I'm not sure what any of these people are finding -- I couldn't find any actual reviews of this movie by Indian critics who seem established. You'd think with a January release date there would be a few...

I did find one review from someone who lives in India and blogs about movies regularly, one Bobby Sing. See: http://ncane.com/j1p.

He received it moderately well but took issue with several aspects of it -- the lead to his review is: "No doubt it is one of the best movies of recent times but sadly I didn’t find it worth adding my 'Must See Movies' List and I will surely give you my reasons for that here in the end."


His 6 points against the movie were (paraphrased and summarized by me):

1. This movie follows a '60s-'80s art movie trend that essentially exploited the impoverished areas of India to make art at the expense of India's image. He argues that it might have been reasonable then, but only representing the poverty isn't a fair testament to India now, especially given that he is Danny Boyle, not some Indian guy.

2. There is a scene at the Taj Mahal that serves no clear plot purpose and thus is likely there just to prove it is "'The Real India.'"

3. The title is "Slumdog Millionaire," and the implication is that Indian's living in slums are "dogs," which is racist and unacceptable. The political climate wouldn't let this slide if it were about African-Americans in slums, and it shouldn't be okay with Indians as the subject, either!

4. Children are used in scenes depicting racial tensions and riots, and he disagrees with this on principle (it is bad for kids' psyche's).

5. Unnecessary & purposeless grossness.

6. Flaws in the script -- poorly research or thought out tid bits. His examples: "I don’t know where in India we teach the Classic 'The 3 Musketeers' to 4-6 years slum kids and what is the explanation for the excellent English accent of the lead character Jamaal. "

I think he makes some great points, although for full-disclosure I haven't seen the movie. I also read similar things echoed in comments, but those are far more hit and miss in terms of clarity.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful and good luck finding more reviews!
Source(s):
Bobby Sing's site: http://bobbytalkscinema.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/slumdog-millionaire-an-int...

Other opinion -- related but less direct/fully a review:
-http://filmikhabar.com/2009/01/09/movie-review-slumdog-millionaire-starring...
-http://www.maiyam.com/hub/viewtopic.php?p=1636332

Other:
-http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2008/s2464498.htm
-http://ibnlive.in.com/news/slumdog-millionaire-is-a-unique-film-anil-kapoor...
-http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i7IZ_dBWxuIiF9eDuAR-4nGq...

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