Brings light to a drab and gloomy year

Rating: 9/10 (28 March 2012)

The year 2008 was a very bland year for films. It was a year of mediocre comedies, some fair dramas, and mixed bags all around. Great films were few and far between, and one of the biggest recessions in American history was beginning to take effect. Yes, 2008 was a dark, gloomy year, but in the pile of so-so films, emerged a surprisingly involving coming of age story that was equal parts Bollywood (despite being released by a British company) and equal parts its own American/Indian hybrid. That, of course, is the Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire.
At the time of its release, this was likely to be the first Indian film American audiences were exposed to. It was mine, definitely, but not my first foreign film. I try and make an effort to watch not only mainstream films, but some of the lesser known pictures every year not only to showcase variety, but to inform readers that there is a world of film that doesn't involve million dollar ad campaigns and monotony. Independent/foreign films are becoming increasingly popular, and thanks to a wise decision from the Academy, Slumdog went onto get wide recognition and is honored and celebrated for the real gem it is.
It follows Jamal Malik, played by a real find of a teenager, Dev Patel, a young orphan, now sixteen, who grew up in the slums of Mumbai. He was an imposter and a thief for most of his life, and had to do things he isn't proud of, but managed to pick up life lessons and impeccable knowledge despite grand limitations. He is a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, where he is one question away from winning Rs. 20 million when the horn sounds, meaning he will have to wait until the following day to finish his run.
Following the episode, he is arrested under suspicion of cheating, tortured and manipulated until forced to confessed. The film then evolves into a sort of nonlinear story of Jamal going through each of the questions he was asked and discussed what life event he had to endure for him to know the answer, proving that he is really intelligent, not a cheater.
One thing struck me watching the film, something I believe very few will pick up. It must be insanely insulting to go through life a street child, having no mother or father to look up to, roaming the streets of the slums every night, searching for a place to sleep, garnering intelligence and knowledge along the way, only to go on a popular game show to be arrested under suspicion of fraud. As if you're not good enough or believable in your own roots. When you're arrested for being smart and knowledgeable, what does that say about the way the world thinks of you? Nowadays, coming of age stories about unfortunate misfits, mainstream or independent, are a dime a dozen, so it's wonderful to see attempts at breeding creativity, innovation, and intellect to a genre searching for new direction are being made. Danny Boyle's slick directing and Simon Beaufoy's intelligent writing avoid corniness and heavy-handedness by constantly moving the story in a fast-paced and entertaining way. Beaufoy and Boyle would later reunite to work on the claustrophobic thriller 127 Hours I would come to dub "a masterpiece on film." It's next to impossible to compare the two works, since one's goal is to evoke the same sort of fear endured by a victim, while the others' is to prevent fear and inferiority from bringing down ones' feeling of self-worth.
A friend told me going into Slumdog that despite the film being very good and a nice nod to Indian cinema, it is a rather cliché story. It is, when contemplated. There's a bit of a contrived love story between Jamal and the ravishing Latika, played by Freida Pinto. Sometimes, I sort of wished that was left out. At other times, I am glad the film incorporated it. Call it perplexing, but I prefer to dub it critical indecisiveness. It depends on which angle you're viewing the subplot from. You can either see it as a fair, plausible addition to Jamal's checkered life, or as an Indian movie desperately trying to fit in by playing dress up in American clothes.
Slumdog Millionaire, despite all the mixed views, hype, and questions, is a wonderful character study, set in places rarely explored. My favorite scene is during the end credits, involving a massive and well-choreographed dance scene to the infectious anthem "Jai Ho" by A.R. Rahman. I knew the tune long before seeing the actual film, and was amused like a young child when I finally saw the dance that concludes the film. Tell me again; how did the film bag the Best Picture award, but not Best Original Song? Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, and Mahesh Manjrekar. Directed by: Danny Boyle.