Big B blasts 'Slumdog Millionaire' on blog

Originally Posted by xXx

Hollywood...loves Reality Movies...whee hindi film industry..dumps reality movies and go for potboilers, masala etc etc etc....thats why AB Sr. is pissed

Ever since "Slumdog Millionaire" shone at the Golden Globes award, everyone is asking why no Bollywood director thought of it.

While Sriram Raghavan of "Johnny Gaddar"fame missed the chance because Vikas Swaroop had given the movie rights of his book "Q & A"to eventual producers Film Four, directors Anurag Basu and Imtiaz Ali say other Indian filmmakers didn't think about it because they are not in the habit of reading.

Sriram Raghavan: I loved the book "Q & A"by Vikas Swaroop. I wanted to make a film on it. I even met the author, but the film rights were already with Film Four. He mentioned that a couple of other Bollywood directors had also approached him. It's a terrific book and I'm happy that the film is so successful.

Govind Nihalani: I very much wanted to adapt Vikas Swaroop's "Q & A"into a film. I met the author and he told me the film rights had already been sold to Film Four even before the book was published. The matter ended there.

Santosh Sivan: I haven't seen the film. But from what I've read about it, "Slumdog Millionaire"is quite a different sensibility and perspective of portraying the extremes.

Dibakar Banerjee: I haven't read Vikas Swaroop's novel, but if I had read it and liked it, of course I'd have made it. At the moment I'm negotiating the rights for three novels, old and new. Incidentally Sriram Raghavan was talking to the author of "Slumdog Millionaire"for the longest time for the rights. Ask him if you don't believe me.

Originally Posted by Safin

One has to ask though, no one ever said that movies have to be "real". Imo they tend to set their reality and sex yardsticks especially for foreign films.

Originally Posted by xXx

Thats wat i said....Reality based movies area always appreciated by westerners...whereas they get bored by song n dance routine....

Originally Posted by xXx

Hollywood...loves Reality Movies...whee hindi film industry..dumps reality movies and go for potboilers, masala etc etc etc....thats why AB Sr. is pissed

Amitabh Bachchan, who had stoked a controversy by slamming 'Slumdog Millionaire', Friday said the movie was "wonderful" and expressed happiness that composer A.R. Rahman won three Oscar nominations for his score and songs in the movie.

"The sound engineer of this wonderful movie 'Slumdog Millionaire', Rasool, an Indian, has also won a nomination along with Rahman. I am so happy. Bhanu Athaiya was the last Indian to win an Oscar for the designing the costumes of Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi' in 1982," Bachchan said at an overflowing venue at the Jaipur Literature Festival.

Referring to his comment regarding 'Slumdog Millionaire' that "the film projects India as Third World's dirty underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots", he said: "I write a blog. But the opinions expressed in my blog were not my own. So many people write on my blog site and I was just quoting one of them. I have spoken to Anil Kapoor and Danny Boyle and cleared the misgivings. But everyone must have freedom of expression."

The superstar was here for a day to release his biography, 'Bachchanalia: The Films and Memorabilia of Amitabh Bachchan', spanning 40 years of his career in the Hindi film industry.

The book - co-authored by Mumbai-based author Bhawana Somaaya and the Mumbai-based auction house and archive OSIAN's Centre for Archiving, Research and Development (CARD) wing - is the maiden publication of Osian's publishing and design department.

Founder and chairman of OSIAN's Neville Tuli was in conversation with the superstar.

"Indian cinema is gaining global acceptance. I was in Paris two weeks ago for Salon Du Cinema, a festival of world films, where India and my family were the focus this time.

"I realised that the Indian movie industry was being acknowledged and Hindi movies were being shown on television channels in countries like France, Germany and all over Europe - even in those European nations where there had been no awareness about Indian movies before.

"If you want a personal and an honest opinion, I think Indian movies are paramount. They don't fall short in any way globally - be it in terms of cinematography, content or the cast. I am very happy with the kind of movies we are making. The Oscar is in its place - the fact that they have decided to nominate one of our artistes is heartening," Bachchan said.

Striking a patriotic note, the Bollywood veteran said he was proud to be a movie star.