2009-03-01T16:55:02.692+05:30
OSC-AR RAHMAN- "JAI HO INDIA"
After Slumdog Millionaire won 8 Oscars on 22nd February and Smile Pinky added one more to the Indian Connection Booty, all the newspapers on 24th were full of OSC-AR RAHMAN News. They were simply raving about the success of the movie and Indian music in the 81st Academy Awards. I was expecting the same from other media too. Hence later on the day, while going to office when I put on my earphones to radio , I was not surprised to hear the Radio Jockey interviewing tele-callers about RahmanTriumph in the Oscars .
Sarmistha Pati (Milu)
OSC-AR RAHMAN- "JAI HO INDIA"
After Slumdog Millionaire won 8 Oscars on 22nd February and Smile Pinky added one more to the Indian Connection Booty, all the newspapers on 24th were full of OSC-AR RAHMAN News. They were simply raving about the success of the movie and Indian music in the 81st Academy Awards. I was expecting the same from other media too. Hence later on the day, while going to office when I put on my earphones to radio , I was not surprised to hear the Radio Jockey interviewing tele-callers about RahmanTriumph in the Oscars .
Under normal circumstances I would have changed the channel to another one playing music . Out of the entire day, I consider this journey time from home to office and back as my very own personal time . Thus sitting at the rear seat of my car, passing by the Ganges on the not so crowded streets from BNR to Babughat, I prefer to have the luxury of listening to some good music (courtesy FM) and nothing irritates me more than being interrupted by some radio interview broadcasts . But this time it was different. When I heard the tele-caller answering about Rahman’s music victory, I stopped myself from changing the channel to hear the common man’s reaction. The caller here was pretty astonished that a) there are other greater musicians like R.D.Burman , S.D.Burman, Salil Choudhury, Shanker Jaikishen, Naushad etc.. and they never got any Oscar and b) Rahman himself has given much better music than Jai Ho and those never got any Oscar.. so how come this one managed two. Later during the day, the same view was expressed in different forms by many of my acquaintances. Some were of the opinion that because the movie was made by a white skinned director, it got all the adulation. Had it been made by an Indian , it would not have got any thing. Some people with more fertile imagination even put forward the theory that because India signed the nuclear treaty, a movie with Indian connection managed to grab so many awards. Wish they could use their superb imagination in some constructive fields.
I do not want to delve into the subject of whether S.M. depicted the ugly side of India or not. So much has already been by the so called pundits in so many fora that the issue has become quite murky. What really hurts is the fact that when three Indians have won four academy awards, why not celebrate it as the victory of Indian music , unadulterated, without mixed feelings. When Bhanu Athhaiya won the Oscar for best costume design , did we ever question whether there were better costume designers in India ? Very rightly we just enjoyed the proud moment of an Indian getting the Oscar for the first time. In any case it was a proud and deserving case. Very recently one of the Hindi Cinema actresses got a Padmashree for her contribution to Indian Cinema. Well, is there even an iota of doubt as to whether or not there are better artists with more contribution to Indian Cinema. There are actually hundreds of better artists who deserve Padmashree more than any one any day. But when it happens in India, we do not grudge those oddities, even if it is clear to the simplest brain as to what machination lay behind such awards. Possibly, here in India, we think that we have a legal right to do such things. Why then should we grudge Rahman , Resul Pookutty and Gulzar of their acclaims which are so well deserved. It is true that India has produced many legendary musicians in the past . But because they did not get their dues in the international scene, today’s musicians also should not get their just dues is an unjust thing to say.
I do not want to delve into the subject of whether S.M. depicted the ugly side of India or not. So much has already been by the so called pundits in so many fora that the issue has become quite murky. What really hurts is the fact that when three Indians have won four academy awards, why not celebrate it as the victory of Indian music , unadulterated, without mixed feelings. When Bhanu Athhaiya won the Oscar for best costume design , did we ever question whether there were better costume designers in India ? Very rightly we just enjoyed the proud moment of an Indian getting the Oscar for the first time. In any case it was a proud and deserving case. Very recently one of the Hindi Cinema actresses got a Padmashree for her contribution to Indian Cinema. Well, is there even an iota of doubt as to whether or not there are better artists with more contribution to Indian Cinema. There are actually hundreds of better artists who deserve Padmashree more than any one any day. But when it happens in India, we do not grudge those oddities, even if it is clear to the simplest brain as to what machination lay behind such awards. Possibly, here in India, we think that we have a legal right to do such things. Why then should we grudge Rahman , Resul Pookutty and Gulzar of their acclaims which are so well deserved. It is true that India has produced many legendary musicians in the past . But because they did not get their dues in the international scene, today’s musicians also should not get their just dues is an unjust thing to say.
Indian music is slowly getting the global attention with the screening of more and more movies abroad. Also different races and societies have different likes and dislikes as far as music and other art forms are concerned. For example, some of the rock music, which are so popular in the west, may sound like cacophony to some Indian ears. Not all music that have national appeal will have international appeal too. Nevertheless that does not make any such art form inferior or superior to others. Rahman’s music belongs to a different genre which touches a chord with the international audience. It should not be linked with an outsider making the movie. If this was such a gospel truth, then the clairvoyants should have predicted about the movie’s future much before the Oscar nominations and our current super stars would not have refused the role of the game host in the movie. When we question the fact whether SM would have won so many accolades had it been directed and produced by an Indian, we must put forward another question to ourselves “ Why do not we make such movies in India”. We can not defend ourselves by saying “We do not want to show this dark side of our country”, because in umpteen movies in Hindi and other regional languages, poverty has been shown more nakedly in the past.
Therefore, instead of getting into the whys and hows , let us just bask in the glory of these three fellow Indians , and be grateful for making us so proud……
Therefore, instead of getting into the whys and hows , let us just bask in the glory of these three fellow Indians , and be grateful for making us so proud……
hiii,
ReplyDeleteJai ho India is a eye opener for everyone ,keep doing the good work
Swati