeated over and over and leaves you with utter frustration. How many would say Forrest Gump would deserve an Oscar more than Shaw shank Redemption? When the academy awards were announced nobody said Shaw shank deserved it more than Forrest Gump. It took many years for people to realize what a masterpiece Shaw shank Redemption was.

History has repeated again, at least as far as Academy Awards are concerned. If I were to believe few bloggers who seemed to be speaking rationally, Frost/Nixon was way ahead of other nominated movies. I haven’t seen that. But I found Milk to be a better movie followed by Curious case of Benjamin Button than Slumdog Millionaire.

Awards might have lost their meanings long ego but let's be frank, an award is an award. It matters to win it. No matter for how long it has been unfair, but it matters to win as long as its valued. And disappointingly an Academy Award still matters despite the fact that it has been 40 years since its meaning started to deteriorate. This year it fell one more step. Unfortunately other awards functions joined in the downfall!