Great direction plus great performances, equals great film

Rating: 8/10 (11 January 2009)

Great performances from the children (simiarly to Angela's Ashes)and from Dev Patel, whose quiet, unshowy performance holds the film together. Boyle coaxes golden performances from everyone, and its not all black and white, he gets the shades, for example from the older Salim and the wonderful Anil Kapoor as the quiz show host. But the star is Mumbai, which supplies the colour, the drama, tension and pace (helped by a brilliant soundtrack). Thankfully Hollywood didn't get hold of this, although Boyle added the love story (missing in the novel)to make this more palatable to the multiplex audience. This project recognises shifting cultural boundaries and influences, for example that Bollywood is 'the' pre-eminent film industry, 'the' contemporary purveyor of dreams and 'the' supplier of pleasures. Boyles direction is such that the film has you in its grip within two minutes and doesn't give up, even the end credits deliver. Wonderful.