From Slumdog Millionaire to Marketdog Millionaire

The Indian cinema audiences got an opportunity to watch the film Slumdog Millionaire when the actual ‘Marketdog Millionaire’ is off to jail. The game of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ seems a cakewalk on TV but in Slumdog Millionaire this is a game of winning and losing a moment in life. This has taken a blatant face of reality that sometimes it feels like a shame to declare oneself as a part of this society. The reality of ‘Marketdog Millionaire’ is confronting the truth which is selling the Nation and society to achieve everything; that which can be lost in the glitter and become a Marketdog under state politics.

The game of Slumdog Millionaire starts from ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ where coincidentally a chaiwallah of Mumbai takes the hot seat to become a millionaire. Anil Kapoor explains him rules of the game before starting the game. Every question takes the 18 year old boy to his past from where he gets the answers to all his questions. But he has to answer his success to the policeman under a third degree treatment to make sure of his capabilities to win 2 crores without hassles.

But before understanding the film, we need to know about the ‘Marketdog Millionaire’, meaning the former Satyam Chairman Ramlinga Raju. Satyam’s downfall and Ramlinga Raju’s ploy is a reflection of the market economy. In the 70s and 80s, when Naxalism was grounding itself in Andhra Pradesh, Raju’s father earned his living by farming in a small village at the banks of Godavari in Andhra. For the Naxalites, Raju’s family was a Zamindar. The naxalites were indulged in money snatching for the nearby farmers.

Raju has emerged from these circumstances and that’s the reason he left his village and farming completely. When Raju decided to live an urban life, farming was never a viable option economically and politically. After his father’s death he erected a statue in the village and sold the entire land to have a stand in the market. However, the villagers tell this antagonistically. They say that the statue got erected only after Raju made his mark in the market. He did everything from tractor dealing to event planning, but nothing worked. Even the recognition that farming gave to Raju’s family, didn’t work.

In the political scene of Andhra Pradesh, when N.T.Ramarao addressed the active naxalites in Telangana by the name Anna, fortunately the eastern- Godavari and Kareemnagar were places largely affected. Kareemnagar is the home town of former Prime Minister PV Narsimharao. This was when Raju got disconnected from his village or more so understood the nuances of politics. This understanding polished his political skills and from hereon the whole game of 'Marketdog Millionaire' began.

In the film Slumdog Millionaire, the story starts with Jamal, the resident of a slum next to Chhatrapati International Airport in Mumbai. He plays cricket on the airport premises. Living this life, Jamal and his brother Salim face troubles of lifetime at an age of 4. From considering basic minimum to building dreams, Jamal and Salim lose their mother in riots and face hardships. They face severe hardships ranging from an encounter with the eye mafia to earning meager Rs. 2-4 daily. Life turns when Salim kills the eye mafia and saves Jamal and his childhood friend from the yoke of the eye mafia. This is how a Slumdog Millionaire takes birth as now he is recognized among the mafias. And Salim very well understands the game of mafia which drives him further.

The ‘Marketdog Millionaire’ Ramlinga Raju started his software company in 1987 by the name Satyam Computers and that’s when he first encountered politics. In the same year the naxalites kidnapped seven ministers from Andhra and strengthened their hold. Among those kidnapped, there was one who belonged to eastern Godavari area. Ramlinga Raju gained a consignment to serve the Indian Govt. for the first time. And coincidentally, P.V. Narsimharao became the PM after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

Economic development initiated in the country and a new era hence started for the new so called business. Technology and computers knocked the Indian market and the American market opened up for Satyam on the name of providing service. Satyam got its wings when through Track I and Track II, the Central Govt. recognized it and Hyderabad became the IT hub with the help of a tech-savvy Chandrababu Naidu.

Raju proved to be a true pedestrian of the path. He shared stages with Bill Gates in Hyderabad after becoming Naidu’s only close professional. In the wake of a proliferating career Raju dealt with the lands. The dealings were accelerated by politics. It was the time when Hyderabad was valued like never before. The profit was shared with the CM and politics on land got started by Naidu continuing even after the new Govt came into power. YSR Reddy’s administration did not entertain Naidu’s counterparts; however, its doors remained open for Raju. Raju’s barter for YSR’s favour is still a mystery in the politics of Andhra.

That was when Satyam’s Raju was considered as the Kohinoor of corporate world. From 2002 to 2008, Raju’s development company Maytes owned the largest land share in the state and Satyam was awarded all the glory of the corporate world. On other hand in the film Slumdog Millionaire Salim made a mark for himself amid the mafias clam. In the film, he owns crores whereas his brother Jamal separates from him and remains a tea seller to the BPO workers. Coincidentally, one day a telephone operator of the BPO leaves his desk and asks Jamal to be there for sometime. That’s when Jamal finds his brother on phone and fortunately his line gets connected to the Millionaire show and he eventually makes it to the hot seat.

The tables turned here. Jamal, heads to the mafias with Latika in his heart whereas Raju’s hunger to acquire everything buys him tenders to Metro Project in Hyderabad. But because of the whole fuss and controversy behind the Metro Project, the chief Shridharan refuses to take it up. For ‘Marketdog Millionaire’ Raju, this proves a big shock. On one hand there’s money stuck in the land, whereas on the other the hung up Metro Project. This is when America blacklists Satyam. In Slumdog Millionaire this is when Salim helps Jamal, rescues Latika and send her to Jamal. Latika stays with two of them. They are aware of the three musketeers. Jamal had read the story of Three Musketeers and when coincidentally Anil Kapoor asks him the ultimate question on Three Musketeers, he smirks and knows that he has become the Slumdog Millionaire.

He chooses to use his lifeline ‘phone a friend’ to talk to his brother. His brother Salim, who is already a Slumdog Millionaire due to his mafia connection, ends his life over money. He gets murdered by his fellow mafias. And coincidentally the Marketdog Millionaire’s end happens because of his self declaration of being a fraud. This is a new beginning for the 'Marketdog Millionaire' Raju, as he is a symbol of the State’s system.

It’s the Govt. that in order to hide its own shortcomings has sent Raju behind bars. And the same Govt. is making efforts to get Raju out of all this now. The film Slumdog Millionaire is a hit. It has been awarded with four Golden Globe Awards and is running for an Oscar now. The film is based on a novel by a Mumbai based diplomat whereas 'Marketdog Millionaire' is Manmohan Singh’s stamp on the American market. The game of 'Marketdog Millionaire' is on because it’s not a film but truth. Now it’s you who’ll decide whether to watch Slumdog Millionaire or become a 'Marketdog Millionaire'.