Engaging story of the Slumdog Millionaire
By RAMA GAIND
Slumdog Millionaire is the engaging, but heart-rendering story of an 18-year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai who scales the heights of success after winning 20 million rupees on the Indian version of the television game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
This film not only captivates and amazes, but surprises as you watch the story of what keeps Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) going, his reason to survive and cope. It is called love.
Based on a book, Q & A by Vikas Swarup, it is directed by award-winning British filmmaker Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) and the screenplay is by Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar-nominated writer of The Full Monty.
The film won the 2008 Cadillac People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival and has received four Golden Globe nominations for best film drama, director, screenplay and for its soundtrack by top Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman. There’s also serious talk of 2009 Academy Award nominations.
In Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle does not embellish the facts: he tells it like it is. This is a resourceful commentary on Indian society intertwined with a fairytale romance which sees Jamal in search of his childhood sweetheart Latika (Freida Pinto). It’s also a tale of Jamal living by his wits together with his older brother Salim (Madhur Mittal).
Jamal is an underpriviledged street child who is accused of cheating as a contestant on the show. To obnoxious police officers, led by Irrfan Khan, he recounts his life’s journey from rubbish tips, pick pocketing and running scams at the Taj Mahal before he goes on to gain unbelievable riches.
As demonstrated by the sometimes comical, but mostly heartbreaking scenes of Jamal’s childhood, the authenticity is derived from the need to show madness and energy of Mumbai
Even the banter between Jamal and the smarmy show host Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor) are scene-stealers. It is Prem who invites a police inquiry, finding it hard to believe that an uneducated boy could know all the answers.
Jamal’s voyage features notorious encounters with child slavery, sexual abuse, call centres and criminal gangs, but throughout Boyle adds respectability to heighten reality in what is often disturbing material.
A.R. Rahman’s musical score meshes well with the acting for an outcome that is pure magic, including the uplifting dance scene at the end of the movie, which is a fitting ode to Bollywood. Boyle said it just felt “natural” to include this song.
Much of the film was made on location in Mumbai, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the train station where dozens of people were killed or injured in November 2008 after several coordinated terrorism attacks in the city.
Through ‘Slumdog’, Boyle provides an extraordinary insight into the colossal Indian melting pot where traditional divisions collide – of the poor rising to match the rich.
One of the underlying themes of the film is to celebrate Mumbai and its spirit, which certainly carries more pathos and a whole new message after 26/11.
