In January 2009, Amitabh Bachchan, the lion of Indian cinema, reacted on his blog to the increasing success of the film Slumdog Millionaire with a caution. Tapping into an anxiety about how India is represented abroad, he asserted, "If SM projects India as Third World dirty underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky under belly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations." Bachchan intensified a furious controversy both inside India and abroad over whether the film was a form of "poverty porn," whether it was Indian or not, and whether its representations showed real problems in India or a stereotype of poverty served up for foreign audiences.