CHAPTER 2

“Q and A” Novel and

“Slumdog
Millionaire” Movie as
Post-Colonial / Post-
Imperial Works
Introduction

As described in the first chapter, the post-colonial theory is the one which deals with
challenges facing ex-colonized countries after the colonizer has left leaving out his footprint.
These countries usually have their own topics and issues to discuss which are distinct from
previous literary issues. That is to say in order to overcome concerns such as national identity,
sovereignty, and human rights, the post-colonial theory was developed. Therefore, the
literature written concerning the colonizer and the indigenous people is carried out by the
post-colonial theory.

Typically, this literature is created by people from formerly colonized nations, with the
goal of portraying the colonial experience from a unique viewpoint. The latter is often
overlooked, but with the development of this theory, it became completely recognized as a
clear sound and a true position. The second chapter then will discuss elements of the post-
colonial theory in the novel “Q and A” and the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” taking in
consideration illustrations and examples from them both. This chapter will tackle all the key
concepts mentioned in the first chapter such as, Nationalism, Hybridity, Subalternity,
Globalization, and Diaspora. These concepts will be explained in the light of the post-colonial
theory in depth giving clear and exact reference to each one of them.

25
1. The hidden story of Nationalism from an Indian perspective

Nationalism was defined as ideology that stresses allegiance to one‟s nation as a major
political virtue and national preservation and self-determination as prime political
imperatives. With current academics dismissing nationalist interpretations of cinema, one can
question how we should approach the subject of national representation in film, which is still
a point of conflict. In India, Hindu and Muslim nationalism is growing, resulting in numerous
confrontations between these populations in a country that is nearly the size of a continent and
has almost as many cultures as Europe.

In regard of the local reception of a global film, one could never expect an Indian
nationalist‟s positive response towards the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. When we consider
the film's reception, it's important to realize that it primarily appealed to a Western, rather
than an Indian, audience. Slmndog Crorepati, the Hindi-dubbed version, came in thirty-fourth
in the top opening weeks of 2009 at the Indian movie office, with Rs.5,28,16,005
($1,131,244). In comparison, the highest-grossing film of 2009, “Kambakkht Ishq,” a
Bollywood production, grossed Rs. 43,41, 12,938, or $9,298,089 in its first week. (Sharma,
204)

Obviously, the film's wide appeal was hampered by the actors' relative unknown and
cinematic approach. Other peculiarities, however, have an impact on this analysis. Consider
the title: "slumdog" was created by combining the words "slum" and "underdog," but it did
not resonate with many Indian viewers, particularly Hindus, who find the term "dog"
insulting. Dogs have been avoided as filthy in the caste-based Hindu taxonomy since ancient
Vedic times. Ironically, if the entire film had been shot in English, it would have found an
easy audience among educated middle-class Indians who are used to seeing Indian films with
English as the primary language.

But, possibly more problematic than the film's insulting title "slumdog" or "underdog,"
beyond the prevalence of English and the casting of a British Indian as the major character,
was the film's association of India with extreme poverty and vicious brutality. The scene in
which a youngster is drugged with chloroform and blinded with boiling oil so that he might
earn more money as a beggar for Maman, the ruler of the street children, is one of the most
famous ones.

26
 In January 2009, Amitabh Bachchan, the king of Indian cinema, expressed caution on
his blog in response to the film Slumdog Millionaire's escalating success. He said, tapping
into fears about how India is seen abroad: “if SM [Slumdog millionaire] projects india as third
World dirty underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and
patriots, let it be known that a murky under belly exists and thrives even in the most
developed nations.” (Sharma, 204)

Because of the film's complicated beginnings, many Indians regard it as a western,

while others dismiss it as foreign. This may be seen in Bachchan's reaction to Slumdog
Millionaire, in which he described it as a drama of a "dirty underbelly developing nation"
rather than the hard lives of two youngsters. His interpretation of the movie as a national
allegory is based on his response to its popularity in the West, and it is only after this
movement that the picture becomes associated with the country. In this form, allegory is
drawn externally from the movement of the text in and out of different publics, rather than
being bound to the imagination of the writer or director.

It's difficult to forget the conflicts fought within cultural studies over representations
of race, nation, gender, and so on, as well as theorizations of power. Poverty porn has been a
popular term, and nationalistic opponents have slammed the book for depicting some of
India's ugliest aspects, including poverty, crime, brutality, police torture, incest, and child
prostitution. The writer Salman Rushdie savaged the novel as “a corny potboiler” and “the
kind of fantasy writing that gives fantasy writing a bad name.” (Kolokotroni)

Slumdog Millionaire has become the ideal battleground for problems of cultural and
national representation because to its nationally heterogeneous beginnings and popularity
among "western" audiences. Mr. Swarup was clearly hurt by the accusations, but he said he
understood why people were so angry: “Indians are sensitive to the way their country is
represented, but the film was not a documentary on slum life,” said Mr. Swarup. “Slums
provide the backdrop to the story of the courage and determination of this boy who beats the
odds.” (McDonald)

Interpreting and re-enacting another national story in terms of one's own cultural
language and metaphor unavoidably subjugates and subjects the other to Aijaz Ahmad's
equally conclusive reaction in Jameson's Rhetoric of Otherness and the “National Allegory”
critiques Jameson‟s limiting prescription for its condemnation of all “third world” texts to a
position of absolute Otherness. Such an overbearing prescription on “Third World” writings

27
permanently places it in binary contrast to the first world, forcing it to inhabit a position of
marginality and to speak from a restricted, not to mention homogenized, national and cultural
viewpoint. As Ahmad puts it:

There is a very tight fit between the Three Worlds Theory, the over-valorization of the
nationalist ideology, and the assertion that “national allegory” is the primary, even
exclusive, form of narrativity in the so-called third world. If this “third world” is
constituted by the singular “experience of colonialism and imperialism” and if the only
possible response is a nationalist one, then what else is there that is more urgent to
narrate than this “experience”; in fact, there is nothing else to narrate.‟s cultural
parameters. (Ahmad, 102)

The emphasis here is the underlying opposition to viewing Third World texts as
always being reflective of the nation. This approach confines the work to its history of
subjugation, constraining it to exist solely in the context of the imperial experience. Of course,
this is a homogenizing and severely handicapping prescription that binds the colonized in a
cycle of servitude.

The film also enters the mud of religion and religious strife, whether it is taken as a
show of bravery or foolishness. Jamal, a Muslim youngster, is asked a question about Ram, a
Hindu god, in the quiz. When the wicked showmaster sees the question on his screen, he
shouts, "Religion, interesting!" He then inquires of Jamal as to what Ram is holding in his
right hand. Jamal's solution is once again provided by a memory of a traumatic experience.
During the outbreak of political strife, Hindu extremists assault Muslims in a Dharavi
neighborhood, killing Jamal's mother. Jamal and his brother Salim flee in dread through the
small lanes of Dharavi, when they come across a boy dressed as Ram, the famed godly king.
The youngster, who appears for a split second, appears terrified or paralyzed and is holding a
bow and arrow in his right hand.

It was this incident in particular that outraged India. However, it is impossible to say
whether this hatred is primarily expressed by Hindu nationalists or by a wider Indian
audience. Hindus opposed the portrayal of Hindus as violent toward Muslims. They believed
that the association with Ram was particularly offensive to Hinduism in this circumstance.
They also objected to the film's depiction of a Muslim kid, Jamal, being tortured by Hindu
police officers. The issue of "hands," on the other hand, is up for dispute. In anthropology, it

28
is general knowledge that the left hand is never symbolically equal to the right. The left hand
is regarded ritually impure by Hindus, therefore it is wrong to bless with it.

The film and its director, Danny Boyle, have been accused of being provocative. This
accusation is based on inconsistencies between the film and Vikas Swarup's original novel.
Jamal Malik, a Muslim, is the protagonist in the film, whereas Ram Mohammad Thomas is
the major character in the novel. The protagonist's mother is not murdered by Hindus in the
story; in fact, nothing is known about her because the protagonist was abandoned as a
newborn. As a result, his religious background is uncertain, and his given name, Ram
Mohammad Thomas, is considered as a representation of Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity.
In the novel, the showmaster reacts to the introduction of the boy on the game with the words:
“Ram Mohammad Thomas, now that‟s a very interesting name. It expresses the richness and
diversity of India” (Swarup, 28). As a result, the film is classified as anti-Hindu in general,
with the majority of the cast being Muslims.

Moreover, the critics overlook the fact that the name Ram Mohammed Thomas was
not chosen as a symbol of religious tolerance; in the book, his name was given in response to
concerns that naming a boy of unknown religious origin Thomas would provoke a Hindu
nationalist mob to torch the church where the boy was living. (Swarup, 34). Hindu nationalist
violence is also addressed in two more places in the novel. (Swarup, 167). Crucially, both the
film and the book take a stand against Hindu nationalism and religious moralism in general.

Unlike the movie's limited perspective of Indians, the novel is overflowing with
Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Christians, and Parsis from all walks of life—the rich
(actors, television personalities, druglords, princesses), the poor (beggars, orphans, prostitutes,
slumdwellers), and a sizable and increasing middle class (retired soldiers, businessmen,
pimps). Swaup's story also travels in every nook and cranny of North India, both rural and
urban; Ram's life centers on the slums of Dharavi in Mumbai and the Taj Mahal in Agra.
Several chapters are set in New Delhi, where Ram first resides at Father Timothy's house,
then at the Delhi Juvenile Home for Boys, then returns after a period in Mumbai to work at an
Australian diplomat's residence. (Sharma, 209) It‟s echo reached the whole India more than
was expected and ironically, the movie made it even popular.

29
2. The representation of Hybridity through Salim Malik/Ilyasi
Hybridity is a concept used in post-colonial theory to describe the new cultural forms
that emerged in the zone of interaction between local and colonial cultures. The interplay
between the colonizer's and colonized's cultures results in the emergence of a third hybrid
culture that is not wholly one of them, but a mix of the two.

The first character to represent hybridity and a mix of two sides as a paradox is called:
Salim, the latter‟s last name is Malik in the movie as a brother to Jamal the hero and the main
actor; or Ilyasi as in the novel where he is embodied as the protagonist‟s cousin, Ram
Mohammad Thomas. Salim is really a fascinating character because, although being the
antagonist, he frequently serves as the protector and the guardian of the protagonist and even
the same case to him with protagonist‟s love (as Latika in the movie and Nita in the novel).

Salim is a truly hybrid character, he is never so sure about what he wants, according to
his dreams and what he seeks, he would do anything in favour of those in power. Yet, Salim is
always the poor child who suffered a lot to grow-up as a solid, charismatic young man. The
film spares little time in portraying Salim's character as selfish, harsh, egotistical, and
money/power hungry from the moment he first appears on screen. On rare occasions, though,
we are shown another side of Salim. While he has no qualms about demeaning and
humiliating his brother for his own amusement and benefit, ironically he cares about his
brother's well-being.

There are several scenes in the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” when we see the good
side of Salim. He goes over and above to save his brother. When their mother died, he stayed
with him and helped him escape the raid; he lost his chance to join Maman's (An antagonist
who runs a gang of little children) gang in order to save his brother from being turned into a
blind beggar; he leaves behind money and friends to accompany his brother on his search for
Latika; and, finally, he makes the ultimate sacrifice when he helps Latika escape to find his
brother Jamal. The latter scene come down like:

INT. JAVED'S SAFE-HOUSE. KITCHEN. NIGHT.

Latika sits in the kitchen, staring at the tv, tears running down her cheeks. A reporter is
talking in front of an enlarged photograph of Jamal. Latika wipes away the tears quickly as
Salim comes in. He locks the door behind him. Stares at the tv.

30
 SALIM
That boy. He will never give up.
Never.
He shakes his head.
SALIM (CONT'D)
Crazy chutiy�.
Salim approaches Latika. She flinches as he walks towards her. He puts some car keys in
front of her.
SALIM (CONT'D)
Ja. Go.
LATIKA
But-
SALIM
- just drive. There won't be
another chance. Go.
Latika takes the keys. Hesitates.
LATIKA
He'll kill you.
Salim smiles, shakes his head.
SALIM
It is not written.
JAVED O/S
Salim!
Salim goes to the back door. Unlocks it. Opens it for her.
LATIKA
Salim, I....can't.
Salim points at the television.
SALIM
You have to. It'll take you two
hours if you drive fast. Here.
He holds out his mobile phone.
SALIM (CONT'D)
For God's sake, hold on to it.

31
 (CONTINUED)
Latika takes it. Salim takes hold of both sides of her head for a moment.
SALIM (CONT'D)
For what I have done, please
forgive me.
Salim releases her.
SALIM (CONT'D)
Go. Have a good life.
Salim puts his hands together in blessing. She leaves. Salim shuts the door, locks it. Smiles.
(Beaufoy, 159)

As a colonizer, Salim always portrays the cruel, selfish, hatred, evil man who is
against everyone who is not in the frame picture of his dream. On the other hand the same
character Salim shows sympathy, sacrifice and love sometimes to those of his own blood as a
native does. The ambiguity of his nature is what ultimately makes him hybrid and one of the
most interesting and thought provoking characters in the entire film.

In the whole book “Q and A” and the entire movie “Slumdog Millionaire”, Swarup
and Boyle gave Salim the most ambiguous role in which hybridity took over in a paradox of
his western dreams versus his local identity.

The fact that Salim is Muslim is of little consequence to Masterji as he teacheshim

Hindu bhajans. Salim himself is hardly bothered. If Amitabh Bachchan canplay the
role of a Muslim coolie and if Salman Khan can act as a Hindu emperor,Salim Ilyasi
can sing Thumaki Chalat Ram Chandra Baajat Painjaniya with asmuch gusto as a
temple priest. (Swarup 100)

These are the words of Ram Mohammad Thomas representing another key subject of
the story, the interchangeability of religion, which is highlighted in this quote. After all, Ram
was given names from three distinct religions in order to appeal to the three major religions
because no one knew his parents' beliefs. In this case, his Muslim friend Salim is unconcerned
about learning Hindu music since he sees it as a necessary step on his route to become a great
actor, and since actors can portray roles of all religions, he must be able to do the same.
Whether it is for or against his beliefs, Salim always seeks whatever route he sees suitable for
achieving his dream. Therefore, neither a colonizer nor a colonized, Salim embodies the
hybrid character in both the book and the movie.

32
3. The notion of subaltern and its representation
The word "subaltern" is used in post-colonial theory to refer to the society's most
vulnerable, weak and poor people. It is the image of the lowest members of a community who
are oppressed either by the colonizer or sometimes the higher classes of their own culture.

In both “Slumdog Millionaire” the movie and “Q and A” the novel, so many
characters represent the notion of subaltern. Children however are the most prominent and
clear version here. They are repressed and dominated both by adults and bourgeois class of
society. Starting with the slum of Dharavi in Mumbai, India's prominent business centre is the
setting for both the novel and the film. It is still regarded as the world's largest slum, covering
535 acres and housing about a million immigrants from all across the country. A suffocating
dense populace lives and works there. Because too simply, in the costly city of Mumbai
Dharavi provides low-cost housing for these low-wage workers.

“I live in a corner of Mumbai called Dharavi, in a cramped hundred-square-foot shack

that has no natural light or ventilation, with a corrugated metal sheet serving as the roof”
(Swarup 133). These are the words of the first-person narrator and the protagonist of “Q &
A” novel, Ram Mohammad Thomas, which conveys genuine anger and frustration. It is
clearly shown that he has a first head knowledge of the slums and slum life because he
happens to be a slum dweller.

The pre and post-colonial India hadn‟t witnessed almost any change at all in the way
those subalterns lived. Ram explained again his situation when he was captured by the police
saying:

My departure from Asia‟s biggest slum would make no difference to their lives. There
would be the same queue for water in the morning, the same daily struggle to make it
to the seven-thirty local in time. They wouldn‟t even bother to find out the reason for
my arrest. Come to think of it, when the two constables barged into my hut, even I
didn‟t. When your whole existence is „illegal‟, when you live on the brink of penury in
an urban wasteland where you jostle for every inch of space and have to queue even
for a shit, arrest has certain inevitability about it. You are conditioned to believe that
one day there will be a warrant with your name on it, that eventually a jeep with a
flashing red light will come for you. (Swarup 2)

33
 The prelude emphasizes the hardship of the subaltern, The facts are presented in the
rawness of Ram's tone. Ram depicts the monotony of impoverished people's day-to-day lives.
We feel a sense of tragedy and justice as we understand that the horrors imposed upon the
poor have become an unavoidable aspect of life in the slums.

Furthermore, the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” which is carrying the same notion of
subaltern in most of the scenes shows that Dharavi‟s education facilities for the poor children
are not to be given any adjective rather than the latter one. One of these scenes is when the
protagonist whose name in the movie is Jamal and his brother Salim are brought by their
mother into the classroom:

INT. SCHOOL. DAY.

The two renegades are dumped by Jamal‟s Mother into their desks as Mister Nandha hands
out ancient school books.
MISTER NANDHA
So, the musketeers return. We
are honoured. Salim. Or Porthos,
isn‟t it?
He crashes the heavy book down on his head. Salim opens the book. Jamal glances over and
turns the book the right way round for Salim.
SALIM
I know!
Mister Nandha hovers over Jamal‟s head. He winces in anticipation.
MISTER NANDHA
And Athos.
The book comes down like thunder. Jamal blinks from the impact... (Beaufoy, 14)

Because they are either self-employed or placed in employment positions by their

families, these youngsters have little time for school. Even if students have the option to study
in those substandard educational facilities, the teachers' mistreatment obstructs anything
entering their minds. Hence, they can hardly learn or have any information out of school. That
is also clearly shown in the movie when Jamal is sitting on the chair of the quiz show “who
wants to be a millionaire”, all the boy flashbacks in which he remembers the answers of the
quiz question are from his childhood as a slum and not as a student.

34
 Ram Mohammad Thomas recalls how he fell into a trap by overstepping his bounds by
participating in a Quiz program intended for the well-educated and upper class. The poor boy
says:

There are those who will say that I brought this upon myself. By dabbling in that quiz
show, they will wag a finger at me and remind me of what the elders in Dharavi say
about never crossing the dividing line that separates the rich from the poor. After all,
what business did a penniless waiter have to be participating in a brain Quiz? The
brain is not an organ we are authorized to use. We are supposed to use only our hands
and legs. (Swarup 12)

He realizes that the trap was set by the organizers who collaborated with the cops to
keep the TV stunt going. In the midst of his detention, an exam is once again set to assess his
IQ. Ram then is confronted with a flood of questions, all of which he answers incorrectly. The
commissioner of police, on the other hand, is more pragmatic, recommending to the
organizers that they give Ram some money which compel him to withdraw from the quiz.
Finally the poor young boy is forced to sign a confessional statement after being tortured for
several hours with various instruments:

I, Ram Mohammad Thomas, do hereby state that on 10 July I was a participant in the
quiz show Who Will Win A Billion? I confess that I cheated. I did not know the
answers to all the questions. I hereby withdraw my claim to the top prize or any other
prize. I beg forgiveness. I am making this statement in full control of my senses and
without any undue pressure from anyone. Signed: Ram Mohammad Thomas. (Swarup
24-25)

As it has been always the case with the colonizer, once again he proved an innocent
person mistaken. He admits to committing a crime that he did not commit. What a torture!
This whole notion of subaltern is clearly present in every corner and in every side we turn our
heads. Ram is tortured in police custody using various inhumane ways in order to draw out a
confession that he cheated on the program. The police inspector thinks that he has been
connected to a network in order to obtain the correct answers. Their ego and their own idea of
supremacy couldn‟t let their brains absorb the idea that this slumdog uneducated boy has won
a billion rupees.

35
 Subalterns are/were taught to believe that they were born into an inferior race and
hence were unfit to contribute to society in any meaningful way. The colonial settlers were
usually seen as the superior race's heroes. Subalterns' choices and desires were subdued as a
result of these types of comparisons.

4. Globalization: from “Q and A” to “Slumdog Millionaire”

Anthony Giddens has described globalization as “the intensification of worldwide

social relations which links distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped
by events occurring many miles away and vice versa.” (64) This necessitates a shift in how
we think about geography and how we perceive locality. Along with opportunities, it also
carries significant hazards, such as those associated with technological development.

Viewers create their own interpretations from the various arrangements, depictions,
and interactions that comprise a movie; variations in audience perception are amplified and
compounded when films transcend cultures, as they do so frequently in contemporary
transnational times. The "global view," as proposed by Sanjay Krishnan, is approximated by
this dominating gaze. Krishnan claims that what we now term globalization was historically a
particular worldview rooted in the hegemonic mode, an imperially inflected way of seeing the
world that organized and synthesized items based on their exploitative value:

A "global perspective" ought not simply be taken to mean that the world is grasped in
its entirety but should alert the reader to the way in which the world is constituted-
rendered visible and legible-through a particular style of perspectivizing that is as
useful as itis dangerous. [...] .The institutionalization in imperialism of this powerful
mode of thematizing the world has resulted in the naturalization of this perspective as
"correct" seeing: with its naturalization the global ceases to be a perspective and is
thought to give access to things in themselves. (Krishnan 4)

This quotation clearly demonstrates that how one perceives the world, with which eyes
one sees, is inextricably linked to what is seen. That is, in the view of a worldwide public, a
globalized reality as it was mentioned earlier in this chapter when statistics of “Slumdog
Millionaire” the film‟s reception were given as shocking numbers of an inside dubious of the
outside of India.

Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle, was the box office smash of 2009 in
the United States, received ten Oscar nominations and won eight of them, including Best
36
Picture and Best Director. There were also seven British Academy Film awards, all four
Golden Globe awards for which it was nominated, and five Critics' Choice awards in its
trophy case. The film's surprise box office success is attributed to its worldwide underdog
theme: a child from Mumbai's slums makes it to the quiz show “Who Wants to be a
Millionaire” and gets not just the cash but also the girl.

[Link] enjoyed Vikas Swarup's novel after reading final pages, but found the
framework challenging to translate to the screen. The novel was divided into numerous
chapters, each of which was more like a short narrative, some of which did not connect, and
which grew longer as the book progressed. According to the screenwriter, the TV show was
the only link between them, a shaky bond that tied the chapters together.

On a cinematic level, the big reveal represents a Bollywood colonization of an

American musical that was originally imported from America to India, then Indianized and
re-exported both to America and the rest of the world through British/Indian acting and
filmmaking, as well as the co-financing of a French distributor, Fox Searchlight Pictures. As a
result, “Slumdog Millionaire” is yet another example of cinema globalization. Its numerous
nominations and awards in the United States are largely due to the fact that it is a film about
India rather than an Indian film. Despite being more focused in representations of slums and
poverty, portions of "Slumdog Millionaire" resonated with audiences hungry for Orientalist
images of India.

Slumdog Millionaire, a global integration fantasy, has introduced millions of viewers

to a narrative of redemption set against the backdrop of crushing poverty and misery in urban
India. The gripping narrative may be used as an instructional tool for young people to
understand the intricate procedures involved in the creation of media like "Slumdog
Millionaire," as well as its distribution and subsequent praise by Western viewers.

When examined more closely, its very creation is a witness to the merging of
Bollywood and Hollywood creative impulses, as well as the worldwide forces that
increasingly control art. It is true though that everyone should humbly appreciate that the
film's visual excellence, including A.R. Rahman's stunning musical composition; notable
performances, featuring Dev Patel's; and the vibrant montage of vivid visuals, has provided
enormous joy to spectators throughout the world. Because of all this, and with its extensive
circulation, the film can serve as an effective and entertaining instructional tool for revealing

37
mechanisms related to the production, marketing, and distribution of media consumed by
Western audiences within a global capitalist system.

Ideally the world changed and the grasping of the theories changed with it. Colonial
and Post-colonial concepts emerged and people‟s attitudes changed by their perspectives
because of their encounter with the colonizer and India is no exception. Globalization has
therefore achieved the stature of Grand Theory, an all-encompassing approach for
comprehending economic, cultural, and political realities, since the mid-1980s, particularly
with the collapse of the communist bloc in 1990. In Locating Race, Malini Johar Schueller
paints a wide overview of this academic movement's wider arguments:

The broad strokes of the argument are that although transnational trade and capitalist
structures have long linked the world together, the increased mobility of the means of
production, the emphasis on information technology, as well as the growth of multi-
national corporations, have brought about a new era in which nation-states no longer
control economies and are therefore weak as political agents. (6)

Globalization is a notion that arose in a particular cultural environment, reflecting

distinct ideas and beliefs. Boyle may consider Slumdog Millionaire to be a global narrative,
and Western viewers may interpret it as such. Nonetheless, spectators in other parts of the
world, who are immersed in various meaning and conflict frameworks, interpret the film
differently and perceive things differently. When viewed from different angles, a kiss, left and
right hands, love and devotion all appear to be different things and different images. As
mentioned before the Hindu Nationalists perceived totally different representations aside from
which were Boyle‟s intentions.

To a further extent, not only the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” is the mere
representation of globalization. Even the complete process of the creation of the TV-show
“Who wants to be a Millionaire” or as the Hindu version of it “Kaun Banega Crorepati
(KBC)” in the movie is itself a perfect illustration of today‟s globalization in the media.
Originally, it is hosted by the most globally famous Indian actors such as Amitabh Bachcha;
Also, in the movie the show master was one of these famous Indians (Anil Kapoor).

Furthermore, “Q and A” novel by Vikas Swarup won the South Africa‟s Exclusive
Books Boeke Prize in 2006, as well as the Prix Grand Public at the 2007 Paris Book Fair, and
that is meant to be a globalized book. Even more telling of the effects of globalization on the

38
novel Q&A is that it was renamed Slumdog Millionaire after the success of the film in 2008.
It was translated into more than 40 languages. Its design was reproduced as of the design of
the movie poster in its UK version. An earlier edition (2006) used as its cover the picture of a
young boy holding a tea tray and walking in the direction of the reader. The first edition had
just the title on the cover and a schematic drawing of a TV set.

Bombay's (Mumbai's) popular and modern Hindi language culture industry and
cinema has become the prevailing globally recognized term for Bombay's (Mumbai's) prolific
and contemporary Hindi language culture industry and cinema, which was once a soft palate
term used by the British media in India. A film is also just one part of a larger culture business
that encompasses advertising, fashion, music, live shows, and food. Bollywood films have
been a box office hit with passionate audiences both in India and throughout the world. For
many, Bollywood's culture sector has been and continues to be the global cultural face of
India. Thus, either “Q and A” or “Slumdog Millionaire” both works have been remarkable
landmarks in the Bollywoodian cinema reaching the inside and the outside eyes.

5. Diaspora through a Cinematic Atmosphere

Diaspora is a concept that refers to individuals migrating from their country to other
regions. Hope, anxiety, and desire are all present in the heart of these migrants looking for
ways of better life in these movements.

The British Drama “Slumdog Millionaire” of 2008, which is a loose adaptation of the
novel “Q and A” is a mere representation of diaspora in its international production team,
which brought together a British director working in Hollywood, an Indian co-director, a
British screenwriter, and Indian lead actors from the India diaspora or the most cosmopolitan
Indian cities, giving the novel and, to a greater extent, the film, a truly global quality. Even
the writer of the novel, Vikas Swarup, is considered one of the Indian diasporic figures we
ought to analyse.

Starting by the irony of Danny Boyle, the latter is an English film, television, and
stage director and producer, the director of “Slumdog Millionaire”. Now let‟s imagine an
Indian film director making a movie about New York or London low-life and saying that he
had done so because he knew nothing about New York and had indeed never been there. That
would have been a war in cinema. He would have been torn limb from limb by critical
opinion of all the people around the world. But, for a first world director such as Danny Boyle

39
to say that about the third world, to mention that he has never been to India before, yet I
directed a movie in the way we colonialists want, is considered praiseworthy.

That is to say the double standards of post-colonial attitudes have not yet wholly faded
away. He would even go further to work with diasporic figures to show the whole world and
not just India that the notion of subaltern and hybridity are always there. When he was asked
about the knowledge he has on India, Boyle answered: “No, I have never been to India before
until I‟ve made the film. I always wanted to go there because it was really interested.”
(SearchlightPictures 00:05/01:49)

When speaking about the characters of the story or the actors of the movie, we ought
to start with Ram Mohammad Thomas in the novel or Jamal Malik as his name in the movie.
The latter personality was brilliantly presented by the famous actor Dev Patel, he was born in
Harrow, London, to Anita, a caregiver, and Raj Patel, who works in IT. His parents, originally
from Nairobi, Kenya, are both of Gujarati Indian descent. (Tammy Newpage/Edited by RCT)

Dev Patel is the simple and clear representation of diaspora in the movie. He posted on
his official facebook account once: “Slumdog was my first movie, and I had never been to
India before - I was just a teenager in the U.K. with my headphones and my Nike shoes. What
did I know about growing up in a slum?” (Dev Patel)

Despite the reasonable argument that Jamal and his brother in the movie Salim learned
English while acting as tour guides at the Taj Mahal in India, it is extremely unlikely that they
would emerge from the experience speaking fluent British English, as Dev Patel portrays the
grown-up Jamal does. It's quite unlikely that he would speak perfect British English to Latika
and Salim as an adult. Thus, as a diasporic figure, Dev Patel would learn British English as
his first language and he would perfectly embodied the notion of diaspora in the movie.

It has been the case always with diaspora, poor and marginalized groups running away
from their native town and identity to a better one as portrayed by the colonizer. What is
strange though that they find salvation when they are out. As if out of the colonizer to the
colonizer, yet everything is in the psyche of each and every diasporic personality.

There is a question that may come to anyone watching “Slumdog Millioanire” whether
it is an Indian or a British movie, the answer could lay in the different eyes of viewers. It was
able to bypass the category of foreign language movies in both fields and terms, in the
Academy Awards and in terms of crossing over to the commercial audience. It might be

40
claimed that this is due to the fact that just one-third of Slumdog Millionaire is in Hindi and
the rest is British. Or it may be owing to the fact that the director and the hero of the movie
have never been to India before. It was eligible for a non-foreign Academy Award
nomination, it has been distributed in major movie theaters in the United States, Canada,
Briatin and all over the world. It was the first globalized Indian movie to reach this big appeal
around the world due to its diasporic side.

As a major player in today‟s globalized world, India has become a special target for
criticism not only from outsiders, but also from insiders, including those of the Indian
Diaspora. English-speaking Indian authors like Aravind Adiga, Arundhati Roy, Vikram Seth,
Rohinton Mistry, to name a few, or an out-inside-out Salman Rushdie, whose sharp criticism
on pro-Partition Indian society is well known, portray India as a post colonial mixed-up
society where great wealth and high technology strive side by side with poverty, greed,
corruption and paedophilia, as in Vikas Swarup‟s novel. The Third-about to become First-
World is still coping with illiteracy, child exploitation, disease and malnutrition, afflictions
that have not been eradicated in the West either.

41
Conclusion

Books and films commonly relate to major historical, political, and social events,
trends, and practices of the contemporary world. Narratives are present in all aspects of
human society. Fiction writers are prone to remembering and using those stories into their
work. This chapter was devoted for both cinematic works “Q and A” novel and “Slumdog
Millionaire”, both of which were seen through a post-colonial perspective. Some key
elements of the latter theory were explained, elucidated and emphasized with illustration from
either the works or the reviewers of these narratives.

Firstly, we started the chapter with the notion of Nationalism in India adnd the
different receptions from Nationalists in the country especially. Many controversial issues
were put ahead in debate on the intentions behind the film of Boyle. Even religion was a
subject of conflict where it has been argued basically by the Hindus that the film and
sometimes even the novel portrays a negative image of the latter group. Secondly, Hybridity
and the hybrid character “Salim” was our focus because of his ambiguous character and his
neither western nor eastern inclinations. He is a saint in the shoes of a colonized once, and a
devil in the hat of colonizer most of the movie. Furthermore, the concept of subaltern was
reviwed throughout the whole novel and the movie as well. In any means both of them are full
of scenes of weak, poor people living as slums, especially children. In addition, we couldn‟t
pass without mentioning the themes Globalization Diaspora within both the novel and the
movie. Hearing from famous actors and listening to viewers‟ perspectives on the subject was
mainly a helpful means to understand the concepts. After all, the movie was funded by
Western money, was directed by British director Danny Boyle, and it won scores of major
awards in the United States, U.K., and Canada. After all, the film was made with Western
funds, directed by British director Danny Boyle, and won several prizes in the United States,
the United Kingdom, and Canada.

Despite being a story about hope, love, and the triumph of the human spirit over
adversity, the novel and, more specifically, the film depict in minute detail the hellish poverty
and brutal hardships faced by slum dwellers and street children in Mumbai to a global
audience that is typically unaware of India's complex realities.

42