Chapter 5 - Slumdog Millionaire and Epistemologies of the City

Summary

What the hell can a slumdog possibly know?

—Police Constable, Slumdog millionaire

The swirl of excitement, commentary and controversy surrounding the film Slumdog millionaire (dir. Danny Boyle, 2008) in India and elsewhere calls for a careful analysis of the possibilities and pitfalls of transnational cultural production. alternatively seen as a celebration of urban India's global coming-of-age, an affront to cultural sensibilities, a sign of neoliberal hegemony or superficial cinematic diversion, Slumdog has become one of the most controversial films to sweep the academy awards, winning eight out of its ten nominations. The film has spawned hundreds of news articles, reviews and blog entries, along with vigorous academic debate — of which this current volume is just one example. Out of this discourse, a majority of the voices have been somewhat cynical about the film's success. Many critiques come from a well-founded mistrust of the politics of popular culture and an awareness of the largely racist and imperialist history of cross-cultural representations of India and the east in Western film, media and literature. These critiques rely on a generalized skepticism of the political potential of melodramatic film. however, what most critics have overlooked is how Boyle's film offers a possibility for rethinking the relationship between popular cinema and the contemporary Indian urban experience precisely through its fantasy plot.