Slumdog' filmmakers say movie is Indian at heart

It had a British director and was hailed at the Oscars in Los Angeles, but the box office hit "Slumdog Millionaire" is an Indian movie at heart because it embraces song and emotional expression, Bollywood filmmakers who worked on the production said Saturday.

The rags-to-riches story of an orphan from the slums of Mumbai who wins the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" won eight Oscars in February, including best picture and best director for Danny Boyle. It has earned more than US$350 million (NZ$542 million) worldwide.

Speaking at the Bollywood film industry's annual roadshow weekend in the southern Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, veteran actor Anil Kapoor and sound engineer Resul Pookutty said they considered "Slumdog Millionaire" a thoroughly Indian movie.

"There's no attempt from Danny (director Danny Boyle) at any given time to shy away from using emotion, shy away from using music. That's the way Hindi films are done. We are not shying away from exposing ourselves emotionally. I think that's the greatest strength of our movies and that's what he (Boyle) picked up right on and in that sense, 'Slumdog' is a truly, originally Indian movie," Pookutty said.

A third of the movie's dialogue is also in Hindi.

But because the film was not Indian-produced, it is not among the nominees for Saturday night's International Indian Film Academy's annual awards, also in Macau.

Pookutty also said the movie has a modest soundtrack by Indian standards, saying composer A.R. Rahman wrote only 11 pieces of music for the film - compared to 160 to 170 for the average Hindi production. Both Pookutty and Rahman won Oscars for their work on the film.