Glumdog millionaires

Recently we all were dazed with Slumdog mania that gripped India. Better late than never, India was graced to Oscars, not one but three, a long wait after Satyajit Ray and Bhanu Athaiya. The kids from the sewers walked on in a huge city with much more glitz than amchi Mumbai, between millions of lights and strange white people of they never heard of before who shook hands with them. A few of them namely Tanay Chedda and Tanvi Lonkar came from middle and upper middle class families, but the kids in question here are namely Azhar and Rubina, the kids from small shanties in Dharavi.

Well first of all lets get this clear. Why did Slumdog win its battery of accolades?? Script, direction, music,marketing.......or simply the empathy of the Indians and the sympathy of the west towards the Indian slum life.........Whatever the reason be its crystal clear that these kids were NOT the reason of success of the movie in any case. I mean lets face it.........Tanay , a few ads and TZP down and Tanvi coming from a better upbringing may have faced the camera with a confidence that clearly showed on screen but what abour Azhar and Rubina......if instead of them there were a Ismail and a Salma from the same slum how much difference would have that made......Whatever the case its clear that the way the kids were felicitated and the media hype that was generated around them is going to be nothing but detrimental to their mouldable souls today.......Why wouldnt an Azhar ask that five years down the line he is still in a slum and nobody in the outside world is failing to acknowledge his presence........Why wouldnt an Rubina ask that once described by tabloids as the future of Bollywood she still today is failing to make her ends meet.
Such was also tha case of one small Muslim kid , who also was a party to an Oscar winning Salaam Bombay and promised Rs.15000 by Mira Nair. Considering the level of inflation the kid would have been well to do today. But today what we see is a 32 year disgruntled man driving an auto in Bangalore with just a below ordinary existence.
What psychological trauma the kids will face one year down the line .........how drastically the behaviour must have changed with their peers afetr this bolt from the blue type of success and praises which may lead these innocent little ones to belive that they have the power to make the world go to its knees........ButI can only pray not for their success but that they have the grit to handle it.