Danny Boyle coyly suggested he might cherish popular success in India above an Oscar today as the British director introduced Slumdog Millionaire to Mumbai, the city in which it is set.

Buoyed by his film's four Golden Globe wins and 11 Bafta nominations, Mr Boyle added that he would love to direct another project in India's "Maximum City". He has in mind a modern thriller set largely at night when Mumbai's inhabitants are sleeping.

Asked if he expected to be named in the forthcoming Oscar nominations, which will be declared on Thursday, he said: "The most important thing for us this week is absolutely the opening here. Big time. That's serious."

He added at a press conference: "You can't expect anything really. You should always expect to get knocked down by a bus tomorrow morning, which is the only healthy thing to feel about success. It could all end at a moment's notice."

How well Slumdog Millionaire will do among India's movie-mad masses is a matter of intense debate. Many onlookers initially felt that the film, which will be given its premiere in the country on Thursday, would prove too "edgy" for conservative audiences found outside the big cities.

There has also been a backlash against the depiction of India's impoverished shanty-towns. Last week, Amitabh Bachchan, for decades Bollywood's biggest heart throb, took a swipe at the film's depiction of India as a "third-world, dirty, underbelly developing nation" – a characterisation he said had caused "pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots".

In recent weeks, however, a well received trailer that emphasises Slumdog Millionaire's Bollywood influences and a poster campaign that focus on its well-known Indian stars, Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan, have persuaded critics it stands a good chance of winning over the crowds. A Hindi-dubbed version – Slumdog Crorepati – will be released hoping to tap widespread commercial success.

Meanwhile, that Slumdog Millionaire is being touted as an Oscar front-runner marks a suitably plucky performance for a film about a dirt-poor underdog from the slums. As recently as October the film appeared to be heading for a straight-to-DVD release having been dumped by its US distributor.

After being picked up by another distributor, the film, which cost £7 million to make, has become a commercial as well as critical success, taking £6 million in ten days in the UK and $40 million (£28.6 million) in the US.

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