Slumdog Millionaire 在奧斯卡大獲全勝
劇中的小童星
在頒獎典禮前其實還住在破敗的貧民窟裡
奧斯卡的風光、美國夢、好萊塢的奢華
隨著典禮結束而落幕…
接著他們還是回到孟買回歸現實生活
再來他們的人生會如何呢?
看看以下這則新聞
讓我感慨萬千
承接上篇 Born into Brothels這部紀錄片的故事
四年後
片中的小小攝影師們
因為奧斯卡改變了人生嗎?
At the Oscars four years ago, now a sex worker
Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey & Caesar Mandal, TNN
When A R Rahman walked up to receive the golden Oscar statuette, her eyes misted over. Preeti Mukherjee knows exactly how it feels. Four years ago, she was on the same stage at Los Angeles’ Kodak Theatre, where she, too, had hugged the statuette and cried tears of joy. She hasn’t missed a single awards ceremony since. On Monday, she woke up in the wee hours to catch the live telecast — before starting the day’s grind at Sonagachhi.
Preeti, who goes by the name Puja in Asia’s largest red light district, had got sucked into the sex trade just a year after her brush with the Oscars.
In 2005, Preeti was part of the Oscar-winning documentary Born Into Brothels , directed by Zana Briski. The child cast of nine had cheered so loud that it still rings in her ears. And she still remembers the warmth of the hug Zana gave her as the award was announced.
“It seems like a fairy tale now. I still see it in my dreams. I get goosebumps when I remember the heart-stopping moment when the award was announced. All of us kept screaming with joy. Zana aunty made sure we, too, went along to collect the statuette. My head was swimming, there were so many eyes on us, the deafening applause, so many cameras flashing...” Preeti recalls.
In 2002, when not yet into her teens, Briski and Ross Kauffman chose her in the cast of nine to teach them photography and get a close-up view of their world and that of their mothers. The film was completed in 2004 and went on to win about 20 international awards, capped by the Oscar.
When the film was nominated, the directors flew the kids to Los Angeles. Life was happy for some time and the directors tried their best to rehabilitate the kids. Preeti, who was in high school, and the rest got an offer to stay back in the US and study. Some did. She backed out.
“Aunty (Zana) gave a lot of money by cheque to my mother and asked her to release me, but she was unwilling. I am a girl and an only child and my mother wouldn’t let go. Call it family pressure if you will. It’s quite simple, really,” Preeti said, with a dismissive shrug and a short laugh. “So, you see me here.”
Abhijit, one of the kids in the film, now studies in New York University. Another girl goes to school there. Preeti is in touch with both of them. Two others are studying at Future Hope, run by a charitable trust. One has got married while another girl, who was with an internationally funded NGO, has disappeared.
Dressed in jeans and a trendy shirt, Preeti could pass for any other collegegoer, until the whiff of smoke and alcohol in her breath hits you. And you look at her eyes — beautiful, aggressive and defiant.
“At this age, I have a flat in Salt Lake, a laptop, costly phones and plenty of money. What do I lack?” she looks you square in the eye. “Zana aunty and I are in touch by email. She was upset that I, too, had joined the trade like my mother, something she wanted to save me from. But this trade has really paid off for me.” A sign of her ‘prosperity’ — she has hired rooms in Prem Kamal, one of the most expensive Sonagachhi buildings.
Mother Rakhi lives in the opposite building. Preeti pays for her living expenses. Rakhi says she wanted a “normal” life for Preeti. She still has a fading photo of Preeti with the Oscar statuette stuck on a wall. “That is all I have left of her..,” she says, tears in her eyes.
There is no clear answer as to how and why Preeti became a sex worker. Police records say she was rescued from a racket while a minor, sent to a juvenile home from where she was handed to her mother by the state child welfare committee.
Police say she’s now part of a major sex racket that involves extremely powerful people, who will never let her escape into a sunnier world. Behind the I-care-a-damn stare, you can see a fleeting longing in her eyes — a longing for freedom.
When A R Rahman walked up to receive the golden Oscar statuette, her eyes misted over. Preeti Mukherjee knows exactly how it feels. Four years ago, she was on the same stage at Los Angeles’ Kodak Theatre, where she, too, had hugged the statuette and cried tears of joy. She hasn’t missed a single awards ceremony since. On Monday, she woke up in the wee hours to catch the live telecast — before starting the day’s grind at Sonagachhi.
Preeti, who goes by the name Puja in Asia’s largest red light district, had got sucked into the sex trade just a year after her brush with the Oscars.
In 2005, Preeti was part of the Oscar-winning documentary Born Into Brothels , directed by Zana Briski. The child cast of nine had cheered so loud that it still rings in her ears. And she still remembers the warmth of the hug Zana gave her as the award was announced.
“It seems like a fairy tale now. I still see it in my dreams. I get goosebumps when I remember the heart-stopping moment when the award was announced. All of us kept screaming with joy. Zana aunty made sure we, too, went along to collect the statuette. My head was swimming, there were so many eyes on us, the deafening applause, so many cameras flashing...” Preeti recalls.
In 2002, when not yet into her teens, Briski and Ross Kauffman chose her in the cast of nine to teach them photography and get a close-up view of their world and that of their mothers. The film was completed in 2004 and went on to win about 20 international awards, capped by the Oscar.
When the film was nominated, the directors flew the kids to Los Angeles. Life was happy for some time and the directors tried their best to rehabilitate the kids. Preeti, who was in high school, and the rest got an offer to stay back in the US and study. Some did. She backed out.
“Aunty (Zana) gave a lot of money by cheque to my mother and asked her to release me, but she was unwilling. I am a girl and an only child and my mother wouldn’t let go. Call it family pressure if you will. It’s quite simple, really,” Preeti said, with a dismissive shrug and a short laugh. “So, you see me here.”
Abhijit, one of the kids in the film, now studies in New York University. Another girl goes to school there. Preeti is in touch with both of them. Two others are studying at Future Hope, run by a charitable trust. One has got married while another girl, who was with an internationally funded NGO, has disappeared.
Dressed in jeans and a trendy shirt, Preeti could pass for any other collegegoer, until the whiff of smoke and alcohol in her breath hits you. And you look at her eyes — beautiful, aggressive and defiant.
“At this age, I have a flat in Salt Lake, a laptop, costly phones and plenty of money. What do I lack?” she looks you square in the eye. “Zana aunty and I are in touch by email. She was upset that I, too, had joined the trade like my mother, something she wanted to save me from. But this trade has really paid off for me.” A sign of her ‘prosperity’ — she has hired rooms in Prem Kamal, one of the most expensive Sonagachhi buildings.
Mother Rakhi lives in the opposite building. Preeti pays for her living expenses. Rakhi says she wanted a “normal” life for Preeti. She still has a fading photo of Preeti with the Oscar statuette stuck on a wall. “That is all I have left of her..,” she says, tears in her eyes.
There is no clear answer as to how and why Preeti became a sex worker. Police records say she was rescued from a racket while a minor, sent to a juvenile home from where she was handed to her mother by the state child welfare committee.
Police say she’s now part of a major sex racket that involves extremely powerful people, who will never let her escape into a sunnier world. Behind the I-care-a-damn stare, you can see a fleeting longing in her eyes — a longing for freedom.
↑Puja攝影作品之一 Beach
曾擁抱奧斯卡的她 返印度淪性奴
自由時報 編譯鄭寺音／特譯
當印度作曲家A.R.拉曼因「貧民百萬富翁」一片上台領取奧斯卡最佳電影配樂獎時，他神情激動、眼泛淚光。普莉緹．慕荷姬深深了解那種感覺，因為四年前，她也曾站上洛杉磯柯達劇院的同一座舞台，也在那裡嚐過得獎的喜悅。
二○○五年，普莉緹參與拍攝的「小小攝影師的異想世界」（Born into Brothels），勇奪奧斯卡最佳紀錄片。但是根據印度時報二十五日報導，普莉緹仍步上母親的後塵，淪為一名性工作者。
普莉緹在印度加爾各答這個亞洲最大的紅燈區裡，花名喚作「普雅」，而她涉足性工作這行，距離她受奧斯卡洗禮，不過相隔一年。直到現在，普莉緹都還記得得獎當時，導演澤娜布里斯基那個溫暖的擁抱。
二○○二年，普莉緹還沒進入青春期，就被布里斯基與羅斯考夫曼相中，與其他八名孩子一起學習攝影，並貼身記錄他們、與他們娼妓母親的世界。紀錄片於二○○四年完成，此後征戰大小影展獲獎連連，連同奧斯卡在內，共獲約二十個國際獎項。
此片獲奧斯卡提名時，布里斯基等人帶著孩子們飛到洛杉磯，奧斯卡之後，布里斯基盡力幫助他們恢復正常生活，提供留在美國讀書的機會，一些孩子留了下來，但當時上高中的普莉緹回到了印度。
在她滿嘴菸酒味撲鼻而來，還有美麗眼睛冷冷射來桀驁不馴的眼神之前，穿著牛仔褲與時髦襯衫的普莉緹，看起來跟一般大學生沒兩樣，她望著你說：「我這個年紀，在鹽湖有公寓，有電腦、電話、大把鈔票，我缺什麼？澤娜阿姨跟我會通電郵，我走上媽媽的老路，她也覺得難過，她以前想把我從那裡救出來，但這份工作對我來說真的很棒。」
她的母親拉琪就住在對面大樓，普莉緹每個月付她生活費，拉琪房裡還掛著普莉緹當年領獎時的照片，她紅著眼眶說，「她留給我就只剩那個了」。
警方表示，普莉緹目前是大型賣淫集團成員，集團首腦權勢極大，永遠不會讓她重見天日。在普莉緹那股目空一切的眼神背後，你可以看到彷彿閃過的一絲渴望：那是對自由的渴求。
↑Puja攝影作品之一 Zoo (這是隱喻她的人生嗎….?)
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