ABSTRACT
In a memorable early scene from Danny Boyle’s 2008 hit movie Slumdog Millionaire, set in contemporary Bombay, the young protagonist Jamal is WUDSSHGLQD¿OWK\SXEOLFRXWKRXVHZKHQWKHKHOLFRSWHURIWKHPRYLHVWDU$PLWDEK Bachchan lands nearby.16RGHVSHUDWHLVWKH¿YH\HDUROGVOXPGZHOOHUWRSURFXUH the autograph of his idol that he escapes by plunging into the stinking cesspit below the latrine. Covered from head to foot in human excrement, he trudges towards his hero, successfully parting the assembled crowd of clamouring fans in order to gleefully obtain the actor’s coveted signature. %DFKFKDQKLPVHOIGRHVQRWDFWXDOO\DSSHDULQWKH¿OPEXWKHZDVRQHRIPDQ\
observers to comment on the rapturous global reception of its vivid portrayal of Indian poverty.2 A widespread critical and commercial success in Europe and $PHULFD WKH¿OP¶V:HVWHUQ HPEUDFHZDV VLJQDOHGE\ WKH HLJKW2VFDUV LWZRQ at the 2009 Academy Awards. However, some viewers raised concerns not only about the production’s potentially exploitative use of inexperienced child actors, but also its dismissive treatment of the actual hardships faced by Bombay’s slumdwellers.3$OWKRXJKWKH¿OPLWVHOIPRFNVWKHQDLYHW\RI(XURSHDQDQG$PHULFDQ tourists regarding India, it arguably turns deprivation to diversion in comic scenes such as the above. Whereas, for Boyle, an encounter between a shit-covered slum kid and a god-like movie star provides humour through contrast, the absence of adequate toilet and sewage facilities in slums such as Dharavi, where much of WKH ¿OPLQJ WRRN SODFH LV DPDVVLYH RQJRLQJ DIIURQW WR WKH KHDOWK DQG GLJQLW\ RI WKHFLW\¶VSRRUHVWUHVLGHQWV'HVSLWH%R\OH¶VRZQORQJVWDQGLQJIHFDO¿[DWLRQ – a notably Pynchonesque scene from his earlier Trainspotting (1996) features the heroin-addicted protagonist Renton diving into ‘Scotland’s worst toilet’ to retrieve his stash – he seems bemused by the practical and personal problems that %RPED\¶VODFNRIWRLOHWVSUHVHQWV'LVFXVVLQJKLVWLPHVSHQW¿OPLQJLQ,QGLDKH recalls that
There’s nowhere to shit; people shit everywhere. Although you never see the women shitting. . . You see men doing it all the time. Men and boys. All the time – and you have to get your head around that. But you never see women.
