Slumdog Millionaire and Why Amitabh choose to slam the movie

When Slumdog Millionaire became a hit with world audiences, film folks back home choose to applaud the film that showcases the dirty underbelly of Bombay City.

Some leading lights choose to differ. Amongst them were Amithabh Bacchan and Aamir Khan.

Why did they choose to play down the film which had got critical and mass acclaim all over the world?

Perhaps it could be to do with the fact that they have individually contributed almost nothing to the development of the city? It could also be that they never ever knew that such an underbelly existed?

But it would be naive to think that these were the real reasons.

I think it was their conscience that prompted them to issue these statements. They know in their heart of heart that they have only taken from the city and choose to look the other way when the problems depicted in the movie came face to face with them in their day to day life.

I am sure Amitabh and Aamir have seen beggars on the roads, driven through the shanties that are home to more than 60% (90 Million of the 150 Million) population of the city. They know how people live in sub-human conditions in these shanties but have always thought of it, like almost all of us, as a problem for the government to tackle.

They forgot that it is people from these shanties that make or break their movies every friday at the box office. They also forgot that they have the power to make a difference, a power that they have chosen not to use.

Therefore when someone showed them the ugly face of the city, they cringed at the site and choose to slam the movie rather than come out and say, Hey, I am ashamed that all this is happening in my city and I take full personal responsibility to move the mountain, to change all that is depicted in the movie and strive to make the city a better place to live.

Had they done that, they would have become bigger darlings of the masses.