MovieChat Forums > Outsourced (2007) Discussion > Indians please authenticate this beautif...

Indians please authenticate this beautiful movie....


Cool movie, guys. The director did a better job than most of the Indian directors in this genre. As an Indian i can say that this movie ALMOST paints a true picture of the 'middle-class' life in most parts of India.

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The Bride:[in Japanese] Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them with you. However, leave the limbs you've lost. They belong to me now.
The Bride:[in English] EXCEPT YOU, SOFIE! You stay right where you are!

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I second it. This movie has come very close to realistically portraying all its characters. Closer than most Indian movies dare to be. Educational...

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I agree, kudos to the directors on their proper research!

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Errors:
The Go-Kart (Rickshaw) is not seen anywhere in the areas they shown (Bombay VT & Marine Drive).
There is only one Gharapuri, which is an island near Elephanta Caves, and it is not a popular BPO destination.
The portrayal of rural BPOs is untrue. Most BPOs in Bombay employ over 10,000 people with state-of-the-art infrastructure.
People in India are more well-versant of the American way of life. We know the difference between eraser and rubber. Thanks mostly to Hollywood and now BPOs.

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This is not a documentary so the stuff you mentioned are not errors. Characters and locations in a feature film are fictional, so they don't have to be factual. The op is talking about Indian culture and society is portrayed in this movie are very realistic and the American writer and director has done a better job then most of the Indian movie makers

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I stumbled on this movie and was enchanted by it and now I NEED to go to India badly!

Truly a delightful film.

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I've spent a few weeks training in Bangalore which is very different culturally than Mumbai and is one of the capitals of high-tech outsourcing. Bangalore is very cosmopolitan and had plenty of US restaurant chains and many other cuisines as well. It actually reminded me a lot of Boston as it had very modern high tech buildings, state-of-the-technology connectivity, many well-educated people and terrific university, lots of pollution, and was perpetually under construction. One thing that the movie did seem to reflect from my experiences without even trying was the fundamentally strong work ethics, desires to succees, cheerfulness, and interest in western cultures characteristic in the people who tend to work at the outsource centers.

One thing Bangalore did have is plenty of rickshahs, however, and the scene shown at the Mumbai airport reminded me a lot of the Bangalore airport.

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Exactly. This is not a documentary. Nice catch ;)

-TY

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Right.
Actually my students still call erasers rubbers...guess they need more exposure?

And,as I posted in another thread, this ain't a big city--it's a 'Mayberry' place, just like the little city I live in in Vietnam. About 20 to 30 years behind the times.

I'm not complaining, hope it doesn't change and we start to get those damned western tourists...there goes the neighborhood!!!

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And why shouldn't they call them rubbers? Why should the American term replace the one they use in India? In any case, people working in multicultural environments should be aware of the difference and know when to use what word, but that's about it.

Examples:
-Should Mexicans stop saying cajeta or concha because those words are considered rude and sexual in South America? No, but maybe they should know about it so they're careful when talking to an Argentinian.

-Should Americans stop saying they 'root' for a team, because 'rooting' means sexual intercourse in Australia? Or should they ask Australians to call soft drinks 'sodas'?

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Well then why not say it's taking place on Mars?

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@Imran, The Go-Karts(autorickshaws)do run in Bombay, but yes, they usually dont ply in south Bombay(marine drive, VT etc) as the city authorities and traffic police have limited them to certain areas due to traffic congestion and other concerns, leaving them vulnerable to fines or even getting their license revoked/vehicle impounded were they to venture into those parts of Bombay, but you do find them around the airport because thats near Bandra and Khar, places where they are permitted to run. And yes the BPOs are largely found in the more developed 'cosmopolitan' cities of Bangalore, Bombay, Delhi etc but there are a number of smaller towns contained within the Delhi and Bombay metropolis areas that do play host to such call centers. I've lived in Delhi and Bombay for the most part of my life and I have relatives in Bangalore whom I visit frequently, trust me, a lot of people still call it a rubber and not an eraser even in the best of schools and colleges in the cities, and thats as far as the younger generation is concerned, forget the old folks. People residing in the smaller semi-urban towns hardly hear the word eraser spoken. And yes the west via the various sources of media, Hollywood probably being the most prominent, has and continues to have a massive impact on the people in India but the influence on the smaller towns is still fairly limited due to various reasons such as illiteracy, underdevelopment, and religious and cultural beliefs that people are resolutely attached to, so there is no way that the people in most semi-urban/rural towns(which just btw constitutes the majority of our population) have imbibed a lot of western culture nor have they picked up the English language, forget the American English lingo. Anyway the the movie was pretty accurate and as everyone else pointed out, its a fictional story so lets stop nitpicking and spoiling what was a really well made movie!:) PS: Im sorry, I really dragged this post out, no offense intended, cheers.

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I thought it was a great post. Thanks for the explanation. I loved this movie. Todd's "education" was fun to watch. Loved the Holi day. And the co-workers trying out different lines from movies, then getting him to dance. It was just a real feel-good movie with something to say.


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It's quite authentic, while simultaneously being a very good movie. The cross cultural humour is nicely done, tasteful and light hearted. The movie shows a variety of Indian characters- Asha, the manager, the 'auntie', all the street characters etc.

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First of all, I love you for the kill bill quote, because I am listening to a kill bill song right now. As for the movie, I think it was great. It depicted India fairly well, although I have to say it was a little harsh on the infrastructure, and I know for a fact you can get meet at a mcdonalds in India.(not sure about beef though) Otherwise, it made me stay up 2 hours later than I should've so that means it is definitely a good movie.

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