THE latest salvo in the controversy around the naming of Slumdog Millionaire: A critic of the award-winning movie has named stray dogs after those involved in the film to protest against the title. Nicholas Almeida, a social activist and slum dweller himself, has filed a complaint in a local court against director Danny Boyle, producer Christian Colson and the distributor, saying the film's title was damaging and discriminating. The movie, shot largely in a Mumbai slum, charts the rags to riches tale of a mendicant boy who wins a fortune on a quiz show. “When the British ruled India, they called Indians ‘dogs'. Why do we want to call these poor children ‘dogs' 60 years after we got independence?” Almeida, an elected member of the city civic body who lives in a suburban slum, told Reuters. Almeida said he would continue to press for the movie's title to be changed, but has meanwhile held a naming ceremony for stray dogs in the slum to publicize his cause. “I have named them Danny, Christian, Loveleen, Dev and Freida,” he said, referring to the director, producer, co-director Loveleen Tandan, star Dev Patel and leading lady Freida Pinto. Slamming the critics of Oscar nominated ‘Slumdog Millionaire', Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has said that the poverty highlighted in the movie is a “reality” and wondered why people in India tend to become cynical when something good is happening. “Isn't that (poverty and slums) a reality ? If you (critics) have a problem with the word slumdog, why don't you look positively and see that there is a word millionaire or ‘crorepati' also,” Khan, who returned from Los Angeles on Tuesday after a month-long schedule of Karan Johar's ‘My name is Khan' told reporters. Critics felt that the movie sells India's poverty to West and some others had raised objections to the word ‘slumdog' on grounds that people living in Indian slums were being referred to as ‘dogs'. “I have just returned from the US and people there have become crazy about the film and its music. The film's sound is also good apart from a good story and screenplay. The film deserves all awards,” Khan, who has read the original book as well as the script, said. The actor said that he does not regret declining Anil Kapoor's role in the film. “I cant regret something which I could not have done. I don't think I would have done justice to the role of a game show host like Anil Kapoor,” he said at the launch of his company's foray into television content last night with ‘Ghar Ki Baat hai'. SRK said that during the period which Danny Boyle shot the film, he was already hosting ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati' (KBC) and later ‘Kya Aap Panchvi Pass Se Tez Hai'. “I am still on contract for a new season of these shows,” Khan said. SRK said Oscars and Golden Globe awards are a symbol of international recognition. “I love awards and I hope to feature in a film comprising Indian cast and crew some day which will go to win these awards,” he said adding “the success of ‘Slumdog Millionaire' worldwide is an incentive to all Indian filmmakers.”
