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Slumdog Millionaire는 대니 보일과 러블린 탠던의 감독으로 2008년 완성된 영국 영화로 현재 박스 오피스에서 인기를 얻고 있는 작품이다. 원작은 인도 출신 외교관이자 작가인 Vikas Swarup에 의해 쓰인 Q and A라는 작품이다. Q and A는 Boeke Prize와 영연방 작가상 후보에 오르기도 했다. 

인도를 배경으로 한 본 작품은 뭄바이의 비천한 슬럼가 출신의 못 배운 청년이 인도판 “누가 백만장자가 될 것인가?”에 출연한 이야기이다. 그의 배경을 짐작하면 절대 오를 수 없는 자리를 그는 주최에서 내놓은 모든 퀴즈를 해결하며 “백만 장자 쇼”에서 우승을 한다. 하지만, 사람들은 그가 속임수나 커닝을 했을 거라 믿고 아무런 증거도 없이 그를 감옥에 보내고 만다. 

Slumdog Millionaire는 5개의 비평가 상을 수상하였으며, 4개의 골든 글로브, 그리고 7개의 BAFTA상을 수상하였다. 또한 아카데미 7개 부문에 후보로 올랐다.
많은 상을 수상하며, 찬사를 받은 영화는 동시에 인도와 힌두교에 대한 시각 그리고 어린 배우에 대한 처우로 인해 논란에 있기도 하다. 

[저자소개]
Vikas Swarup (1963 ~)는 인도 출신 외교관이자 작가이다. 그는 터키, 미국, 에티오피아, 그리고 영국 등지에서 외교관으로 일했다. 이러한 그의 특이한 이력과 달리, 그는 작가로써 역량도 발휘하여 2005년 Q & A라는 작품으로 인도를 비롯하여 전세계적으로 알려졌다. 그의 작품은 전세계 36개 언어로 번역되어 출간되었다. 2008년 출간된 그의 두 번째 소설인 Six Supects 역시 영화 작품의 물망에 오르고 있다.

 

When Ram Mohammad Thomas, an orphaned, uneducated waiter from Mumbai, wins a billion rupees on a quiz show, he finds himself thrown in jail. (Unable to pay out the prize, the program's producers bribed local authorities to declare Ram a cheater.) Enter attractive lawyer Smita Shah, to get Ram out of prison and listen to him explain, via flashbacks, how he knew the answers to all the show's questions. Indian diplomat Swarup's fanciful debut is based on a sound premise: you learn a lot about the world by living in it (Ram has survived abandonment, child abuse, murder). And just as the quiz show format is meant to distill his life story (each question prompts a separate flashback), Ram's life seems intended to distill the predicament of India's underclass in general. Rushdie's Midnight's Children may have been a model: Ram's brash yet innocent voice recalls that of Saleem Sinai, Rushdie's narrator, and the sheer number of Ram's near-death adventures represents the life of the underprivileged in India, just as Saleem wore a map of India, quite literally, on his face. But Swarup's prose is sometimes flat and the story's picaresque form turns predictable. Ram is a likable fellow, but this q&a with him, though clever, grows wearying.

Today's Books 추천도서 (2009.04.21)

Today's Books 추천서 모두 보러 가기 ▶ Go!

1,000 Rupees
The Death of a Hero


The third bell has sounded. The purple velvet curtain is about to be raised. The lights are progressively dimming, till only the red signs showing EXIT remain, glowing like embers in the darkened hall. Popcorn sellers and cold-drinks vendors begin to leave. Salim and I settle down in our seats.

The first thing you must know about Salim is that he is my best friend. The second is that he is crazy about Hindi films. But not all Hindi films. Just the ones featuring Armaan Ali.

They say that first there was Amitabh Bachchan. Then there was Shahrukh Khan. Now there is Armaan Ali. The ultimate action hero. The Indian Greek god. The heartthrob of millions.

Salim loves Armaan. Or, more accurately, he worships Armaan. His tiny room in the chawl is a shrine. It is lined with posters of all kinds depicting the hero in various poses. Armaan in a leather jacket. Armaan on a motorbike. Armaan with his shirt off, baring his hairy chest. Armaan with a gun. Armaan on a horse. Armaan in a pool, surrounded by a bevy of beauties.

We are occupying seats A21 and A22 in the very first row of the dress circle in Regal Talkies in Bandra. We shouldn't really be sitting here. The tickets in my front pocket do not say DRESS CIRCLE RS. 150. They say FRONT STALL RS. 25. The usher was in a good mood today and did us a favor. He told us to go and enjoy the balcony because the stalls were practically deserted. Even the balcony is almost empty. Apart from Salim and me, there are no more than two dozen people in the rows ahead of us.

When Salim and I go to the movies, we usually sit in the front stalls, where we can makecatcalls and whistle. Salim believes the nearer you sit to the screen, the closer you are to the action. He says he can lean forward and almost touch Armaan. He can count the veins on Armaan's biceps, he can see the whites of Armaan's hazel-green eyes, the fine stubble on Armaan's cleft chin, the little black mole on Armaan's chiseled nose.

I am not particularly fond of Armaan Ali. I think he acts the same way in every movie. But I, too, like to sit in the front rows, as close to the giant screen as possible. The heroine's breasts appear more voluptuous from there.

The curtain has now lifted, and the screen flickers to life. First we have the advertisements. Four sponsored by private companies and one by the government. We are told how to come first at school and become champions in cricket by eating cornflakes for breakfast. How to drive fast cars and win gorgeous girls by using Spice cologne. ("That's the perfume used by Armaan," exclaims Salim.) How to get a promotion and have shiny white clothes by using Roma soap. How to live life like a king by drinking Red & White whisky. And how to die of lung cancer by smoking cigarettes.

After the adverts, there is a little pause while the reels are changed. We cough and clear our throats. And then the censor certificate appears on the CinemaScope screen. It tells us that the film has been certified U/A, has seventeen reels and a length of 4,639.15 meters. The certificate is signed by one Mrs. M. Kane, chairman of the Censor Board. She is the one who signs all censor certificates. Salim has often asked me about this lady. He really envies her job. She gets to see Armaan's pictures before anyone else.......

Arrested for unbelievably answering all twelve questions on the Indian game show, "Who Will Win a Billion?" semi-literate waiter Ram Mohammad Thomas explains to his lawyer how he knew the answers due to events in his personal life.