"Art is science made clear." - Jean Cocteau

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Quote from some unspecified fora on the whole "Why should we let a British director make a film about India?" issue:


"The 'right to depict' debate is interesting. Sensitive post-colonial Westerners are understandably squeamish about speaking for or even of poorer worlds, and we have consumed a lot of dreadful work that illustrates the perils of doing so.

But if that leads to an attitude in which everyone can only talk about and gaze upon their own, narrow cultural space, I believe we are poorer as a result."


"Actually, Bollywood has made several dark, gritty films about various issues in India - Amu or Fire, for example. The problem is that largely there isn't a market for them in India. They tend to be shown at fairly underground cinemas, late at night. In India, everyone goes to the cinema and they are fed exactly the type of films that they want to see - cheesy love stories involving elaborate dance"


And of course, there's the usual politics of grievance ("white/rich men are evil"):

"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" and "slum voyeurism". Tapeshwar Vishwakarma, a representative of a slum-dwellers' welfare group, has filed a defamation lawsuit against the film's music composer A.R. Rahman and actor Anil Kapoor, alleging that slum-dwellers were depicted in a bad light which would be a violation of their human rights. Vishwakarma's lawsuit alleged that the name 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, and that the title 'Slumdog millionaire" was offensive, demeaning and insulted their dignity. The protesters were slum dwellers in Mumbai, holding posters like "I am not a dog" who objected to being dehumanized as "dogs" in the film title.

Protests against Slumdog Millionaire have extended beyond Mumbai to other parts of the country. Slum dwellers in Patna, the capital of the Indian state of Bihar, have intensified protests against the movie. Activists have reported that slum dwellers will continue to protest till the film's director deletes the word 'dog' from the title. Protests in Patna intensified 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."

Hindu Janjagruti Samiti has protested against the film for its allegedly inappropriate portrayal of the Hindu God Rama. The activist group believes that the 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 group 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"."