Many of the Dharavi residents that I asked said that the life of Jamal (the main character in the film) is a little dramatised, but they are happy to know that slum has been shown in a very different way. They're amazed to see that after the release of the film many tourists have visited their homes to get a first hand feel if the place. Children especially are very excited and they all want to be Jamal. As to what they think about their children's futures, not to my surprise, they didn't want their children to suffer as their forefathers did. Many potters don't want their children to continue the family business".

Personally, I feel many of these harsh comments [from Indian critics] are born out of lack of knowledge about Indian cities and their growing number of inhabitants who live in slums. The harsh realities of Mumbai slums, as shown in the movie do exist but at the same time, a movie like Slumdog twists the reality of the slums to fit its story line. For example the shots in the film depicting the young protagonists imprisoned in a so-called 'orphanage' which is really a front for begging mafia is something I do not think exists. Then again the riots in which Jamal Malik's mother is killed did happen - if the writer is referring to the Bombay riots of 1992. The film uses realism to depict a fantastic love story and those can not always be used as an accurate barometer for Bombay slums. Walking through a slum in Mumbai you get sense of hope - India's poor come here for work in search of a new beginning. It is hard to find an idle soul here, it is a cesspool of activity, buzzing with energy and ingenuity, always fighting, always dreaming and looking to the future - against the backdrop of poverty. That is what makes Mumbai to many an Indian a city of dreams - not poverty but the chance to move above it."

[The title] was never intended to imply that all Indians are dogs. As for how Indian the film is......its soul is Indian. It's an Indian story written by an Indian diplomat - with an idiom that has been celebrated in our movies for years. In fact, when I first read the script, it felt like an homage to the great Salim-Javed stories from the seventies. The cast, all except Dev Patel [lead part], is Indian. A large part of the crew (as the film's end credits show) is Indian. Four of the ten Oscar nominations - three for A.R.Rahman [mafia chief] and one for Resul Pookuty [sound mixer] - are for Indians."

From what I saw of Dharavi, Danny Boyle's depiction was real. Yes it's negative. But the reason the government is highlighting these complaints is because the film shows the truth. If the Indian politicians don't have a problem keeping people in such poverty, then they shouldn't have a problem showing it."