Controversial Issues Surrounding Slumdog Millionaire - Protests and Lawsuits

Protests and Lawsuits

Following its release in India, the film faced criticism from various members of the public alleging that the film fuels Western stereotypes about poverty in India and that it peddles "poverty porn". Tapeshwar Vishwakarma, a representative of a slum-dwellers' welfare group, filed a defamation lawsuit against the film's music composer A.R. Rahman and actor Anil Kapoor, alleging that grim depiction of slum dwellers violated their human rights. Vishwakarma's filing argued that the very title of the movie is derogatory, and he was particularly displeased that Indians associated with the film did not object to the use of word "slumdog." Nicholas Almeida, a social activist working in Mumbai, organized a protest against the film on the grounds that it intentionally exploited the poor for the purposes of profit, also arguing that the title Slumdog Millionaire is offensive, demeaning, and insulting to their dignity. The protesters were Mumbai slum dwellers who objected to the film's title and held up signs reading: "I am not a dog." Slum dwellers in Patna, the capital of the Indian state of Bihar, also protested against the movie, with the campaign reaching a climax on 26 January 2009, when "protesters tore down posters and ransacked a movie theatre" screening the film. The following day, the police in Bihar tightened security "outside theatres in the state to thwart any further attacks." Activists stated that slum dwellers would continue to protest until the film's director deleted the word "dog" from the title.

Newsweek magazine asked the film's director, Danny Boyle: "Some activists have claimed that the title is demeaning. What did you mean by 'slumdog'?" Boyle answered: "This is one of the saddest things for me.... Basically is a hybrid of the word "underdog"—and everything that means in terms of rooting for the underdog and validating his triumph—and the fact that he obviously comes from the slums. That's what we intended."

The Hindu organisations Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) and Shiv Sena protested against the film for its portrayal of the Hindu God Rama, who appears in the midst of an anti-Muslim riot. An HJS spokesman stated that the film's portrayal of Rama is derogatory and "hurts the sentiments of Hindus." Writing for the conservative Daily Pioneer, Kanchan Gupta reiterated the objections of the activist groups that the film provides a one-sided portrayal of the complexities of religious conflict in India, and that the film depicts Hindus as "rapacious monsters".

Vamsee Juluri, author and Professor of Media Studies at the University of San Francisco, identifies Indophobic and postcolonial/neocolonial discourse used in the film to attack and demonise Indians as "barbarians" and "savages", and that the only Indian portrayed positively in the film has a British accent.