Not there yet!

It is a great day for India at the Oscars. The Oscars have always been pegged as a commercial and critical benchmark for cinematic talent. Instant fame and at times redemption of lost fame follows an award.
At the 71st edition of the Oscars a musical genius from India received, what is rightly described, as a well-deserved recognition to his musical talent. Not to take anything away from Rasool, but like all the other awards that Slumdog Millinaire won, his too can be attributed to the euphoria this movie has created (much like how Titanic won anything it touched). Slumdog may or may not have been Rasool’s magnum opus but it was more so for AR Rahman. I watched the movie and I observed something unique about the music. It was actually acting like an invisible string that was holding the script together. The background score is so powerful, that its almost unnoticeable. It is inter-woven into the story and its characters. “Dreams on fire” or “Latika’s theme” is incredibly brilliant because any other tune would’ve made the audience complain of its constant recurrence. But the tune is so perfect that I accepted it blindly whenever it came. The point is Rahman earned his Oscar. Slumdog was only a vehicle for his mighty talent. His music IS the euphoria underlining this movie.

The 71st Oscars was not a day of victory for Indian cinema. Indian cinema has still not got its due. It is still viewed as an extravagant, overtly colorful eastern version of a musical. The comparison is never fair. Its unfair to compare a “Million dollar baby” with a “K3G”, or a “Pursuit of happYness” with “K2H2″!! Compare them with “Das Vidaniya” or “Dev D” or “Khosla ka ghosla”. The former are equivalents of the Adam Sandler/Will Ferrel slapstick commercial flicks! As an ardent lover of good cinema, I will not accept any Slumdog award as a win for Indian cinema. The day an Indian movie wins in the Best foreign language category, or the day an Indian director is recognised at this stage, THAT will be the day of reckoning for Indian cinema…that’ll be the day we will cease to use the ugly nomenclature, Bollywood.

The 71st Oscars was one man’s triumph, a gift for his humilty…AR Rahman…I salute you!