Danny Boyle “wouldn’t be able to make” Slumdog Millionaire today.
Danny Boyle helmed the 2008 drama film
The 68-year-old filmmaker helmed the 2008 drama movie – which told the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai – but Danny believes the acclaimed film was of its time and that the world has now moved on.
He told the Guardian newspaper: “Yeah, we wouldn’t be able to make that now. And that’s how it should be. It’s time to reflect on all that. We have to look at the cultural baggage we carry and the mark that we’ve left on the world.”
The film – which starred Dev Patel and Freida Pinto – won a number of awards at the time, including seven BAFTA Awards and four Golden Globes. However, it received mixed reviews in India.
Asked if the movie amounted to a form of colonialism, Danny replied: “No, no. Well, only in the sense that everything is.
“At the time it felt radical. We made the decision that only a handful of us would go to Mumbai. We’d work with a big Indian crew and try to make a film within the culture. But you’re still an outsider. It’s still a flawed method.
“That kind of cultural appropriation might be sanctioned at certain times. But at other times it cannot be.”
Danny remains proud of Slumdog Millionaire, but he feels that such films should be made by “a young Indian film-maker” instead.
He said: “I’m proud of the film, but you wouldn’t even contemplate doing something like that today. It wouldn’t even get financed. Even if I was involved, I’d be looking for a young Indian film-maker to shoot it.”
Danny enjoyed his big career breakthrough with Trainspotting in 1996.
The director helmed the hit drama film – which starred the likes of Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle – but Danny never imagined that the movie would become such a huge success.
He recently told The Hollywood Reporter: “I remember there was a wave of disapproval of it building. They had shown a trailer or something on one of the TV movie shows here. And one of the prestigious critics said, ‘Well, that looks shockingly irresponsible about drugs.’ Things like that were building.
“And then there was this journalist, Muriel Gray, and she wrote this piece about Irvine’s [Welsh] book, and about the film. She spoke with authority saying, ‘You do not know what you are talking about,’ all these people piling disapproval on top of it. It was a tipping point.”
Danny relished the experience of working with Ewan on Trainspotting, remembering that the actor was “fanatical” about his role.
The director said: “His agents were putting him in period romances, for which it was perfect. And he shaved it off before we’d offered him the part of Renton in Trainspotting. He shaved it off and lost weight. And then he continued to lose weight. He was fanatical about that. And he was right.”