Actor Aamir Khan has defended his production. missing womanAgainst criticism of the promotion of ‘poverty porn’. Directed by his ex-wife Kiran Rao, the film was selected as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature category. India has only nominated three people in the category over the years, the last of which was Aamir’s own Lagan. In an interview with BBC Asian Network, Aamir was asked why films based in rural India are more popular with Academy voters and if he is furthering the country’s regressive outlook by making such films.
Similar criticism was leveled at Slumdog Millionaire, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2009. Amitabh Bachchan was one of its critics, writing in his blog, “If SM projects India as a third-world, dirty, underbelly. Instills pain and hatred in developing nations and nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and most Thrives even in developed nations.”
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Aamir responded to an interviewer’s observation about missing women presenting a ‘backward mentality’ that plays on the idea of ’poverty porn,’ and said, “Not all the films we make are set in villages. Many of our films are accepted worldwide. I don’t think the global audience has any idea of what India is like.” There is a big misconception. Maybe once it was true, that they thought India was a country of snakes and elephants… But that is a thing of the past. I don’t think that is how India is now People have a misconception about it, not to that extent, for sure.
He also dismissed suggestions that films made in the city cannot connect with international audiences. “We have to give them a lot of credit, they’ve seen films all over the world,” he said. Laapataa Ladies premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, and was released in theaters a few months ago to positive reviews. It emerged as a modest box office hit but received critical acclaim and love after its release on streaming.
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