LOS ANGELES, June 21: Oscar winner Danny Boyle says it’s not possible to make “Slumdog Millionaire” now and believes “that’s how it should be”.
Boyle’s directorial “Slumdog Millionaire” released in 2008 and went on to receive 8 Academy Awards at the 81st edition of the festival in 2009. “We wouldn’t be able to make that now. And that’s how it should be. It’s time to reflect on all that. We have to look at the cultural baggage we carry and the mark that we’ve left on the world,” Boyle told The Guardian in an interview.
Starring Dev Patel and Freida Pinto in the lead roles, the British drama film followed the story of Jamal Malik (Patel), a young man from the slums of Mumbai who appears on a reality game show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”.
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Asked if the film was a form of colonialism, the filmmaker said, “No, no… Well, only in the sense that everything is. At the time it felt radical. We made the decision that only a handful of us would go to Mumbai. We’d work with a big Indian crew and try to make a film within the culture. But you’re still an outsider. It’s still a flawed method.” Boyle added he wouldn’t even get the film financed if he were to make it in present.
“That kind of cultural appropriation might be sanctioned at certain times. But at other times it cannot be. I mean, I’m proud of the film, but you wouldn’t even contemplate doing something like that today. It wouldn’t even get financed. Even if I was involved, I’d be looking for a young Indian filmmaker to shoot it.” “Slumdog Millionaire” also featured Rubina Ali, Anil Kapoor and late actor Irrfan Khan in pivotal roles. (PTI)
