Slumdog millionaire is the story of Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), an 18-year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's Who wants to be a millionaire?
But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika (Freida Pinto), the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions.
Intrigued by Jamal's story, the jaded Police Inspector (Irfan Khan) begins to wonder what a young man with no apparent desire for riches is really doing on this game show?
When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out...
Special Agent Matti
Slumdog millionaire is a lovely rags-to-riches romance of the type that normally comes out of Bollywood but which is devoid of the typical Bollywood bling, making it gritty, dirty and nasty. You don't get much nastier than living on a rubbish tip. Unless, of course, you include blinding a child so that he can earn more money when begging. Ain't you glad that you live in the First World?
It was great to see Dev Patel in his first outing since Skins (it took me forever to figure out from where I recognised him), he makes a great charwallah and romantic lead with just the right blend of cute and gormless. What is interesting about the script is that the three periods of Jamal's life (child, adolescent, adult) are given such an even weighting. Usually, such things are merely to fill in a bit of back-story but in this case, each phase of his life (and his brother's and beloved's, of course) are so strongly developed that I developed an attachment to the character, sufficient to be a little upset when that phase ended. It's good to see your baby grow up but they do it so quickly. :(
You'll like Slumdog millionaire for its romance as much as you'll hate it for revealing the weight of poverty under which people suffer, but with love in the world, at least there's hope.
The comedy, India, romance movie Slumdog millionaire is directed by Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan and stars Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal.
MA 15+ (Strong themes and violence)
120 minutes (2:00 hours)
Film: 18 December 2008
