(2008)
Video
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Directors Danny
Boyle
Loveleen
Tandan
Writers
Simon Beaufoy Screenplay
Vikas Swarup Novel "Q & A"
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Unless you’ve been on Mars for the last year you simply can’t have missed this film. It is the story of Jamal who is a young man on the verge of winning 20 million rupees in India's ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ or "Kaun Banega Crorepati?"
As an exercise in film-making it’s a masterful achievement blending a variety of styles into something uniquely its own. Danny Boyle is quite simply one of the best directors working today – it’s a great looking and great sounding film that makes even the squalor of India seem magical. Of course this was where one of the key eithical problems arose and there has been lot’s of debate about them. Is it right to take a young boy out of the slums of India, give him some money and then send him back…well we’re not even going there.
At its very core 'Slumdog Millionaire' is a magnificent love story, which seems like a fairytale, yet it is so damn realistic and believable. We have all dreamt of the perfect romance, the kind which blossoms and gets better over time like wine. Slumdog Millionaire is living that dream on celluloid for two hours. It's about the perseverance of the protagonist, a Bombay slum kid called Jamal portrayed brilliantly by the two child actors and Dev Patel, to unite with the love of his life – Latika, whom he met, fell in love and was separated from in the direst of circumstances.
Filmed entirely in India, it captures the life, the spirit, the greatness and the follies of the nation and its people in a way, which perhaps no other foreign film has been able to. In fact the excellent production values achieved by this US-UK and Indian joint venture is something that will put many popular Indian film-makers to shame. The soundtrack composed by A.R. Rehman is also a highlight of the movie and you’ll find yourself tapping along at times.
Danny Boyle is clearly the captain of the ship. Slumdog has some clear and refined shades of his other highly acclaimed movie – Trainspotting. Some of the cinematography is even similar along with the themes of violence and comedy intertwined in many parts.
Coming back to the film, the game show, 'Who Wants To Be a Millionaire' hosted by Anil Kapoor is the pivot around which the story revolves. Jamal, a chaiwala in a call center is on the verge of winning the grand prize in this popular show. But how could a chaiwala, a slum boy possibly do that? His euphoria is short lived as he is arrested on suspicion of cheating and interrogated by the police inspector played by Irrfan Khan. The story goes back and forth, with Jamaal revealing his adventurous journey with his elder brother Salim and Latika, the love of his life.
