Strategic Alliances, Collaboration and Joint Ventures Case Study

Slumdog Millionaire (A): Accolades and Acrimonies

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Abstract:
This case study, the first in the three-part series, captures the various perspectives towards Slumdog Millionaire. While the movie has invited much criticism for its audacious representation of poverty in India, the popularity of the movie is clearly visible in terms of its search ranking (84,100,000), which is just less than the key search of the world’s most popular book – Bible (125,000,000). This case study is primarily aimed at delving into many other such perspectives on the Danny Boyle-directed movie Slumdog Millionaire. While the movie has given oodles of hope and optimism for a few to sustain even in the direst of situations, for others the movie has been nothing else but a reiteration of the age old perception of the West towards East. In the backdrop of the new and emerging hybrid model of Indian and Western cinema, the case study explores issues such as – the collaborative journey of Indian cinema hand in glove with the Westerners, the factors that assisted in the corporatisation of the Indian cinema in the 21st century, the emerging trends in the global cinema industry and finally the reactions of the various sections of the society towards Slumdog Millionaire

Pedagogical Objectives:

This case study aims at achieving the following pedagogical objectives:
• To analyse and examine perceptions of the West towards East and how they influenced the Indian cinema industry
• To assess the emerging hybrid model of cinema through partnerships and alliances and the rationale behind Hollywood and UK film industry to forge tie-ups with Bollywood
• To debate upon Slumdog Millionaire’s controversial success and the future prospects of the evolving hybrid model.

Keywords : Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle, A R Rehman; Hollywood, Bollywood, Oscars, Golden Globes, Collaboration, Strategic Alliances, Mumbai, Dharavi, UK Film Industry, Poverty, Globalisation, Simon Beaufoy

Contents : 
Indian Cinema’s Association with Westerners
Indians in Global Cinema
Overseas Earnings of Bollywood Movies
Hollywood Meets Bollywood: Rise of a New Hybrid Model
Slumdog Millionaire: The Making of The ‘Rags-to-Riches’ Story
Spotlight: Simon Beaufoy
Slumdog Millionaire: The ‘Controversial’ Success Story of Hybrid Cinema
…Yet, Who Can Deny Them an Oscar