Film Review : Slumdog Millionaire

I saw this movie today, in the meantime I have gone through a number of reviews, My own view is that if you read review of a movie then you see the movie with certain preconceived notions. The reviews had some mixed reactions, some felt that it is western attitude that they show only poverty, filth and backwardness of India and by the way such films goes to international award functions bags prizes also. Some liked the movie. I also fall in the second category. the novel 'Qusetions Answers" on which this movie is based is not written by a westerner but our own brown writer. The poverty, the slums shown in the movie do exist in our very own Mumbai,their is no hyperbole. But the most interesting part of the movie is that more than the books one can learn from his day to day struggle and he can win also. people have objected about word Slumdog but the fact remains that thousands and lacs of Slumdwellers are compelled to live their life like that only. It also shows that slums are very fertile ground for crime, Slumlords under political patronage make life of slumdwellers more misrable.Directed by Danny Boyle this movie don’t just tell you a story; it creates worlds that you’re allowed the privilege of inhabiting for a few fleeting hours before leaving the theater feeling exhilarated and more alive.. Director Danny Boyle’s career has taken him from the lives of British heroin addicts to the adventures of an international crew of Earth-saving astronauts.

The plot opens with a police inspector (Irrfan Khan) in Mumbai, interrogating and torturing Jamal Malik (Dev Patel, also played by Tanay Chheda and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar), a former street child from the Dharavi slums. Jamal is a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Kaun Banega Crorepati), hosted by Prem Kumar (noted Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor). Jamal has made it to the final question, but the police are now accusing him of cheating.

Jamal then begins to offer an explanation of how he knew the answers which is conveyed as a series of flashbacks documenting the particulars of his childhood. This includes scenes of him obtaining the autograph of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan; the death of his mother during Hindu-Muslim riots in the slums; and how he and his brother Salim (Madhur Mittal, Azharu that despite ddin Mohammed Ismail, and Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala) befriended the orphan girl, Latika (Freida Pinto, Rubina Ali, and Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar). As Jamal's favorite book from his short period in school was The Three Musketeers, he refers to Salim and himself as Athos and Porthos, and Latika as the third Musketeer.

The children are eventually discovered by Maman (Ankur Vikal) while they live in the trash heaps. Maman is a gangster (a fact they do not actually know at the time they meet him) who "collects" street children so that he can ultimately train them to beg for money. Salim is groomed to become a part of Maman’s operation and is asked to bring Jamal to Maman in order to be blinded (which would improve his income potential as a singing beggar). Salim rebels against Maman to protect his brother, and the three children try to escape, but only Salim and Jamal are successful. Latika is re-captured by Maman's organization and raised as a culturally talented prostitute whose virginity will fetch a high price.

The brothers eke out a living, traveling on top of trains, selling goods, pretending to be tour guides at the Taj Mahal, and pickpocketing. Jamal eventually insists that they return to Mumbai since he wishes to locate Latika. When he finds her working as a dancer in a brothel, the brothers attempt to rescue her, but Maman intrudes, and in the resulting conflict Salim draws a gun and kills Maman. Salim then uses the fact that he killed Maman to obtain a job with Javed (Mahesh Manjrekar), a rival crime lord. Salim claims Latika as his own and when Jamal protests, Salim threatens to kill him and Latika intervenes, accepting her fate with Salim and breaking Jamal's heart.

Years later, Jamal has a position as a "chai-wallah", (a boy or young man who serves tea) at a call centre. When he is asked to cover for a co-worker for a couple of minutes, he searches the database for Salim and Latika. He gets in touch with Salim, who has become a high-ranking lieutenant in Javed’s organization. Salim invites Jamal to live with him and, after following Salim to Javed's house, he sees Latika living there. He talks his way in as the new dishwasher and tries to convince Latika to leave. She rebuffs his advances, but he promises to be at the VT (Victoria Terminal, or Chhatrapati Shivaji) railway station every day at 5pm. One day Latika attempts to rendezvous with him, but is recaptured by Salim and Javed's men, one of whom slashes her cheek with a knife, scarring her.

Jamal again loses contact with Latika when Javed moves to another home. In another attempt to find Latika, Jamal tries out for the game show because he knows that she will be watching. He makes it to the final question, despite the hostile attitude of the host who feeds Jamal an incorrect answer during a break. At the end of the episode's taping, Jamal has one question left to win 20 million, or two crore, rupees and is taken into police custody, where he is tortured as the police attempt to learn how Jamal, a simple slumdog, could know the answers to so many questions. After Jamal tells his whole story, explaining how his life experiences coincidentally enabled him to know the answer to each question, the police inspector calls his explanation "bizarrely plausible" and allows Jamal to return to the show for the final question. At Javed's safehouse, Latika watches the news coverage of Jamal's miraculous run on the show. Salim gives Latika the keys to his car and his phone and urges her to run away. When Jamal uses his Phone-A-Friend lifeline to call Salim, Latika answers his phone and they reconnect. She does not know the answer to the final question either, but believing that "it is written", Jamal guesses the correct answer (Aramis) to the question of the one Musketeer whose name they never learned, and wins the grand prize. Simultaneously, Salim is discovered to have helped Latika escape and allows himself to be killed in a bathtub full of money after shooting and killing Javed. Salim's last words are "God is great", which is a Muslim prayer. Later that night, Jamal and Latika meet at the train station, and finally share a kiss. The closing credits then imitate a Bollywood-style musical number.

Star cast

Ayush Mahesh Khedekar as Youngest Jamal

Tanay Chheda as Middle Jamal

Freida Pinto as Latika, the girl with whom Jamal is in love. Pinto was an Indian model who had not starred in a feature film before.[4] Regarding the "one of a kind" scarf she wears, "designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb" says, "I wanted to bookend the journey--to tie her childhood yellow dress to her final look."[21] She is now represented by CAA.

Rubina Ali as Youngest Latika

Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar as Middle Latika

Madhur Mittal as Salim, Jamal's elder brother.

Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail as Youngest Salim

Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala as Middle Salim

Anil Kapoor as Prem Kumar, the game show host...

Irrfan Khan as the Police Inspector

Saurabh Shukla as Constable Srinivas

Mahesh Manjrekar as Javed / Raja

Ankur Vikal as Maman

Raj Zutshi as Millionaire show producer

Shah Rukh Munshi as a Slum kid

Directed by Danny Boyle; written by Simon Beaufoy, based on the novel “Q & A” by Vikas Swarup; director of photography, Anthony Dod Mantel; edited by Chris Dickens; music by A. R. Rahman; production designer, Mark Digby; produced by Christian Colson

This is a must movie for Indian Politicians, Bureaucrats, national conscience keepers, Social Activists and those who have fire in their heart to do some work to change our system.