SLUMDOG BACKLASH

About 65 million Indians - roughly a quarter of the urban population - live in slums, according to government surveys. Health care is often nonexistent, child labor is rampant and inescapable poverty forms the backdrop of everyday life.

Although everyone from the local butcher to the prime minister called the Oscar coup a proud day for the country, 'Slumdog Millionaire' was hardly a phenomenon with Indian audiences.
'Hit in the West, flop in the East,' read a front page headline in DNA's Sunday newspaper. The film was a tough sell in Indian movie theaters because it was largely in English, featured few giant stars, and skimped on the dance numbers.

Many people here also objected to its gritty portrayal of India, as well as its title, which some took as derogatory. The film sparked protests in Mumbai and at least one north Indian city by slum residents who said the movie demeaned the poor.

'No one can call me a dog,' Sheikh said on Monday. 'I work very hard.' A widow and mother of seven, Sheikh is a housekeeper who said she earns 600 rupees (S$18.50) a week.
She said the movie has been good for the families of Azhar and Rubina, but that her days are as difficult as ever.

'Look at my house,' she said, pointing to the walls made of rags and the mud floor covered with a thin plastic tarp. 'What has changed?'

They are enjoying your misery!