There is a certain way of making movies about India – a tradition that has descended from great directors like Louis Malle and Richard Attenborough that helps us appreciate movies like Born-into-brothels, city of joy. Most of these movies present us the abject poverty of India, the absolute penury of its people. Yet, there seems a way out of this dejected existence – one that leads to happiness despite poverty, disease and untimely death.<br /><br />Words may not be enough to express the genius of Louis Malle or Attenborough, but somehow too much water has flown down Thames since the time that image of India was believed in. India, the deep wilderness in East that we always knew of has experienced some fundamental changes post World War II. With latest changes after globalization, it is transforming into something else … for better or worse.<br /><br />For me, Outsourced is not so much a movie about outsourcing. I would remember this movie because of its somewhat accurate representation of India. There are things despicable about India, to any Westerner. But the way this movie approached the subject was not through the insulting humor that American comedies usually do, but instead with an entertaining exploration into this land of mystery. It is indeed a mild comedy, but the script was somewhat more educated about how India really is. That it never mixed up Arab stereotype with the Indian is both surprising and commendable for an American movie to achieve.<br /><br />The first half of the movie that takes time to build up the image of India perceived by a foreigner is actually quite accurate. There are things unbearable and overwhelming about India, but like the protagonist of the movie discovered, it becomes much easier when you lose yourself into the wilderness that India is. Holi is seen as a a metaphor to that - an act of curiosity met with a deeper involvement.<br /><br />Of course, it is the wilderness itself that forms the appeal of India. There is this whole set of rituals, mythologies, beliefs and practices that evolved with complete disconnection from the West and offer an alternate reality to the foreigner. This dualism of disgust and curiosity flows parallel in the movie and achieve a sort of resolution in the end. There are very few movies that have chosen to explore this interest in India, without getting into yoga, kamasutra and henna.<br /><br />This movie does not aspire to do in cinema what the book world-is-flat did in popular literature. It is not trying to tell you that the world is changing to the advantage of the Third world or argue on whether capitalism is the only hope for the poor. It mildly makes fun of this whole world that corporate culture has given us when it pokes fun at imitation of American accents and at how that becomes a career skill for some. It looks at outsourcing as the outcome of this commoditization of human experiences altogether. I was made to feel that outsourcing is a by-product of uneven growth that our current economic systems result in. The resolution is probably through not letting oneself become a product of one's circumstances – be it corporate policies or greed for money.<br /><br />That resolution could've been expressed much better way- but unfortunately the movie fumbled in the second half. If I weren't really impressed with the first half, I might not have finished watching it. Sometimes it even appeared whether the movie was meant to be a comedy or something else. Still, overall this makes for an interesting experiment with India.