TECHNICALLY a British film, Slumdog Millionaire’s recent sweeping success at all the major awards shows – the Academy Awards, Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTA’s – as well as at the Box Office, will surely be touted as further proof of audiences’ appetite for Asian content.

(Frankly it’s a relief from the amount of times Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Kung Fu Panda are mentioned as examples of Asian movies that have successfully made the transition from niche to mainstream…)

Whether you love it or hate it, Slumdog Millionaire has been variously criticized as ‘poverty porn’ as well as for being an unfair depiction of modern-day Mumbai and India as a whole, there’s no denying the positive benefits for Asian talent of the movie enjoying so much award and box office success worldwide.

For India is not the only Asian country to be successfully exporting talent, content and channels to the world. Thanks to significant government support, Asian companies are increasingly moving from being mere service providers to becoming content creators in their own right; from being cast in supporting roles to becoming leading players in the international limelight.